Residents of Kajiado County have won a major court battle seeking to stop the county from charging them land rates for private land.
In her ruling, Justice Loice Komingoi stated that the county government's decision was unconstitutional because it lacked proper public participation.
As such, she asserted that the county had acted beyond its powers and failed to involve residents before introducing the charges by charging land rates on freehold property.
The residents, through their lawyer Shadrack Wambui, argued that the county could not impose such rates without consulting the people or providing the services the taxes were meant to support.
He further informed the court that the residents were already struggling with poor infrastructure, lack of piped water, and unmaintained roads, yet the county wanted to collect more revenue from them.
The residents had decried being forced to provide their own basic amenities such as biodigesters, solar lighting, and private water systems because the county had failed to deliver.
They thus argued that the imposition of land rates was unjustified and punitive, given the county’s neglect of its responsibilities.
“There is no reason why such rates should be collected when the county has made life an enduring experience for its residents, who have to install solar panels along dark streets to enhance security and prevent loss of life and property,” the court papers stated.
The resident had also argued that the Kajiado County Finance Act violated provisions of the Land Act, terming it an unlawful attempt to convert freehold titles into leasehold titles.
This ruling comes just a month after the Kajiado county government announced that it would allocate 7,965 parcels of land across seven townships as part of efforts to address longstanding land ownership disputes in the county.
The parcels have been planned and surveyed and are to be allocated for residential and mixed-purpose use.
According to the notice by the National Land Commission (NLC), on behalf of the County Government of Kajiado, the allocations would take effect 30 days from the date of publication if there are no objections. That was on September 3.
