Decline in land disputes in Kisii due to digital roll

Land disputes in Kisii county have reduced drastically following the digitisation of land records, Land Registrar Steve Mokaya said.

“Kisii was a hotspot for land-grabbing but not anymore. We have also ensured landowners are present when any land transaction is done. Even cases have gone down at the Land and Environment Court,” Mokaya said.

Speaking to journalists, Mokaya added that he instituted reforms in the lands registry which include an open-door policy and dealing with land cartels. 

The registrar said 90 per cent of public land and government houses in Kisii have been grabbed. The grabbers, he said, are powerful individuals including former Kisii Municipal Council mayors. 

“Those who have grabbed government houses are replacing them with flats which have not been approved by the county government,” he added. 

He, however, warned that the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission and the National Land Commission are in the process of recovering all grabbed land.

“Public land will revert to the government regardless of who grabbed it. All means will be used to recover public land,” he added.

He said so far, land has been recovered next to the Kisii Golf Course where a state lodge has been constructed.

Public utilities that have been grabbed include Kisii Cemetery, a dumpsite, Kisii police station, Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission, National Intelligence Service, Kisii Fire Station, Oresi Hospital, Kisii Children’s Home, Kenya Agriculture Research Institute, public markets and several educational institutions.

Senator Sam Ongeri has surrendered a piece of land meant for a market, which he was irregularly allocated.

Former NLC chairman Mohammed Swazuri described land-grabbing in Kisii as “raw and daring greed”.

Mokaya said his office has frozen any transactions on leasehold land in Nyanchwa Estate. 

“We had to move in and stop any transactions because most of the people acquired the land fraudulently. Up to four people are claiming one piece of land and all claim to have genuine documents and to have been paying land rates.

"Allocation of land in this area was turned upside down. It’s a big mess and I’m determined to clean it up,” Mokaya added.

He appealed to Kisii residents to follow the right procedures when acquiring land and during succession.

“Another big headache is succession because our people like shortcuts. We have had cases where widows and orphans are disinherited through fraud. This process involves brokers, quack lawyers and some judiciary officials,” he added.

Mokaya further decried family boundary disputes saying almost every homestead in Kisii has a boundary dispute.

Edited by R.Wamochie