Farida Karoney has pledged to weed out all cartels should she become Lands cabinet secretary.
During her vetting on Thursday afternoon, the veteran journalist said her first priority will be understanding why the cartels have flourished.
"These cartels are flourishing because of poor record keeping that allows third parties easy access," she told the appointments committee.
"If we eliminate these cartels and secure all records, the land sector will reach a big milestone."
Karoney had been serving as news managing director at Royal Media Services before she was nominated by president Uhuru Kenyatta.
She noted the need to digitise records at the Lands ministry to curb fraud.
Eighteen out of 57 registries have been digitised so far.
The nominee also emphasised the need for
a comprehensive systems audit for all digitised systems to be secured.
"There is also need to improve storage structures and train all the staff on land reforms so the issue of reforms can be dealt with holistically," she told MPs.
"We need to secure land rights, bearing in mind it is not an equitable resource, amid efforts to have security of tenure."
Regarding the three million title deeds Uhuru issued,
Karoney said she will use the six-month period granted by a court to create a robust system that ease the implementation of land laws.
"Let people own land. We have a lot of land which is not alienated and which therefore results in community conflicts. Sitting on land without a tittle is a recipe for conflict so what needs to be done is ensuring security of titles that have been issued."
The nominee further said her
ministry will deal with all historical land injustices as recommended in the report of The Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission.
Karoney said she will also strive to solve any conflicts between her ministry and the National Lands Commission.
"We don't have to always fight. We can work on the few areas of conflict by discussing where conflict arises."
Others who were vetted today were Monica Juma (cabinet secretary, Foreign Affairs) and Margaret Kobia (cabinet secretary, Public Service).
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