• The system is designed to enhance the security of land records, improve accessibility, and cut down the cost of land transactions.
• The pilot phase will be rolled out in the financial year 2020/ 2021.
National Land Commission deputy director for advocacy Elijah Lentangule has said reforms in the land sector are aimed at weeding out cartels and improving ease of doing business.
Speaking on Thursday during a virtual meeting that sought to track land reforms and benefits to the citizens, he said the move will also enhance security of land records
“Corruption has been a big elephant in the room in management of land in the country,” he said.
The meeting was jointly facilitated by the Constitution and Reform Education Consortium, the National Land Commission and the Kenya Land Alliance.
The Ministry of Land is developing National Land Information Management System designed to enhance security of land records, improve accessibility and cut down the cost of transactions.
It will create an online platform for paperless transactions that are easy, cost-effective, efficient and transparent. The pilot phase will be rolled out this financial year.
The ministry has processed 500,000 title deeds, out of which 129,073 were from adjudication sections, 5,446 titles for informal settlements and 286,686 from county registries.
Some 35,360 titles are from Nairobi Registry, 3518 from the school titling programme and 21,444 leases in 2019-20 financial year.
The titling programme aims at resolving long-standing land-ownership disputes and uncertainties that have locked out land-owners and businesses from accessing credit facilities from financial institutions.
The rapid response programme has seen 5.1 million titles issued in seven years since 2013, compared to six million issued in the first 50 years of independence.
On January 12, the ministry announced that all land ownership documents issued before the enactment of the Land Registration Act, 2012, will be cancelled before issuing new ones.
Land CS Farida Karoney said the cancellation and replacement will migrate the parcels to the new regime while retaining the ownership, size, and other interests registered against respective titles.
Letangule said land records have in the past been manipulated, a move that has seen massive malpractices. He said land transactions run into billions, hence the temptations.
“An audit trail will be possible. With lands records now, you do not know who did what and when and now middlemen will be eliminated,” he said.
Letangule said the new reforms will ensure that it is a one-stop-shop for all land transactions and there will be no need for Kenyans to travel to the ministry.
He said user rights will be given to various officials to enhance security and confidentiality and revenue collection to the government will be enhanced.
Letangule said some of the challenges to be experienced include high cost of installing the new systems, enhancing the capacity of those who will use the system, as well as lack of internet in some parts of the country.
Edited by Kiilu Damaris