•NLC had protested ministry's publication of regulations effecting operations of the electronic land registration system.
•The new system is envisioned to improve efficiency in the process as well as reduce paperwork and improve storage.
The Lands ministry has proposed to relieve Kenyans from paying Sh500 fees for processing title deeds.
Lands Cabinet Secretary Farida Karoney, in a set of four regulations, seeks to remove the charge.
Among the proposed regulations is one that seeks to delete provisions for such payment as stipulated in the Land Titles (Registration Fees) Rules, 1994.
The fee is also stipulated in the Government Lands (Fees) Rules, 1994; as well as the Registration of Titles (Fees) Rules, 2010.
Karoney has proposed amendments to the Registered Land Rules removing the requirement for such payment.
Currently, on applying for registration or filing of any land instruments, each title is charged Sh500.
The charge applies for cases where fee for instruments of more than one title is calculated as if only one title were affected.
Other charges remain unaffected, including charges for land searches which remain at not more than Sh1,000.
Aba Eban, a real estate expert, said the move by government sounds interesting as registration of titles is a key revenue stream for the Lands ministry.
“Land has been treated as a luxurious product hence not exempted from fines. If they are removing the charge, what are they facilitating?” Eban said.
Calls and a text to CS Karoney for clarification went unanswered by press time. MPs are expected to ratify the proposed laws before they take effect.
The proposals come against the backdrop of a simmering row between the Lands ministry and the National Land Commission (NLC) over the publication of a set of other regulations affecting leases and stamp duty.
They are the Land Registration (Electronic Transactions) Regulations, 2020; Stamp Duty (Valuation) Regulations, 2020; Land (Amendment) Regulations, 2020; and Land (Allocation of Public Land) (Amendment, Regulations) 2020.
Others are Survey (Electronic Cadastre Transactions), Regulations 2020; Land (Extension and Renewal of Leases) (Amendment) Rules 2020; Stamp Duty (Amendment) Regulations, 2020; and Physical and Land Use Planning (Electronic Development Control and Enforcement System) Regulations, 2020.
NLC chairman Gershom Otachi in a May 8 letter seen by the Star cited the regulations as unconstitutional.
He accuses a ministry taskforce of usurping NLC roles, further lamenting about a reference to his office having approved the regulations.
Otachi says in his letter to Karoney that the public notice on the regulations was misleading as the commission had not initiated the same.
Edited by Henry Makori