Setting the record: What the Land Laws Amendment Bill means

Lands CS Alice Wahome. [Elvis Ogina, Standard]

The contentious Land Laws Amendment Bill (2023) has sparked considerable debate and opposition, with many Kenyans opposing its provision requiring freehold landowners to pay an annual land levy.

Speaking on Spice FM, Lands Cabinet Secretary Alice Wahome argued that the Bill was completely misinterpreted.

According to Wahome, the Bill would only apply to freehold landowners within urban areas and cities, not every freehold landowner as assumed. She added that these owners would be required to pay an annual fee (land rents) while maintaining the tenure of their land.

“The propaganda was that we [the government] are taking people’s freeholds and converting them to leaseholds so that we can charge them and then take the land if they are unable to pay. That is far from the truth,” said Wahome.

The CS explained that the fee aimed to create a sense of equality between those already paying land rents within cities and those who are not.

“Our thinking was based on the fact that there are people within cities who enjoy services provided by taxpayers, while there are others in the same city who are paying land rent and rates to enjoy these services. We saw it as an inequality, whereby you are enjoying services funded by all of us, yet you are not paying any fee,” she stated.

“The freehold landowners within these cities and urban areas only pay land rates to the county government but are not paying land rents to the national government. We saw this as an opportunity to raise revenue while still maintaining the tenure of the land,” said CS Wahome.

Before its withdrawal, Kenyans believed that the Bill sought to completely change land tenure from freehold to leasehold. 

What is freehold land?

Freehold land refers to land ownership that has no time limit and can be passed from one generation to another.

Leasehold, on the other hand, refers to land leased to a person by the county or national government, with ownership capped at 99 years. After that, an individual has to renew the contract or extend it, and ownership can change.

According to Wahome, the government cannot convert freehold land into a lease unless directed by the landowner.

Meaning, if the Bill was assented to, freehold landowners would have maintained ownership but at a fee.