National Assembly Majority Leader Kimani Ichung’wah has withdrawn the Lands Amendment Bill 2023, which sought to introduce an annual levy on freehold land.
The controversial bill sought to amend six Land Acts, including introducing a new clause requiring land and property owners to pay land rent.
The majority leader who sponsored the Bill wrote to Speaker Moses Wetangula confirming the withdrawal of the Bill.
“Having consulted with the relevant stakeholders, this is now to confirm the majority leader has withdrawn the bill. Consequently, I request that the House Business Committee to be notified of the withdrawal of the bill with no further consideration of the Bill should be undertaken.”
Given the controversial clauses, the Lands Amendment Bill was anticipated to trigger vehement opposition, with one of the amendments proposing clipping powers by the National Lands Commission (NLC).
Did you read this?
“It’s also noteworthy that there are various ensuing constitutional and legal issues arising from the Bill. In this regard, the Executive had further advised on the need for the ensuing issues to be addressed and resolved before further consideration of the Bill,” he said.
Further, the bill sought to give the Lands Cabinet Secretary the power to acquire land compulsorily whenever the county or the national government determines that a particular piece of land needs to be acquired.
The bill proposed raising various land-related rates by up to 200 percent.
Other fees, such as physical planning and professional advice services, were also set to increase.
The bill seeks to amend several acts, including the Registration of Documents Act, the Land Control Act, the Land Registration Act of 2012, the Land Act of 2012, the Community Land Act of 2016, and the Sectional Properties Act of 2020.
These amendments are intended to modernize and balance the levies charged with the services the state provides.
