A total of 28,000 title deeds will be issued to members of Embakasi Ranch before the end of this month as part of the ongoing national titling according to President Uhuru Kenyatta.
President Kenyatta said this on Wednesday as he handed out 2,100 title deeds to Dandora, Kayole, Mathare and Kariobangi land owners at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre grounds.
The national titling has been ongoing since 2013. Embakasi Ranch was established in 1975. The shareholders were mainly from Kiambu and Murang’a, many of whom have since died.
The company was to be wound up in February 2018 but this did not happen.
President Kenyatta urged the title deeds recipients not to be duped into disposing of of their land and instead utilise the documents to improve their well being.
"When you get your title deed, please be careful not to be cheated with little money to sell your land which you've fought for all these years. Keep it (title deed) and use it to help yourself, your children and your grandchildren," he said.
The government has issued over five million title deeds since 2013.
The KICC function was attended by among others Governor Mike Sonko, Nairobi Metropolitan Services director-general Mohamed Badi, Lands Principal Secretary Nicholas Muraguri and Nairobi Regional Coordinator Kang’ethe Thuku.
The President directed the NMS and the county government to work together and ensure that all title deeds are processed. He said he will deliver his campaign pledges to Kenyans irrespective of the politics.
"I will deliver on my pledges. I will deliver on my promise,” the head of state said in reference to service delivery in Nairobi.
Sonko also cautioned recipients against selling land at throw-away prices and instead use the title deeds to borrow money and develop the plots.
He said the county initially targeted to issue 50,000 title deeds but the process had slowed down. He attributed this to illegal allotment of land in some areas.
“But I'm optimistic after today's event we shall kick-start the process again until every Nairobian has received his or her title deed,” he said.
President Kenyatta kick-started the issuance of the title deeds on May 30, 2018, at Jacaranda grounds in Embakasi.
He had at the time said 100,000 more titles would be released by the end of that year but this never happened. This was intended to unlock business and investment worth more than Sh20 billion.
Sonko at the time told owners of 50,000 plots in Eastlands to wait as City Hall audited records for identity purposes.
“We will not issue title deeds until we conduct an audit to identify the genuine landowners and weed out land grabbers from the list of beneficiaries,” Sonko told representatives of Mukuru kwa Njenga residents tussling with land dealers over a property given to squatters by the national government in the 1990s.
Another factor was the prohibitive Sh30,000 legal fee the beneficiaries were to pay before the title deeds were processed.
- mwaniki fm
