Sakaja says clampdown on property owners over unpaid land rates to continue 

Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja warned land rate defaulters in the city they will face the music if they don’t pay.

He said that the county’s revenue collection department has intensified its enforcement efforts as the financial year draws to a close.

Speaking during the CBK Police Housing event in the Industrial Area, Sakaja defended the county’s recent clampdown on property owners who have failed to pay land rates.

“Some people have not been happy with the revenue collection drive we’re conducting in Nairobi, including the clamping of buildings that have defaulted on land rates,” he said.

“It is very unfair. Mama Mboga pays her dues every single day in the market. Yet there are people living in posh estates, owning buildings in the city, who won’t pay a single shilling in land rates. We all want better services, but that cannot happen if we’re not contributing.”

Sakaja emphasized the importance of collective responsibility in transforming Nairobi into a world-class city.

“Last week, the Mayor of Paris visited and shared that Paris, with a population of 2 million, operates on a Sh132 billion budget. Nairobi, with over 7 million residents, runs on Sh40 billion — yet we still expect Paris-level services. That is impossible if we can’t even pay for unified business permits and land rates.”

He added that the county government has scaled up operations to ensure that every property owner pays what is due, and promised that no one will be spared in the ongoing crackdown.

“We shall not let a few people avoid their obligations while others carry the burden. The crackdown continues,” he said.

The county’s revenue department, led by Receiver of Revenue Tiras Njoroge, has doubled its efforts and pledged to continue the operation throughout the month of June

This has seen a number of houses clamped and fined.