The Environment and Land Court has stopped Kajiado County from collecting land rates on both freehold and leasehold properties amid an ongoing dispute over the charges.

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In a statement issued on Thursday, September 24, lawyer Shadrack Wambui, an aspirant for the 2027 Kajiado North parliamentary seat on the Democracy for Citizens Party (DCP) ticket, revealed the court had stopped the county from imposing the rates again.

Wambui said the order also suspends the Kajiado County Finance Act, 2026, pending the hearing and determination of a petition filed by Sheria Mtaani, a grassroots legal organisation he leads.

“The Kajiado Environment and Land Court has again stopped the imposition of Land Rates on all Freehold and Leasehold land in Kajiado. This order effectively suspends the Kajiado Finance Act, 2026 until our Petition by Sheria Mtaani is heard and determined,” he wrote.

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He said the organisation had moved to court over what it described as unlawful and punitive demands imposed on landowners.

“No citizen should pay illegal and punitive rates on their own ancestral land. We went to court for you, and the court has agreed with us,” he added.

The development is the latest turn in a dispute between Sheria Mtaani, Wambui and the Kajiado County Government over land rates.

In January, in a judgment by Justice M.D. Mwangi, the court found that the county had failed to comply with the applicable legal framework when imposing and varying land rates under the Kajiado County Finance Act, 2023.

The court declared the relevant provisions requiring rates on specified properties unconstitutional and void, and also found the variation of land rent from amounts contained in allotment letters to be without legal basis.

Further, the judgment faulted the county for failing to follow the valuation process and the specific public participation requirements applicable to the imposition or variation of rates .

📰 Source: Kenyans.co.ke