The government will fulfil its pledge to issue three million title deeds before the end of next year, Lands CS Jacob Kaimenyi has said.
Historical land injustices in the Rift Valley and at the Coast will also be resolved speedily, he said yesterday.
“We have already put in place new laws, which will help us speed up what we have planned to do and operate more effectively,” Kaimenyi said.
He spoke during a tour of the Lands offices in Eldoret town. Kaimenyi was with Uasin Gishu county commissioner Abdi Hassan and Lands executive Robert Ngisirey.
He said in the current financial year the government will process and issue 1.2 million title deeds.
Kaimenyi said the ministry has recorded extensive improvement in handling land issues and the process of digitising all records is going on smoothly. He said 18 out of the 56 stations will be digitised by next year.
“We want Kenyans to be able to do their transactions online. Issues like doing a search will easily be handled by Kenyans at any place online,” the CS said.
Kaimenyi said grabbed public land will be recovered.
“On historical land injustices, we will deal with those who misused their offices or powers to grab other people’s land or take away public land,” he said.
The ministry is working with the National Land Commission to deal with matters touching on public land, Kaimenyi said.
He said the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission will carry out a systems audit to identify weaknesses in the Lands department.
Kaimenyi said staff of the ministry should support the process because it does not target them. He said donors support the reforms by the ministry and the NLC.
Kaimenyi said the government has also developed a land use policy.
Hassan said a lot of public land in parts of the county, such Moiben, has been grabbed, making it difficult for the government to develop public amenities.