Clients at the Bungoma lands office can neither process title deeds nor conduct searches after the regional registrar was convicted of corruption-related charges by a Kisumu court last month.
Remmy Nganyi was sentenced to five years in prison or pay a fine of Sh12 million.
He did not raise the money and was taken to Kodiaga Prison in Kisumu.
Processing of title deeds can only be done by the registrar who must also supervise land searches. Nganyi's conviction means activities at the office have stalled.
Rights groups have asked the government to immediately send a new registrar to take over Nganyi's duties.
Speaking to reporters in Bungoma town on Monday, Mwatikho rights group executive director Taiga Wanyanja said the situation was so bad because residents were unable to use their title deeds to bail out their relatives.
“There is need for urgent intervention by the national government because we really need to have a registrar in Bungoma,” Wanyanja said.
There was a long queue of customers waiting for services only to be told their requests could not be effected because there was no registrar.
Most were disappointed.
“I have been coming here for over one month and unfortunately every day, I'm told a new registrar has not been posted here,” Mary Namaswa said.
An official at the lands office who didn’t want to named said there was the possibility of a backlog if the situation was not quickly resolved.
"It will be worse because we already have a backlog," the official said.
(Edited by Peter Obuya)
