The Kirinyaga County Government has kicked off the process of reclaiming land from owners who have failed to pay land rates and ground rent.
About 7,000 plot owners risk losing their properties if they fail to comply with the 30-day notice given by the county government.
According to County Executive Committee Member for Lands Samuel Kanjobe, the landowners owe the county over Ksh.250 million in arrears, and the plots were allocated to the current owners who have not been paying land rates and ground rent as agreed upon.
The defaulters have until March 31 to settle all arrears, and failure to do so will result in the government taking over the land and any development on it.
The government has urged defaulters to take advantage of the remaining days to clear their debts.
“This time, the government is determined to take back its land from those who were given the plots but have not been honouring their part of obligation,” said Kajombe.
The County government has intensified its revenue mobilization initiative through a campaign dubbed “Mapema Ndio Best” to ensure 100% compliance in paying all trading licenses by March 31.
Governor Anne Waiguru has urged traders and property owners to pay for their trading licenses to enable the government to deliver services.
“We are asking all the traders and property owners to pay all due licenses and levies so as to enable us to continue delivering services. Our hospitals need drugs, we need to pay doctors, rehabilitate roads and ensure an uninterrupted supply of water,” said the Governor.
Land rates are levies imposed on all parcels of land that belong to the government and are payable to the county governments. The County government issues a rates clearance certificate upon full payment of all rates, which is conclusive evidence that all rates due and interest accrued have been fully paid.
The County Executive Committee Member for Lands, Physical and Urban Planning, Samuel Kanjobe, clarified that the county has not increased the land rates, and they are still using the municipal valuation roll.
However, the department is in the process of developing a new valuation roll that could see current land rates increased in the future.
The department has already issued notices to the defaulters and has set up desks to handle cases of default payment at the county headquarters and sub-county offices. The Chief Officer, John Makumi, stated that prompt payment of all due levies would help the county government speed up development projects and offer all services.
