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Uganda House, Chester House among buildings targeted in City Hall’s Sh50bn unpaid land rates raid
Uganda House along Kenyatta Avenue, Nairobi, pictured on May 13, 2025.
Nairobi County has launched an operation targeting hundreds of buildings across the city that have been listed for defaulting on land rate payments.
Uganda House, which is yet to reopen following the damage it incurred during the Gen Z demonstrations last year, is among the buildings targeted in the Nairobi Central Business District.
Also targeted is Chester House, located along Koinange Street.
“Today we are conducting the operation here in the CBD, targeting four buildings. Uganda House is one of them, as you can see, and the other one is Chester House. Tomorrow, we will move to other places such as Westlands,” said Mr Tiras Njoroge, the County Chief Officer in charge of Revenue.
While leading the operation on Tuesday, Mr Njoroge said they will be merciless this year, adding that the waiver period has been ignored by hundreds of landowners.
“We have come to start our clampdown activity. We are clamping down plot number 209, which owes the county around four million shillings. We are going to put a notice on the building that this property belongs to Nairobi City County until all the debts have been cleared,” Mr Njoroge said.
According to Mr Njoroge, landowners who have defaulted should expect officials from the county to demand payment going forward, with the intention of collecting no less than Sh10 billion in the next two months—out of the total Sh50 billion owed.
“We are going to get into the buildings, register all the tenants into our NairobiPay system, and teach them how to make payments. We will expect them to remit their rent every single month to the Nairobi City Government until these properties are fully paid up,” Mr Njoroge said.
He added that out of 256,000 registered landowners in the city, only 50,000—or about 20 percent—have been consistently paying rates over the years, a trend he said has denied the county much-needed revenue for development activities.
High-value properties
Mr Njoroge noted that the enforcement operation will focus on high-value properties in areas such as the CBD, Kilimani, Kileleshwa, Runda Estate, Dagoretti South, Dagoretti North, among others.
The crackdown also comes just days after the county administration began evicting tenants who have failed to pay rent amounting to millions of shillings.
Nairobi Housing Chief Officer Lydia Mathia had earlier stated that tenants in key estates such as Woodley, Kariokor, Uhuru, Ngara, and Harambee collectively owe the county about Sh200 million.
Last week, while appearing before the Senate Committee, the county said that some tenants have not paid rent for 13 years, despite repeated notices and eviction warnings.
Mr Njoroge said that while the operation will be carried out in accordance with the Land Rates Act 2024, those who wish to approach the county with payment plans are advised to do so or risk losing their properties.