Machakos County waives penalties on land rate

Machakos governor Wavinya Ndeti speaks during the flagging off of a consignment of foodstuffs for distribution of all Public Early Childhood Development Education centers (ECDEs) across the County at her Machakos office on February 6, 2024. [John Muia, Standard]

Machakos County government has announced a 100 per cent waiver on penalties and unpaid taxes on land parcels and other developments.

Lands, Urban Development, Housing and Energy executive Nathaniel Nganga said the one-month waiver period will allow property owners with outstanding dues to register their parcels at no cost.

"We are telling our people across Machakos to take advantage of the amnesty window which was sanctioned in various public participation forums and endorsed by the county assembly," said Nganga.

He explained that the waiver will accommodate new parcels and plots arising from land subdivisions, as well as all development on land that took place without the requisite approvals by the county authorities.

Nganga said that thousands of property owners had defaulted on land rates and other fees, resulting in the accumulation of debts owed to the county government.

"Majority of people have defaulted on payments of applicable rates for several years pushing their debts to astronomical levels. Now that we have waived the outstanding fees, they should come forward and register their properties with the county government," he said.

The CEC noted that the number of registered land parcels in the county stood at about 55,000 against an estimated 2 million parcels.

Ng'ang'a said the county government had mobilised officers including surveyors, land administrators and physical planners to assist residents in registering land.

Elsewhere, sand harvesters along Miwongoni river in Mua ward, Machakos sub-county have accused local developers of diverting sewerage on access road, making it a nightmare for motorists to maneuver.

Through their chairman, Adriana Nzomo, the sand harvesters, mainly youth, have urged the Machakos Municipality authorities and the National Environment Management Authority to investigate a particular developer over the disposal of sewerage from residential houses.

"We want the county government to tour this area and establish who the real offenders are because our members have been wrongfully accused of destroying the access road by overloading trucks with sand," he said.