Lands ministry to roll out digital system to ease land transactions
The Ministry of Lands is set to develop a digital system aimed at changing the mode of land transaction in the country by making it easier and faster to carry out such transactions.
The system will link different services at the ministry including registration, survey, land adjudication and land administration, locking out fraudsters and land cartels in the process.
Lands CS Farida Karoney said the development of the system is part of a transformative journey at the ministry geared towards ensuring efficient and effective delivery of services to the public.
Ms Karoney explained the system will also be linked to external service providers including Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA), the National Land Commission (NLC), banks and other key organisations involved in land matters.
“In the coming months, we will be rolling out a digital system that will make it easier, faster, and safer to conduct land transactions, locking out fraudsters and land cartels. The system will link services of different departments in the Ministry including survey, land adjudication, land administration, and registration,” said Ms Karoney.
“Our aim is to make the Ministry a globally competitive public sector organisation. Kenyans should be able to access our services in a timely manner at the comfort of their homes or offices; on your computer or mobile phone,” she added.
The cabinet secretary was speaking during the induction of newly appointed team of land surveyors and registrars at the Survey of Kenya in Nairobi on Wednesday.
She pointed out that the ministry had been implementing a number of reforms in the lands sector that have significantly cut down the time taken to carry out land transactions, noting that more is being done to ensure seamless and efficient delivery of land-related services.
The four strategic objectives include the national titling programme, digitisation of land records, decentralisation of land administration and management, and policy and legal reforms, all aimed at streamlining the sector to ensure efficiency and effectiveness.
“Land is a major factor of production, and a key enabler of the Government’s ‘Big Four’ agenda, for economic transformation. It is for this reason that proper management and administration of this resource is critical to our nation’s sustainable development goals,” added the CS.
On the ongoing national titling programme, Ms Karoney said she was happy with the progress made so far, noting that the ministry was working on scaling up the programme even further.
She said 5.1 million titles have been issued in the last seven years, against 6 million title deeds issued by the last three administrations, between 1963 and 2013.
“We are also keen on ensuring that all the 24 counties which have community land are registered and title deeds issued. The transformational foundation we are laying today at the Ministry is not only meant to benefit this generation but also generations to come,” she said.