Cabinet approves interest and penalty waiver on land settlement loans
The Cabinet has approved waiving interest and penalties on outstanding land settlement loans, a move aimed at easing the financial burden on low-income settlers and supporting the government’s Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda.
In a statement following a cabinet meeting on Tuesday, November 11, 2025, the decision follows recommendations from the Land Settlement Fund Board of Trustees.
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“The decision follows recommendations by the Land Settlement Fund Board of Trustees, which noted that many settlers have been unable to repay accrued interest due to economic hardship and challenges affecting agricultural productivity.
The waiver will benefit thousands of settlers across 520 settlement schemes in 26 counties, covering an accumulated loan portfolio of Ksh12.3 billion.
With the waiver in place, beneficiaries will now be able to obtain title deeds, use them as collateral for investment, and regularise land accounts that have been in arrears for decades.
The initiative is part of the government’s broader effort to resolve historical land injustices, boost agricultural productivity, and unlock land-based economic opportunities.
Implementation of the waiver will follow the Public Finance Management Act, with a 12-month moratorium granted to allow beneficiaries to clear their principal balances.
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Ministry of Lands waiver plans
This comes months after the Ministry of Lands announced it planned to waive over Ksh6 billion in interest on unpaid settlement fees to help land allottees collect unclaimed title deeds nationwide.
Lands CS Alice Wahome, in July 2025, said she had already prepared a cabinet memo and sent it to the Attorney General and the Treasury Cabinet Secretary on the issue.
“I have sent a request to the Treasury CS. We have also discussed with the president so that if it is agreeable, we will waive the interest on the fees. I have a pending Cabinet memo, which I have sent to the AG and the CS Treasury,” she said.
The CS was responding to requests by Kilifi leaders who said thousands of residents had been unable to collect their title deeds due to the huge debts owed to the Settlement Fund Trust (SFT) and called for a waiver on the interest to enable them to pay up.
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Wahome acknowledged that thousands of title deeds lay uncollected in various land registries across the country, with 33,000 documents lying unclaimed at the new Malindi Lands Registry.
She asked beneficiaries of settlement schemes to promptly pay the ‘small fees’ and collect their ownership documents, saying title deeds should be kept in safe custody by holders for the security of their land.
