The County Government of Kiambu has moved to scrap land tax, years after the county valuation roll was passed by the current administration's predecessors.
Charles Thiongo, the Speaker of the Kiambu County Assembly, confirmed the latest development during a press conference on Wednesday, September 4, saying there would also be reduced penalties on commercial land owners.
"We have made amendments to that law that was passed in 2016, and like our people asked, our land is free. We have exempted land rates on agricultural lands as well," he said.
"This law has also done away with past arrears. People don't need to be worried that the county will go after them over arrears that have accrued for many years."
The latest move came after an intense County Assembly hearing on Tuesday, September 3, where several MCAs aired their opinions.
Kennedy Odhiambo, the Kahawa Sukari MCA, was particularly vocal against what he termed as 'punitive taxation measures' from the previous Kiambu County regime.
"Let's not bring politics to this issue of rates. We as leaders should come together to help the people of Kiambu," he said.
In July 2024, Kiambu Governor Kimani Wamatangi made the first steps towards scrapping the land rates by forwarding a memorandum recommending that all freehold land below 10 acres be defined as unratable property.
The county government also recommended that chargeable land have their rates scaled down from 0.25 per cent to 0.15 per cent - a move which would considerably reduce the charges.
Wamatangi said the move was aimed at appeasing Kiambu residents, who lamented on the strenuous rates from former governor William Kabogo's regime.
The situation was so dire that some members of the Law Society of Kenya, led by Stephen Mbugua, moved to court to have the Kiambu Valuation Rating Act 2016 declared unconstitutional.
One of the key land challenges in Kiambu has been confusion in backdating arrears, due to the continued use of expired valuation rolls. This has made it difficult to rate and value land accordingly.
