Embakasi Ranching title deed fees to be waived

The government has waived title deed fees for shareholders of Embakasi Ranching Company as the land-buying company heads toward winding up.

Land and Physical Planning PS Nicholas Muraguri said this as he attended a meeting at the ranch’s offices in Ruai ahead of its supposed February 1 dissolution.

Dr Muraguri said stakeholders were in agreement that the waiver would speed up dissolution of the company ahead of the award of title deeds to shareholders by February.

The announcement was made as it emerged that the process was behind schedule due to charges imposed by the company on shareholders for processing the documents.

“Of the estimated 13,449 shareholders with green certificates, only 300 had paid the cost of titling, two weeks ahead of the winding up deadline,” Dr Muraguri said.

Members complained that the process was being complicated by the ranch’s leaders’ insistence of charging fees that range between Sh50,000 and Sh200,000. The chairman Samuel Thuita informed the PS that members will now be required to pay survey fees only, which had been cut from Sh50,000 to Sh20,000.

READ: Troubled Embakasi Ranching set to be wound up on Feb 1

The Ruai, Nairobi County, based company has two sets of shareholders; original shareholders and those who have bought plots from them. The secondary shareholders will be subjected to full charges though.

Director of Surveys, Caesare Mbaria, said his office had also zero-rated survey fees and urged leaders to follow suit and scrap some charges.

“This is the bone of contention. The company is charging, we as government are not charging. We are dealing with a private company but the common good must prevail since we are implementing an executive order where the president is determined to wind up this company and put its controversies to rest,” he said.