Kick brokers out of Land registries, LSK tells CS Njeru

The Law Society of Kenya, West Kenya branch wants Lands Cabinet Secretary Zacharia Njeru to tame brokers at the Land Registries.

The brokers, LSK West Kenya branch chair George Murunga said, are taking advantage of the ignorance of some of the members of the public on matters land transaction to scam Kenyans.

Murunga told journalists in Busia that some brokers even masquerade as lawyers.

The brokers, Murunga said, are capitalising on the inefficiencies and the collapse of services in the land registries to promote exploitation and fraud.

The Lands CS, he said, should swing into action and streamline operations in the registries in order to kick them out.

“We have noted as a council with a lot of concern that in the Land Registries, because of the challenges that are being faced by the same registries, brokers have taken over the running of the Registries and they are misleading members of the public,” Murunga said.

"As it is, we have brokers who have lined up making promises to members of the public because they know that the system is corrupted and they are unable to get that service. They are taking money from Kenyans promising to give services that they cannot offer.”

“As search members of the public are suffering and that is why we are asking that if the digitisation process is completed and the ministry structures are streamlined, it would be very easy even for members of the public to walk into the Land Registry and be able to get a service without having to go to a broker or any other third party.”

Murunga was speaking on the sidelines of countrywide protests LSK is conducted on Friday as the body continues to push for reforms that will improve service delivery in Land Registries.

The LSK on January 17 raised the red flag over alleged inefficiencies at the Land Registries countrywide.

LSK President Erick Theuri said lawyers would hold peaceful demonstrations to protest against the alleged sloppiness at the offices.

The protests were held on Friday across all eight regional branches of Nairobi, Coast, Rift Valley, Nyanza, Western, North Eastern, Central and Eastern.

Among issues that prompted the lawyers to hold the demonstrations is the alleged slow reforms through digitisation which they claim have failed to improve service delivery in the Registries.

The National Land Information Management System, known as Ardhi Sasa, was launched by former President Uhuru Kenyatta on April 27, 2021.

The system is a digital land resource management platform designed to enhance the security of land records, speed up transactions and curb fraud.

Through the system, users can lodge and track the progress of their transactions without having to visit ministry offices.

The platform aims to address historical injustices and curb fraud, corruption and manipulation of land records.

But LSK says despite the introduction of the system, service delivery has remained slow in Land Registries.

Murunga said the digitisation process was expected to revamp service delivery but despite its launch not much has changed.

“There is a process of digitisation that has been ongoing but it is not yielding fruits. It was expected that if you request for a search, you should be able to get it at the touch of the button of the phone. Once you make the application, you are able to have the transaction done but that is not happening,” he said.