Kajiado East MP Peris Tobiko warned the Kajiado county government yesterday against imposing land rates on freehold title owners.
She plans to mobilise residents to oppose Governor Joseph Lenku’s order if it is not shelved.
“This is unacceptable, unworkable, impossible and cannot happen in this county. Freehold title is absolute ownership of land and the county government has no business in it,” Tobiko said at PCEA, Kitengela.
Lenku’s proposal is part of the Finance Bill. MCAs and residents of Ongata Rongai, Kiserian, Ngong and Olkeri have rejected it.
Tobiko told Lenku that charging rate on their ancestral land is an “arrangement that is alien, oppressive and aimed at frustrating landowners”.
She was accompanied by Gatundu South MP Moses Kuria. Tobiko praised President Uhuru Kenyatta and ODM leader Raila Odinga for uniting the country through their handshake.
“I fully support the President in his fight against corruption. These stories we are hearing about billions of shillings having been stolen in the construction of dams is not good for the country,” she said.
“Talking of water, I recently told President Kenyatta while he was on his way to Arusha that Kitengela is in dire need of the commodity and he should listen to the cries of many.”
The President promised to act and sent the Water CS to meet with her, the legislator said.
“After we deliberated on the same with the CS, it was agreed that the national government provide direct water to Kitengela and not through the Export Processing Zone. The county government’s duty is to take that commodity to the houses,” Tobiko said.
She took issue with Lenku for suggesting that the county government will put up a booth where residents will buy water.
Lenku said a 20-litre jerrycan will be sold for less than Sh5. But Tobiko wants the water piped to houses.
“Why is Lenku taking the people of Kitengela to the 17th Century, when water was transported by donkey carts? A modern woman living on the seventh floor needs water from the pipes in the house and not kiosks,” she said.
Tobiko said the county government gets Sh9 billion each year and should use the money to improve lives.
