Kimani Ichung’wah Withdraws Controversial Land Bill

The government has withdrawn a radical bill that would have required owners of freehold land within or near urban areas to pay an annual land levy in addition to land rates.

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National Assembly Majority Leader Kimani Ichung’wah wrote to Speaker Moses Wetang’ula requesting the withdrawal of the Land Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2023. In a letter dated June 13, Ichung’wah explained that the withdrawal was prompted by constitutional and legal issues raised by the bill.

Ichung’wah mentioned that the executive advised addressing and resolving the arising issues before further consideration. “Having consulted with the relevant stakeholders, this is to confirm that the majority party has withdrawn the bill,” reads part of Ichung’wah’s letter.

“I request that the House Business Committee be notified of the withdrawal of the bill and that no further consideration of the bill should be undertaken.”

The proposed law had sparked protests and was criticized by the National Land Commission (NLC) as amounting to double taxation. Those affected would have included homeowners on ancestral land on the outskirts of cities like Dagoretti in Nairobi and towns in Kiambu.

While the bill was being processed by the National Assembly, its withdrawal coincided with the government’s backtracking on the Finance Bill following nationwide protests. The bill had been criticized as part of the government’s alleged insatiable appetite to burden already overtaxed Kenyans for additional revenue.

The bill sought to amend the Land Act of 2012 by inserting a new levy after section 54, requiring freehold landowners to pay land rent similar to that charged on comparable leasehold land. Agricultural land could have been exempted from the annual land levy.

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The Committee on Lands had recently slowed down on the bill after realizing the confusion in the country’s land tenure system and concerns about controversial conversions from leasehold to freehold tenures. “Land is very emotive. We realized after public participation that we needed to first clean up the land tenure system before processing the bill because of its far-reaching recommendations,” said committee chairperson Joash Nyamoko.

Last December, MPs voted to shorten the bill’s publication period from 14 days to one day to allow its prompt introduction in the house. The bill was scheduled for debate in the National Assembly on June 18 but was shelved to prioritize the Finance Bill, which has also been withdrawn but awaits formalization by the house.

Experts had warned that if enacted, the amendments could lead to many Kenyans losing their property to the government. The NLC had told the lands committee that the levy on freehold land would amount to double taxation. “There should be no levy charged on freehold land apart from rates,” said NLC Chief Executive Officer Kabale Tache when she appeared before MPs in February.

“Freehold interests are superior interests and there is no landlord, therefore no rent can be owed.”

Mwenda Makathimo, Executive Director of the Land Development and Governance Institute (LDGI), stated, “This means the government is charging you a tax for owning freehold land which is not government land. The land you might have inherited from your parents or bought is freehold land.”

Eva Makori, Acting Regional Coordinator for the International Land Coalition (ILC) Africa, added, “Imposing this annual levy on freehold property essentially converts freehold property into leasehold property, running the risk of dispossessing many Kenyans who may not afford to pay the levy, including Indigenous people with ancestral lands.”

The bill had also proposed increased costs, such as raising physical planning fees to Sh5,000 per hour and other professional advice-based services related to physical planning.