OUTCRY:Property owners said the rates were expensiveRwanda Natural Resource Authority (RNRA) has announced it plans to slash lease fees for 19,386 land title holders in Kigali in line with the land taxation policy.   Lease fees and taxes have sparked a public outcry with most land owners saying they were expensive.The confusion forced the government to act with the Prime Minister, Pierre Damien Habumuremyi, issuing directives to concerned institutions to address the irregularities cited by land owners.The taxes levied on land under the tenure system of 2005, whose implementation began last month, has been a subject of controversy with landowners crying foul over the disparities involved in the payment and the limited time given to pay.The head of Land Technical Operations division at RNRA, Thierry Hoza Ngoga, said the problem came as a result of wrong information provided by landowners during the land registration exercise."Since some people intend to build houses in their plots, they had registered their land as being used for residential purposes instead of farming and other activities currently carried out on the land,” Ngoga said. Ngoga said land owners in rural areas using land for farming are charged a lease fee only if they own more than two hectares. "For farmers, land is charged Rwf1000 per hectare while in urban areas, the law gives district councils powers to charge between Rwf 30 to 80 per square metre,” he said.During a recent consultative meeting on land lease and taxation that brought together local leaders, decision makers, civil society and RNRA representatives, it emerged that in some residential areas, people were charged different lease fees despite owning similar houses.RNRA Director General, Dr. Emmanuel Nkurunziza, maintained that valuing of land will depend on the location, size or use of the property.It was recently resolved that the authorities look into the fees and come up with a minimum fee that is affordable for all land owners.Under a 2005 Ministerial decree, land owners are meant to pay a tax of Rwf 80 per square metre for residential land, Rwf 150 for commercial land in all areas classified as urban areas, and tax between Rwf 50 and Rwf 30 on rural land.To avoid the concern of landowners paying tax on land that is not economically productive, it was agreed that all people with land in urban areas be considered as "rural” and that people with less than 2 hectares should not be taxed, unless the owner wants to change the land for commercial production.Urban residents whose land property are registered for residential purposes but used for agricultural production were advised to consult with land registration authorities.