Land grabbing in Nairobi could become a thing of the past once the county digitises registration in February.
Digitisation using Sh384 million Geographic Information System technology is funded by the World Bank.
Lands executive Christopher Khaemba yesterday said, “Multiple allocation of the same land has been a major problem. The system we are adopting will bring this mess to an end.”
The county has been using a manual system, which Khaemba said is easy to manipulate. Land documents increasingly have been going missing.
Khaemba said 200 deaths related to land disputes are reported annually.
He said the GIS technology shows the location and owner of land at the click of a button.
“Once we complete this exercise, we will convene meetings and engage residents to find solutions to disputes,” Khaemba said.
Some City Hall officers have been implicated in fraudulent land dealings.
These include abetting land grabbing by issuing multiple allotment letters and tampering with records.
Khaemba said the problem is grave and has been giving him and Governor Evans Kidero “sleepless nights”.
“The problem has become a security threat. People are killing each other because of land,” he said.
Two weeks ago, Kidero said, “I spend spend 60 per cent of my time dealing with land-related issues. It is a big problem, especially because it involves cartels,” he said.
On Wednesday, a senior rates officer as arrested by EACC detectives for allegedly receiving Sh500,000 fake money after being set up.
Dennis Manoti was arrested at Ankara hotel in the city centre while taking the money from Taj Mall owner Ramesh Gorasia.
He hired a private investigator to probe what was happening at City Hall’s rates office, after he was denied statements for his 4.2 acre parcel on Old Mombasa Road.