Lamu County is set to digitize all land and property records in a bid to foolproof the systems and curb corruption and land grabbing.
The move will also protect local communities whose lands are acquired for county and national projects and ensure seamless compensation for the same.
The announcement was made by Lamu governor Issa Timamy at the county headquarters on Tuesday.
Timamy observed a growing tendency where government officials and locals have been openly encroaching and invading public lands and properties, a situation he says has worsened land woes in the region.
The governor said the digitization of the systems will strengthen transparency, and accountability while also ensuring fiscal discipline in the use of devolved resources, especially the land to deliver better services and enhance general equitable economic development.
He said the move is vital as it will also enable the updating of valuation rolls which are critical and integral components that will as well enable the county government to optimize its revenue potential.
“The process is well underway and very soon we will have all our records digitized. The systems will help us keep an eye on our public properties and the encroachers will definitely have to explain how they acquired such. We want land grabbing to be a gone issue,” said Timamy.
He said the system will also ensure the identification and reclamation of all grabbed public lands and properties.
“Even if it’s the county or national governments in question, they must explain how they came to own the properties or lands. In the event that the government took land belonging to the community of individuals, it will be returned. This goes both ways,” added Timamy.
Under the new plan, all private citizens whose lands and properties had been taken away by the government will be effectively compensated.
Locals have expressed optimism that the new approach will mark a major milestone in the management of land records in the county and will equally ease land searches and reduce spending time in offices.
The move is also expected to curb corruption by limiting interaction between officials and clients as much as possible.
“Corruption happens in offices when one is forced to pay up for a service they deserve but this now means, one can do this at their own convenience," said Mohamed Shasri.
