The KAKAMEGA municipal council is set to repossess over 300 plots whose owners have defaulted payment of rates amounting to Sh600 million. Town mayor Matias Sichere said despite the council giving waivers on interests accrued on the arrears, property owners have failed to clear their outstanding arrears.
He said the defaulters have one month to settle their accounts saying the arrears have greatly affected service delivery by the council. “We have already engaged lawyers to recover the money for the council and if that fails, we shall be left with no alternative but to repossess the plots and reallocate them to other developers,” he said.
The mayor said the council's financial base is poor hence the need to push for the recovery of the arrears or repossess the plots and reallocate them to people who can help the council better its revenue base. He was speaking at Muliro Gardens during the launch of the Kakamega Local Urban Forum by Swedish ambassador Anne Disborr on Friday.
Sichere said the plots that have remained undeveloped for more than the mandatory six months will also be taken over by the council. He said the council has already compiled and forwarded the list of the targeted plots to the Ministry of Local Government for approval. He said people holding land without using it have created a shortage of space for investors who are showing interest in the town. “It is sad that as a council we are forced to ask investors to buy land if they want to invest in Kakamega while there is undeveloped land held by people who are not paying rates to the council,” said the mayor.
“We want to ensure that by the time we hand over the council to the county government next year, property owners are up to date in their rate payments to the council,” he said. Meanwhile, Sichere called for adequate security arrangements by the police as over 10, 000 sportsmen from across the country begin to arrive for this year's KIMSCA games to be hosted by the town. “I am calling on the police to ensure that our visitors are safe for the one week they are going to be here but I appeal to the visitors to also take care of self security,” he said.