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Owning idle land to become costly
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itz
#1 Posted : Tuesday, November 03, 2009 10:52:00 PM
Rank: Member

Joined: 3/20/2009
Posts: 348
http://www.nation.co.ke/...4/-/uol5vr/-/index.html

its about time this sector becomes more controlled and organized.whats your take?
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mwana
#2 Posted : Wednesday, November 04, 2009 1:17:00 AM
Rank: Member

Joined: 6/4/2007
Posts: 35
The key phrase here is 'to be'. That means the following steps:



1. Taskforce to look into it first.

2. Bill to be drafted based on taskforce recommendations.

3. Bill to be tabled in cabinet for approval

4. Cabinet forms sub-committee to look at bill

5. Cabinet sub-committee returns bill to main cabinet

6. Cabinet approves bill to be tabled in bunge.

7. Minister tables bill in bunge

8. Bill to be voted for bunge

9. Bill to be signed by prezzo.

10. Bill to be gazetted for operalization.

11. Implementation task force to be created by 'line ministry'.



Finally then 'owning land to be costly' becomes reality



Now,anywhere here vested interests can stop or slow down this process almost indefinitely. So don't hold your breath. Plus all this processes take time,add in 2012 election and you can forget about it.
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itz
#3 Posted : Wednesday, November 04, 2009 2:51:00 AM
Rank: Member

Joined: 3/20/2009
Posts: 348
@mwana.i do agree with you and i know it won't happen in the near future.but its a good start and the fact there is discussion about it; is very positive.
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mwana
#4 Posted : Wednesday, November 04, 2009 5:32:00 AM
Rank: Member

Joined: 6/4/2007
Posts: 35
Start,a 'good start'?! I beg to differ.

Maybe you are young.

They have been talking about this from the days Kibaki was chairman of DP and Matiba was fighting with shikuku for Ford-Asili control.
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mukiha
#5 Posted : Wednesday, November 04, 2009 5:58:00 AM
Rank: Elder

Joined: 6/27/2008
Posts: 4,114
What is the definition of 'Idle Land'?

In my view,ALL land should be heavily taxed. That way,anyone owning land will feel the pressure to make use of it or sell it......

If it can't pay back enough to cover the taxes,it becomes a liability and soon enough you have to do something on it.

Behind the gardens...Behind the wall...Under the tree (Including: Red...Dark Blue...Yellow)
Nothing is real unless it can be named; nothing has value unless it can be sold; money is worthless unless you spend it.
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mukiha
#6 Posted : Wednesday, November 04, 2009 6:02:00 AM
Rank: Elder

Joined: 6/27/2008
Posts: 4,114
I'd propose sh10,000 per acre per month for parcels of one acre or smaller

And sh20,000 per acre per month for parcels larger than one acre

What do you think?

Behind the gardens...Behind the wall...Under the tree (Including: Red...Dark Blue...Yellow)
Nothing is real unless it can be named; nothing has value unless it can be sold; money is worthless unless you spend it.
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wangura
#7 Posted : Wednesday, November 04, 2009 6:41:00 AM
Rank: Member

Joined: 2/24/2009
Posts: 29
If i have 5,000 acres of idle land and to avoid being taxed declare it as a ranch and keep 2 (two!) cows,shall it be recognised as land under utilisation since it is no longer idle? Just wondering...
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gift
#8 Posted : Wednesday, November 04, 2009 6:49:00 AM
Rank: Member

Joined: 10/8/2009
Posts: 39
Ownership of idle land has been debated upon eras ago. It is even contained in Sessional paper No. 10. (Cost less than 100 at the govt press) . In kenya today,land is an economic good whose allocation and access is primarily guided by market mechanisms.

Do you think there is any way out to make it a social commodity to which every Kenyan is entitled as a basic need ?


Truly Unique!
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FundamentAli
#9 Posted : Wednesday, November 04, 2009 8:06:00 AM
Rank: Veteran

Joined: 11/4/2008
Posts: 1,289
Location: Nairobi
Before the government moves ahead with such a misadviced bill,they should first agree on the land use policy. If you discourage people owning big chunks of land,then it means you have to allow the uneconomical subdivison of land which will filled up within twenty years by the fast breeding kenyans. I think our focus in Kenya is too much on who owns it instead of how do we best utilise the land for economic activity,food security etc while still taking into consideration the environment. Ownership of land is not permanent. The squatters in the coast region who were given title deeds sold their land and went to squat in other areas. Agriculture is also one of the less profitable industries. Will the government intervene where farmers incurr huge losses? The obligation has to be two ways.

The other issue is which land is this we are talking about. This bill might only be targeting the arable land which might account for less than 5% of the total land in Kenya. No one has an issue with land ownership in the arid and semi-arid region of the country which comprise 80% of the land.

Kenyans save by buying plots. Those plots form part of our parents retirements schemes as they do not have an alternative. Land is also used as collateral and the banks may not be willing to lend the farmers money on the strength of the value of their land.

A totally misguided policy if you ask me.



Baada ya dhiki,faaraja
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Mainat
#10 Posted : Wednesday, November 04, 2009 8:36:00 AM
Rank: Veteran

Joined: 11/21/2006
Posts: 1,590
The policy would be idiocy on several levels:


Its an additional tax on land ownership. Note in Kenya,we've at best 4 main avenues of investment-bonds,shares,land and houses. So far,it seems to me that only the last 2 attract any tax.
Implementation will be difficult. So if I buy a plot in Muthaiga but don't have the money to build on straight away,I'd for example have two chicken coops or maybe plant hay for resale to avoid paying idle tax. How does that help that neighbourhood?
It avoids the critical issue on land policy. Corruption. Kenyatta with his policy of 'kau ni ka wira wa muthuri' went to his expensive grave owning 500k hectares of prime Kenyan land. The idiot who succeeded him took almost as much. And ofcourse,now almost everybody in the grand coalation has land they got by foul means. Why don't we start the land policy there?
Land usage has to be location based. So if you own land in Nyeri (which has a lot of arable land),this policy make sense. In Nai,it doesn't.


www.mjengakenya.blogspot.com
Sehemu ndio nyumba
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