City Hall, the headquarters of the Nairobi City County Government.
The Nairobi City County accumulated Sh2 billion in unpaid revenues from July to September, underlining a growing problem for the devolved unit to get its dues from businesses and landlords.
Land rates arrears rose by Sh1.29 billion during the three months, accounting for 62 per cent of the new unpaid revenues, according to a report by the Controller of Budget (CoB). The growth in unpaid land rates underlines a problem in City Hall’s management of its main revenue stream, coming just after revealing it had written off Sh1.45 trillion arrears during the last fiscal year.
The CoB report says Nairobi’s total revenue arrears grew from Sh63.5 billion to Sh65.2 billion from the start of July to the end of September. While Sh410.6 million worth of revenue arrears were paid during the quarter, Sh2.08 billion in new arrears were accumulated.
Land rates arrears rose from Sh54 billion to Sh55.2 billion during the three months, the CoB said, noting that Sh1.29 billion in new arrears were recorded while Sh102 million in arrears were cleared.
Controller of Budget Margaret Nyakang’o.
In the report, CoB Margaret Nyakang’o noted that City Hall said it is cleaning data to establish clear ownership, property locations and debts, aiming to eliminate ghost and duplicate entries. She also indicated that City Hall plans to issue demand notices to land rate defaulters while offering those willing to comply flexible payment options.
“For persistent cases, the county will enforce the National Rating Act by issuing agency notices to banks, filing property liens and imposing penalties, ensuring no transfers or transactions are cleared without settlement,” City Hall said, according to the CoB report.
In October, Governor Johnson Sakaja threatened that his administration would resort to auctioning about 200,000 parcels with unpaid land rates, pointing an accusing finger at wealthy property owners.
Nairobi County Governor Johnson Sakaja during a past media briefing at City Hall.
“Out of 250,000 land parcels in the city, we have only 50,000 to 60,000 accounts that are paying rates. Every city in this world relies on property rates as its biggest revenue source,” he said.
Other than land rates, City Hall also recorded a Sh338.9 million rise in unpaid revenues from outdoor advertising and billboards, raising arrears from the stream to Sh606 million. Wayleave arrears also increased by Sh255 million to hit Sh510 million by the end of September, while unpaid revenues from house rents and market stalls increased by Sh157 million.
“Outdoor advertising will be fully digitised through GIS (Geographic Information System) mapping of all billboards and signage, linked to permits and payment records. Defaulters will receive demand notices, and persistent non-payers will face takedowns or penalties,” City Hall said.
The county government also said it plans to digitise tenancy records to identify arrears per unit, and eliminate ghost occupants.
