Ichung'wah Withdraws Land Laws Amendment Bill

National Assembly Majority Leader Kimani Ichung'wah has revealed that he has written to Speaker Moses Wetangula announcing the withdrawal of the controversial Land Laws (Amendment) (Number 2) Bill, 2023.

According to the letter, Ichung'wah revealed that there was a myriad of constitutional and legal issues arising from the Bill and that the Executive arm of government had recommended the need for those issues to be addressed.

In the letter dated June 13, 2024, which bore a rubberstamp from Speaker Wetangula's office, Ichung'wah requested that the House Business Committee be notified of the withdrawal.

National Assembly Speaker, Moses Wetangula during a past House session. /FILE

"The Land Laws (Amendment) Bill (No.2) Bill, 2023 (National Assembly Bill No. 76 of 2023) proposes to amend the laws relating to land and for connected purposes. As you are aware, during the meeting of the House Business Committee, I had notified the Committee not to prioritize the consideration of the Bill to allow for consultations with the Ministry of Lands and Physical Planning and the National Land Commission. It is also noteworthy that there are various ensuing constitutional and legal issues arising from the Bill. In this regard, the Executive had further advised on the need for the ensuing issues to be addressed and resolved before further consideration of the Bill," the letter read in part.

"Having consulted with the relevant stakeholders, this is now to confirm that the Majority Party has withdrawn the Bill. Consequently, 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. Please accept the assurances of my highest consideration."

Ichung'wah had proposed to amend the Land Act of 2012 via the Land Amendment Bill number 2 of 2023, which sought to insert a new clause which would have forced freehold land owners, property owners who enjoy free ownership for perpetuity and can use the land for any purposes, to pay land rent.

According to the Bill, the Land Act 2012 was to be amended by inserting the new section immediately after section 54 which stated that the owner of any freehold land within the boundaries of any urban area or city shall pay an annual land levy equivalent to the land rent charged on a comparable leasehold property of the same size in the same zone. However, agricultural landowners might have been exempt.

However, the proposed levy attracted criticism from the National Land Commission (NLC), which termed it as double taxation given that this would have affected homeowners on ancestral land in urban fringes like Dagoretti in Nairobi and Kiambu towns.

"There should be no levy charged on freehold land apart from rates," NLC chief executive Kabale Tache told MPs in February. "Freehold interests are superior interests and there is no landlord and therefore no rent can be owed."

Experts also opined that in the event the Bill was to be enacted, the amendments, which were awaiting scheduling for a second reading before Parliament, could have seen hundreds of Kenyans lose their property to the government.

The withdrawal of the bill marks another significant step in the push to stop the ruling coalition from imposing more punitive taxes which would have ruined the country's economy beyond repair. 

There has been intense criticism towards the government by young Kenyans mostly regarding the Finance Bill 2024 which President William Ruto eventually withdrew in its entirety, promising that he would include the views of the youth in future bills.