The Nairobi County Government is now moving hard against property owners who have been dodging land rates for more than three years. The county has brought in six debt recovery companies to go after the billions of shillings that landowners have failed to pay over the years. This is a serious push to make sure that everyone who owns land in Nairobi pays what they owe to the county.
The crackdown is not just about collecting money. Property owners who do not settle their bills will face real consequences. The county is ready to attach properties, put them up for auction, and add defaulters to the Credit Reference Bureau list.
The enforcement will also target all the outstanding land rates, the penalties that have built up, and the interest charges. All of this is happening under the National Rating Act of 2024, which gives the county the legal power to do what it is planning.
Governor Johnson Sakaja was very clear about the problem when he addressed the issue. He pointed out that out of the 250,000 property owners registered in Nairobi, only about 50,000 actually pay their land rates on time.
That is a very small number compared to how many people should be paying. Even though the county set up automatic billing systems and gave people the chance to pay in instalments, most landowners still have not been paying up. This shows that many property owners are simply refusing to meet their responsibilities.
The county government says this exercise is meant to do several important things. The first is to bring in more money for the county budget. The second is to improve tax compliance so that more people follow the rules.
The third is to make sure that all property owners play their part fairly in funding public services and the building of new infrastructure in Nairobi. Without money from land rates, the county finds it hard to provide good roads, water, and other basic services that residents depend on every day.
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