[Source: Business Daily, by Stanley Ngotho]
A court has ordered Petroleum and Mining Cabinet Secretary John Munyes to resolve the Sh 17 billion land rate dispute between Kajiado County Government and Tata Chemicals Magadi Ltd within six months.
Mr Munyes is supposed to immediately convene an arbitration between the two parties under the supervision of the court, High Court Judge Reuben Nyakundi has ruled.
Justice Nyakundi said the arbitration should determine the exact acreage of land leased by Tata Magadi Ltd that the county government is supposed to charge land rates.
The court has also averred that the area covered by Lake Magadi and the 145-km railway land stretch from Magadi to Konza are not rateable by the county government as they belong to the national government and the Kenya Railways Corporation respectively.
To further buttress the urgency of the process, Justice Nyakundi said the dispute must be resolved within six months, meaning it should be concluded by November this year.
In an apparent legal score against the multinational, the court validated the County’s Finance Act (2014), the basis of which the devolved unit uses to claim Sh 17 billion as land rates from the 224,991 acres of land which the company has leased.
The rate as per the Act is Sh 14,000 an acre.
In a case filed at High Court in Kajiado, Tata Chemicals Magadi Ltd wanted the County’s Finance Act declared null and void saying it was enacted without following due process.
The county government had earlier threatened to shut down the giant soda ash processor.
[Full article: Business Daily, by Stanley Ngotho]
