• He said the government has made great strides in the roll out of the National Land Information Management System dubbed Ardhisasa.
• Njeru said digitisation is critical to land investors since it is expected to make it easier to search, retrieve, update records, transfer and register land.
Image: MAURICE ALAL
@alalmaurice
Lands CS Zachariah Njeru has said the government is committed to digitising land records for efficient land management in the country.
He said the government has made great strides in the roll out of the National Land Information Management System dubbed Ardhisasa.
Njeru praised his predecessor Farida Karoney for her commitment towards land digitisation during her tenure.
The digitisation, which only covers Nairobi, will be rolled out to other parts of the country.
“This programme is critical to land investors since it is expected to make it easier to search, retrieve, update records, transfer and register land from the comfort of one’s computer and other digital devices,” Njeru said.
The CS spoke during the seventh Institute of Surveyors of Kenya Regional Conference in Kisumu on Friday.
Njeru said digitisation will also diminish physical human interaction, which is prone to abuse.
The conference brought together more than 500 property developers, valuers, surveyors, real estate agents, GIS experts and academia from Kenya, Zimbabwe, Nigeria, South Africa and Ghana.
The CS said he is aware of the challenges that the professionals have raised over the Ardhisasa platform and pledged to address them collectively.
“I want to assure you that the ministry will look into these issues with a view to ensuring that transactions can be easily done without unnecessary bureaucracy,” he said.
Njeru said the ministry is currently undertaking conversion of titles in line with the Land Registration Act 2012 and also instituting 3D cadasters through the enactment of Sectional Properties Act, 2020.
“Through this Act, all properties and property boundaries require to be georeferenced. This guarantees on positional accuracy towards eradication of boundary disputes and the security of tenure the owners of housing units require,” he said.
The government, Njeru said, is working towards addressing some challenges on the processing of the surveys and titles on the digital platform.
He said the ministry is fine-tuning the various modules to make the processing of the sectional property surveys and titles smooth.
"The ministry will also be pushing for amendments to the Act, to provide for phased developments as well as long term leases," Njeru said.
Already, the taskforce on the review of the Land Survey’s Sector Legal and Policy Framework, presented its report through which two bills were formulated and the first policy on Land Surveying and Mapping in Kenya developed.
The taskforce said the existing institutional framework for surveying and mapping in Kenya has led to overconcentration on cadastral survey.
It established minimal activities on survey such as topographic mapping, establishment and maintenance of a uniformed geodetic control network, establishment and maintenance of spatial data infrastructure and hydrographic surveying services.
“As a result, the existing structure has not been effective and efficient in the provision of services and inclusion of the emerging survey and mapping trends and dynamics as seen in other jurisdictions,” Njeru said.
Despite the Survey Act (Cap 299) being the primary legislation regulating the practice of land surveying in Kenya, there are other legislations and policy directives that guide the practice of surveying and mapping in different aspects.
The ministry, he said, intends to enact a new Survey Act, Land Surveyors Registration Bill as well as the Policy on Land Surveying and Mapping to address these emerging challenges.
Njeru pledged to ensure the Valuers Act is reviewed and a new one enacted through concerted efforts from the stakeholders.
He disclosed that the Ministry of Lands in consultation with the National Treasury amended the Stamp Duty Act to allow valuers in private practice to carry out valuations for stamp duty purposes, for efficiency in land transfers.
Njeru said the Estate Agency Act is also due for review, having been enacted in the 80’s.
He said the ministry has been working with the Estate Agency Registration Board to review the Act and align it with the present realities in the Estate Agency profession.
The intention is to inculcate professionalism in estate management, he added.
Njeru further challenged the professionals in the land sector to embrace technologies that mitigate against climate change in land administration and management, to ensure sustainable use of the land resource.