A fresh row has erupted between Kajiado County Government and the National Land Commission (NLC) over Sh11 billion in land rates arrears owed to the devolved unit by a multinational.
Attempts by the NLC to resolve the long-standing dispute over unpaid land rates hit a snag on Friday after the county government told off NLC over its attempt to convene a meeting between senior Kajiado County government officers and the Tata Chemicals Magadi management. The multinational mines in Lake Magadi.
NLC Chairman Gershom Otachi’s attempt to bring top Kajiado County government officials and the team from the multinational to the negotiation table on Monday received a setback after Governor Joseph Ole Lenku pulled out his top officials from the scheduled meeting.
The governor ordered his CEC members in charge of Finance, Lands and Environment and National Resources not to attend the meeting at the NLC offices saying the agency had no mandate to get involved in the land rates dispute as the land in question was not public land.
“Tata Chemicals Magadi Ltd was granted a lease of the land they occupy by the County Government of Kajiado and the said ceased to be public land but private land. The NLC, therefore, has no role in the fixing of rates,” Governor Lenku said on Friday in a letter to Mr Otachi.
On Thursday, Mr Otachi had written to the governor, calling for a meeting between the county government and NLC to discuss the land rates issue.
Six-year dispute
In a letter seen by the Nation.Africa, Mr Otachi admitted to having been approached by Tata Chemicals Ltd over the six-year dispute.
“We were approached by Tata Chemicals Magadi Ltd on various issues relating to various parcels of land they hold in the county, including matters of tenure and land rates. We request for participation from your office, particularly the Executives in charge of Finance, Lands and Environment & Natural Resources who are required to bring relevant documentation on the matter,” Mr Otachi wrote to Governor Lenku.
However, Governor Lenku argued that the NLC had no mandate to be involved in the matter, citing a High Court judgment in 2019 that “settled the matter” between the county and the multinational.
“The High Court upheld our constitutional power and right to levy rates through the Kajiado Finance Act (2014) and the Kajiado County Rating Act (2016),” wrote the governor.
The fresh has put brakes on the NLC’s effort to solve the land rates dispute between the Kajiado County government and Tata Chemicals Magadi Ltd.
Last year, the county slapped the multinational with a Sh11 .4 billion land rates bill for the more than 179,354 acres of land it occupies.
This year, the county has denied Tata Chemicals Magadi Ltd licences and permits to operate until it pays the land rates. This means the firm could soon be operating in the county illegally.
