City Affairs

Sakaja announces 100 per cent waiver for land rate penalties, interests

Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja when he chaired the Nairobi County Executive Committee on May 7, 2024. (Photo: X/Johnson Sakaja)

By Maureen Kinyanjui | Thursday, June 6, 2024

The county set a target of Sh7 billion for collection of land rates for the financial year 2023- 2024 falling short of its target by over Sh4.4 billion.

Nairobi County has announced a 100 per cent waiver on all penalties and interests relating to land rates.

However, the county noted that landowners have to make the payments before June 20, 2024, to benefit from the waiver.

Keep reading

"All ratepayers with outstanding arrears are advised to take advantage of the waiver period and benefit from the governor's grant," Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja said in an announcement on Wednesday.

The governor reminded those affected that the Nairobi County Government operates on a no-cash policy in revenue collection.

As a result, customers are advised to make their payments through Nairobi City County Government revenue collection accounts.

They include; Cooperative Bank under account name Nairobi City County Revenue Collection, account number 01141709410000 and Equity Bank under account name Nairobi City County Revenue Collection, account number 1770279910476.

For easy access, residents can also use the USSD number *647#.

The latest move by the county to raise revenue to fund other activities.

Behind target

However, the county is still behind its target collection for land rates in the current Financial Year 2023- 2024.

As detailed in the Nairobi City County Revenue and Expenditure Report for the period ended March 31, 2024, the county had collected Sh2.6 billion in land rates.

The county set a target of Sh7 billion for the financial year falling short of its target by over Sh4.4 billion.

Land rates within Nairobi are charged at a flat rate ranging from between Sh2,560 and Sh4,800 depending on the zone of the land.

Commercial, residential and agricultural land is charged at 0.115 per cent of the land value.

Penalties for late payments are charged at 3 per cent per month until the rate is charged in full.

Nairobi's own source revenue is normally generated by six revenue streams.

The six key own-source revenue streams include parking fees, rates, single business permits, house rents, building permits, and, billboards and adverts accounting for close to 80 per cent of the county's annual own-source revenue.

Land rates are the top own-source revenue earner in Nairobi accounting for about 25 per cent of revenue collected by the county government.

Earlier this year, Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja announced a one-month extension to the penalty waiver on land rates.

Over time, the county government has been providing rent waivers to residents living in county-owned houses.

These houses, numbering 17,000, are located in various neighbourhoods including Maringo, Uhuru, Kaloleni, Jericho, Buruburu, Kariobangi South, Ziwani, and Jerusalem.

Rent for these houses ranges from Sh2,000 to Sh20,000 per month, depending on the location. Additionally, the county owns houses in other areas within the city.