Nairobi County shuts down Freemasons’ church over Ksh.19 million land rate arrears

The Nairobi County Government has clamped down the Grand Lodge of East Africa’s Freemasons’ Hall in the city centre over land rate arrears amounting to Ksh.19 million.

The enforcement operation led by Health CEC Suzanne Silantoi, Chief Officer office the Governor Priscilla Mahinda and Chief Officer for Housing Lydia Mathia, is part of a wider county campaign targeting rate defaulters across the capital.

“This particular premises owes Nairobi County over Ksh.19 million in land rate arrears," said Silantoi.

She added: "We will not only be clamping properties belonging to defaulters, but we are also moving to disconnect services such as water and sewer lines where necessary.”

According to county officials, the Freemasons’ Hall was clamped following due process, including the issuance of demand notices and public warnings.

“Before any clamping is done, we issue demand notices and publish the same in local dailies instructing landowners to settle outstanding rates,” Silantoi explained. “Failure to comply gives us the legal mandate to clamp.”

Chief Officer Lydia Mathia noted that while the enforcement may inconvenience tenants, the law permits the county to disconnect services for non-compliant property owners.

“Disconnection of such services is within the law,” she said. “If you can’t pay land rates, how do you expect to benefit from county services? It is unfortunate that tenants may suffer due to their landlords’ negligence.”

According to County records, out of approximately 256,000 parcels of land registered in Nairobi, only 50,000 are currently up to date with theirland rates—representing a compliance rate of just 20 percent.

According to the city county, it stands to recover up to Ksh.10 billion in unpaid land rates. Property owners who are in arrears will have their buildings marked, clamped, and notices issued to tenants, advising them to redirect rent payments directly to the Nairobi County revenue account until the debts are cleared.