By Bernard Munyao/Anita Omwenga
Digitization of documents at Murang’a lands registry is 90 percent complete, the Lands Principal Secretary, Nixon Korir has confirmed.
The process, Korir noted, is expected to be completed in a week’s time and be rolled out to members of the public to enable them to access services at the registry through a digital platform.
Korir, who toured Murang’a lands registry on Thursday to inspect the ongoing verification of uploaded records, observed that out of 285, 000 documents at the registry, only 40,000 are yet to be uploaded in the system.
“What we are doing in Murang’a is what was done at Nairobi’s lands registry. Already, digitization in Nairobi has been completed and rolled out, and here in Murang’a the commissioning of the Ardhisasa portal will be done in one week’s time,” noted the PS.
He added that members of the public will be required to open an account in the Ardhisasa portal so that they can do transactions online.
“Land transfer, application for title deeds, and land registration, among other services, will be done online in the Ardhisasa portal. We will have a customer care desk here in Murang’a to assist members of the public in opening accounts on the portal as well as educate them on how to use the platform,” he said.
Unscrupulous individuals
The PS underscored the digitization of lands documents, saying this will lock out unscrupulous individuals and cartels who interfere with registry to con people, adding that cases of missing lands’ files and illegal transactions, among other malpractices will be things of the past.
“The online platform will help the government deal with cartels who have perfected carrying out dubious land transactions that have rendered hundreds of families to extreme poverty.
“As Nairobi and Murang’a lands services go digital, the Ministry is in the process of digitizing registries in the counties of Isiolo, Marsabit, Lamu, Mombasa and Tana River,” said the PS.
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Korir continued, “With the digitization programme, the Ministry of Lands has partnered with EACC and DCI to help arrest culprits who will be found interfering with the system with the intent to defraud Kenyans.”
He added that, due to outdated maps, among other documents, the digitization of the registries in all the counties will take some more time.
The PS further confirmed that the challenges that faced the system last year when it was launched in Nairobi have been ironed out, so the process of digitizing other registries will be smooth.
A local resident, Njogu Kanyi from Maragua who was seeking services at the county registry, lauded the reforms in the land registry saying currently manipulations of documents have been reduced.
Kanyi hoped the digitization of land services would ensure locals were not conned while doing land transactions.
“Our hope is to see a seamless process for transacting matters concerning land. People have lost their money as they seek to get title deeds or are being sold grabbed parcels of land,” he added.
