[Source: Daily Nation, by Stephen Njuguna and Nyambega Gisesa]
The Ministry of Lands has bowed to months of public pressure and partially reopened registries across the country.
“The following services will be offered at the customer care centres of our registries countrywide; registration of bank charges, registration of bank discharges, registration of court orders and verification of sureties,” Lands Cabinet Secretary Farida Karoney announced Wednesday in a public notice.
The dispute over the land registries started before the first reported case of the coronavirus was announced in the country after the ministry attempted to close all registries.
According to the notice, the closure was intended to run from February 24 to March 13.
“This closure was challenged by the Law Society of Kenya as it was not preceded by any notice and neither were the reasons for the closure disclosed. Further, no provisions had been made for registration of time sensitive documents and those that attract penalties and interest in the event of delays,” says lawyer Eric Theuri.
Subsequently, the court granted orders to re-open the land registry.
However, after the first reported case of coronavirus, the ministry moved forward to close land registries, with Ms Karoney announcing: “The ministry wishes to communicate that all registries and land offices will remain closed for a further 14 days as advised by the National Emergency Response Committee on the Management of Covid-19 .”
After being closed for 14 days, the land offices and registries across the country were to re-open on April 29, but in a newspaper notice by the CS, the closure was extended by another 14 days.
The closure of land registries has stirred protests countrywide.
In Laikipia and Nyandarua counties, residents say that the move is blocking the delivery of essential services.
The lands office in Nyahururu town, that serves Nyandarua, Samburu and parts of Laikipia, has now been closed for two months.
An officer attached to the Nyahururu Thompson Falls GK Prison also blamed the current congestion at the facility’s remand to closure of the land registry.
At the same time, land dealers have decried loss of businesses due to the closure of the offices.
[Full article: Daily Nation, by Stephen Njuguna and Nyambega Gisesa]
