In a legal drama that sends shock waves through the entire county of Kenya, the Environment and Land Court at Kajiado has declared that the Kajiado County Government’s new land rates and increased land rent are against the law and unconstitutional, thus putting an end to their collection and invalidating the finance law of the county to the extent of these provisions.
The decision made on January 21, 2026, is a landmark win for landowners and a strong condemnation of the practices of Kajiado County in raising revenue.
Justice Mugo Mwangi found that the county had not adhered to constitutional and legal requirements for levying land rates, including the obligatory valuation of land and public participation of the local people in making decisions.
The judge observed that Kajiado officials imposed new land rates and rents without getting a valuation roll prepared, which is a legal requirement that protects property owners’ rights by allowing them to object before any changes take place.
“The respondents have not followed the constitutional and statutory framework that governs the imposition and variation of land rates,” the judgment reads. It also emphasizes that the reliance on interim data and mapping instruments without any proof cannot justify such drastic fiscal changes.
The case was presented to the court by Sheria Mtaani, an advocacy group that disputed the legality of Kajiado’s new land rates, which had been announced for the first time in January 2025. A subsequent notice had indicated that the county might take possession of land parcels that had three years of unpaid rates, a threat the court deemed retroactive and illegal.
The court invalidated some parts of the Kajiado County Finance Act, 2023, declaring them unconstitutional and nullifying the notices that imposed the controversial charges. Justice Mwangi made it clear that public consultation should be directly related to land rate setting, not just some peripheral discussions during budget processes.
Kajiado County, in its defense, claimed that it conducted public meetings and applied interim valuation data as the basis for the changes, but the judge considered these explanations not only inadequate but also procedurally incorrect.
The ruling puts an end to the contested land rates’ immediate enforcement and grants protection to thousands of landowners from the risk of having their assets confiscated, besides being slapped with punitive arrears penalties. Legal experts argue that the decision will have repercussions for the revenue plans of counties across the board where local governments have been finding it difficult to operate revenue initiatives within the confines of the constitution.
While the Kajiado County Government is yet to provide a detailed response to the ruling, the judgment has already set a clear precedent regarding the limitations of taxing powers conferred by the national government to the local authority, especially in situations where property rights and procedural fairness are concerned.
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