An advocacy group has moved to court seeking orders to compel the government to implement a Cabinet decision waiving interest and penalties on outstanding land settlement loans owed by low-income settlers across the country.
Sheria Mtaani, a non-governmental organisation, filed an urgent application arguing that despite the Cabinet resolution passed on November 11, 2025, the relevant government agencies have failed to enforce the waiver, allowing interest and penalties to continue accruing.
The Cabinet decision approved a waiver on interest and penalties on loans issued under the Land Settlement Fund, affecting settlers in 520 settlement schemes spread across 26 counties, with an accumulated loan portfolio estimated at Sh12.3 billion.
According to court documents, the waiver was intended to ease the financial burden on low-income settlers, enable them to clear their principal balances, obtain title deeds and use their land as collateral for investment, in line with the government’s Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda.
The waiver followed recommendations by the Land Settlement Fund Board of Trustees, which noted that many settlers had been unable to repay accrued interest due to prolonged economic hardship, low agricultural productivity and decades-long arrears.
However, the group through their lawyers Danstan Omari and Shadrack Wambui argue that the Principal Secretary in the State Department for Lands, acting under the Ministry of Lands, has failed to implement the directive, allowing interest and penalties to continue accruing despite the Cabinet resolution.
They contend that the continued non-implementation has exposed settlers to further financial hardship, forcing them to service both principal amounts and accumulating interest contrary to the government’s stated policy position.
“This inaction has effectively nullified the intended relief and plunged settlers into deeper financial hardship,” the applicants state in their court filings.
In court documents, the applicants say the failure to act has undermined efforts to resolve historical land injustices and denied beneficiaries the opportunity to regularise land accounts that have remained in arrears for decades.
They are seeking interim orders compelling the respondents to immediately implement the waiver pending the hearing and determination of the case, as well as a declaration that the Cabinet resolution is legal and enforceable.
The applicants also seek orders directing the decentralisation of land services to improve access for settlers in remote counties, and refunds for beneficiaries who continued to pay interest and penalties after the Cabinet resolution was issued.
