The County Government of Makueni has introduced a raft of measures to ease the financial burden facing most traders and motorists in the county.
Makueni Governor Mutula Kilonzo in a notice issued on Thursday, November 28, announced that traders would now be allowed to pay their trade permits and licenses in installments, thus reducing the burden of upfront payments.
In the new regulations, all small-scale and midsize enterprises would receive a 10 per cent discount on unified invoice bills while large businesses would get a 5 per cent discount.
Governor Mutula also announced waivers and rent reductions for various operators within the county. According to the governor, rent for Emali bus park and all kiosks within the area had been reduced from Ksh2500 to Ksh1500.
He also reduced rents for retail stalls within the Emali Modern Grocery Market. In the new regulation, all traders within the Emali market would pay only Ksh2000 as a rent fee, down from Ksh3000.
The governor further announced a 50 per cent waiver on rent arrears accrued by motorists and modern market traders who used the Emali bus park during the Coronavirus pandemic. “These changes aim to support local businesses and streamline revenue collection,” the governor revealed.
The latest move comes hardly two months after the county government of Kiambu scrapped several tax measures including land tax that were passed by the previous regime.
Speaking to the press on September 4, Kiambu Speaker of the County Assembly Charles Thiongo confirmed that the county government would also revoke the penalties imposed on residents owning commercial lands.
"We have made amendments to the law that was passed in 2016, and as our people asked, our land is free. We have exempted land rates in agricultural land as well," Thiongo said.
"This law has also done away with the past land areas. People do not need to worry that the county government will go after them over areas that have been accused for many years," he added.
The decision by the Kiambu County Assembly to approve the scrapping of the tax measures followed three months after Governor Kimani Wamatangi fronted a bill seeking the same.
In July 2024, Wamatangi proposed a law recommending that all freehold lands that are below 10 acres be defined as unratable property. The bill also proposed that rates of chargeable lands be scaled down from 0.25 per cent to 0.15 per cent.
