[Source: Daily Nation, by Pauline Kairu]
The Ministry of Lands and Physical Planning has made land searches easier for you as an individual through the eCitizen platform. Kenyans can now enjoy the fruits of the ongoing digitisation process at the ministry.
Digitalised verification, according to Mwenda Makathimo, the executive director of the Land Development and Governance Institute (LDGI), will help clients circumvent brokers, who he says have taken over many land offices around the country, making it difficult for many citizens to access crucial services.
He, however, notes that even though this platform is a step in the right direction for the real estate sector, a lot of work still needs to be done in making it efficient.
Makathimo, who was speaking recently during the release of a survey on land governance by the LDGI, also noted that digitisation at lands offices will cut costs and the distance that Kenyans have to travel to get to the land offices.
“In Nairobi one has to start from Ruaraka (the land survey headquarters) to get a map, before going to Ardhi House for a search, then City Hall for planning,” he said while calling for full automation and digitisation of all processes at the county offices.
“As of now, automation in the land sector is scattered and we are calling the government to streamline the process, if it is keen on helping Kenyans,” he added, noting that land offices in Kajiado and Kiambu counties, which had been inspected for the survey, depicted a lack of consistency in the process.
“For instance, you find titles not updated on the official map at the registries, and the fear is that another person might come with a title deed to the same parcel claiming the same land on the ground,” he noted.
However, Ms Sylvia Kamau, who has used the eCitizen interface, particularly that of Nairobi, says all one needs to do is to simply log in to their eCitizen account and under the Ministry of Lands and Physical Planning section and choose “Make Application”.
The app gives the applicant a raft of tasks and queries that can be performed, including transfer of property, query and payment of land rates, transfer of ownership, search of land ownership records, caution and withdrawal of cautions, among other utilities.
She says one no longer has to make the trip to the lands office for such simple enquiries.
[Source: Daily Nation, by Pauline Kairu]
