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{
    "id": 1268204,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1268204/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 161,
    "type": "other",
    "speaker_name": "",
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    "speaker": null,
    "content": "That is an eighth of an acre. Today, there are fragments of 20 feet by 80 feet with titles in my own county. There are plots that measure even 40 feet by 80 feet. There are the so-called “gated estates” where people are told they are being sold quarter of an acre plots. In some cases, those plots are actually 40 feet by 80 feet. Some are 70 feet by 30 feet plots. In Embakasi, they will tell you that all the plots measure 33 feet by 66 feet. Hon. Temporary Speaker, we are speaking to those issues. We are saying that we must have those distinctions to ensure that there is fairness. The more we fragment our land, the more we expose ourselves to food insecurity. If we safeguard our land from further fragmentation thus securing more land for agricultural purposes, and encourage farmers by giving them lower property rates on agricultural land, we will encourage even more of our young people to get into food production to address food insecurity. We should discourage the business we are now in currently - what I call ploti maguta maguta - where every open space in this country is sub-divided for development of housing estates that have not even been planned for or defined. This Bill will address some of those issues. The Bill has also provided for the appointment and powers of a valuer to undertake preparation of valuation rolls. It also introduces the office of the Chief Government Valuer with respect to standardisation and harmonisation on preparation and implementation of the valuation rolls across the counties. As I had said, we should not leave it to the whims of revenue officers in our counties to determine what rates to levy on property owners. That becomes a very good avenue for corruption. In my county, depending on which officer you find on which day, you will get a different figure. Funny enough, we all get those figures from the system. I do not know what they do to the system. Some will indicate for you on a piece of paper. Some will generate the figure through the computer system. I do not know how they change their systems. We want a system where we have a chief Government valuer who will rationalise the chargeable rates so that, based on the value of land in different parts of the country, the Chief Government Valuer will standardise and harmonise the valuation rolls across the counties, so that one county does not overtax people as opposed to another, therefore, making some of our counties very unfavourable or unattractive for investments whether by local or foreign investors. Lastly, Part IV of this Bill contains provisions on valuation for rating, declaration of rate- able areas, and methods used for valuation. It also proposes to introduce a valuation cycle of five years with provision that county assemblies can extend the period by a maximum of two years. The Bill further provides guidance on the preparation and contents of valuation rolls and supplementary valuation rolls, together with alterations, publication and objections thereof, and exceptions provided. It is important that we review whatever valuation rolls we come up with in our counties in every five years. The county assemblies can extend the valuation rolls or whatever they use for ratable areas for a maximum of two years so that all our county governments can apprise themselves with current developments. Massive investments have gone into development of infrastructure in many of our rural areas, whether it is rail or road infrastructure. Areas that were not accessible by road or by rail about five years ago are accessible today or will be accessible in another five years. Therefore, the value of land keeps fluctuating and changing. Although very rare, other happenings could also devalue land. Therefore, county governments lose opportunity to collect rates from their areas if we go for a long time without reviewing. We want to ensure that our county governments review rate-able properties, the rates they are charging, rate-able areas, and the methods they use for evaluation every five years, so that they keep appraising their sources of revenue and generate more revenue. As I was saying during the earlier debate on the Value Added Tax (Electronic, Internet and Digital Market Place Supply) Regulations of 2023, we as the Kenya Kwanza Government The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}