[Source: The Standard, by Mwangi Muiruri]
The government has embraced digitisation of the property market even as the Covid-19 scourge forces stakeholders away from brick and mortar operations.
Already, Lands and Physical Planning Cabinet Secretary Farida Karoney has closed all land offices and registries indefinitely to prevent the spread of coronavirus through the usual crowding in public offices.
Ms Karoney said digitisation of property registration was one of the key areas targeted in the government’s reform agenda, adding that the ministry was willing to engage all stakeholders in fast-tracking the process.
“Be it land or buildings we have to go online not for the sake of it, but for the common benefit of the sector. Simplicity in accessing the digitised sector should be the hallmark of the process,” said the CS.
The system, she added, will be run by authorised users with verifiable administration passwords who will have ability to create, edit and delete file data.
It will also have an audit trail of all document edits and ability to print or save in electronic form for submission to regulatory agencies.
Karoney said property dealers should be able to place their offers online and at the same time interact with government agencies online to authenticate and register the deals.
This would see property agents save on costs of running an office and instead work from home with limited staff.
Karoney has already appointed a ministerial task force on electronic conveyancing mandated to develop regulations to guide e-transactions, a process that has wavered since it was mooted in 2006.
The CS said her ministry was working with the National Treasury to develop and implement a digital service delivery system.
Lands Principal Secretary Nicholas Muraguri said the Covid-19 disease has proved that technology can be used to good effect.
As fear of the virus reigns, he said, many offices have remained closed hence inducing a shutdown in the trading of property.
The Lands PS said the property market can be transacted exclusively on a digital platform from authenticating ownership to titling and remittance of rates.
He said chaotic manual processes were a major impediment to business with registration and transfer of land taking over 49 days while approvals for construction projects in Nairobi took longer with some investors waiting for up to a year.
Muraguri said software developers need to partner with the sector to come up with ways of packing land buying and selling on an e-platform where shoppers can access property information easily.
[Full article: The Standard, by Mwangi Muiruri]
