By Wilfridah Murenga
The Nairobi City County Executive Committee has given a green light for the auction of properties that owe land rates to the county.
The County had published a list of defaulters back in May and provided a one-month grace period for defaulters to settle their debt while waiving interests and penalties.
A meeting of the Cabinet chaired by Governor Johnson Sakaja further authorised that caveats be imposed on all debt properties to prevent any transactions, including subdivision, amalgamation and transfer.
The County Executive Committee has also approved the issuance of agency notice for properties with rental income, where tenants will be required to pay rent to the Nairobi City County Government until the outstanding rates are fully settled.
This comes after the lapse of the second exemption for penalties and interest on land rates, provided that the proprietors resolve the principal amount.
Governor Sakaja emphasized the need for an efficient recovery process by the county’s internal lawyers so as to minimize the burden of exorbitant legal fees.
“The recovery process should be as efficient as possible and be handled by county internal lawyers to avoid incurring huge legal fees that are normally pegged on the value of land in dispute,” the Governor said.
The County Boss has also directed all CEC members and Chief officers to avail vehicles and all necessary resources for revenue enhancement.
According to the office of the Governor, the Nairobi county government has collected a total of Ksh12,262,100,000 in revenue, which is the highest amount ever raised since the inception of devolution. Specifically, Ksh3,255,969,569 has been raised in land rates, falling short of the Ksh7 billion target with only two weeks remaining in the financial year.
The previous record of Ksh12.1 billion was achieved in the fiscal year 2015-2016.
Governor Sakaja has commended the county revenue team for exceeding the goal, despite a period during which enforcement was halted to give clients the opportunity to comply.
The Governor has tasked the County Executive Committee Members for finance to issue travel guidelines for local and foreign travel.
Sakaja has further directed the efforts to beautify Langata Cemetery.
“Many people have sentimental feelings towards Langata Cemetery as almost everyone knows someone who is buried there. The ‘green army’ should use the resources already at their disposal and the plans at the City Park tree nursery to beautify the cemetery,” Sakaja said.