The newest phase of the national title deeds issuance initiative, which will see the prompt issuing of one million title deeds to land owners around the country, was launched by President Uhuru Kenyatta on Wednesday.
President Kenyatta instructed the Cabinet Secretaries for Lands and Interior to develop a plan that will involve other Cabinet Secretaries in the issuance of the remaining prepared title deeds in order to swiftly carry out the exercise after issuing 200 title deeds to mark the start of the program at the International Convention Centre (KICC) in Nairobi.
Out of the 6 million title documents that are prepared in the various county registries, we are starting and flagging off the issuing of 1 million today.
President Kenyatta instructed that the initiative be carried out quickly so that the remaining one million title deeds would have been given to their holders by the time the sun set on July 8th, 2022.
The National Titling initiative, which his administration launched in 2013, assisted in processing and issuing title deeds to numerous residents. The President noted as he outlined a number of successes under the reforms in the land sector.
“As part of this effort, we built the National Titling Centre, the Rapid Titling Initiative, Land Clinics, and connections with both county governments and land purchase corporations.
The deployment of other crucial resources, such as motor vehicles and survey equipment, as well as increased technical staff recruitment served to support these progressive initiatives, the official said.
The Head of State observed that the national title deeds issuance program has given Kenyans living in economically underdeveloped areas like Samburu, Isiolo, and Marsabit counties the ability to legally own land, enabling them to grow their economies.
A decade ago, when it was generally accepted that women could not own a title in land, the President declared, “I am honored to have been the President who handed over a title deed to the first woman land owner in Marsabit.”
The National Titling Programme, which was mentioned by President Kenyatta, provided title deeds to all beneficiaries residing in old colonial communities like Nyandarua while addressing the issue of drawn-out and protracted land disputes in group ranches across the nation.
In areas like Kihiu Mwiri in Murang’a, Nyakinyua in Trans Nzoia, Mikanjuni in Kilifi, group ranches in Kajiado, Narok, and Samburu, among others, we have healed wounds and resolved the phenomenon of protracted and bitter land conflicts, according to President Kenyatta.
The President continued by saying that the government was able to protect the nation’s natural riches and historic landmarks through the initiative, which were in danger of being taken.
Additionally, he continued, “by issuing title deeds, we have secured our natural resources and heritage sites like the Mau Forest, the Nairobi National Park, City Park, and the Maasai Mara Game Reserve among others.”
While the Ministry of Lands and Physical Planning has been successful in titling parcels of land belonging to 20,000 schools and surveying 32,000 public schools, the Government is also recording land owned by public institutions.
The National Land Information Management System (NLIMS), also known as “Ardhisasa,” which has simplified electronic land transactions, was developed and launched, according to President Kenyatta, as a result of his commitment to establishing an effective, transparent, and accountable land administration and management system.
He gave the dramatic decrease in the length of time it takes to complete a land sale through the Ardhisasa, which went from a minimum of six months per transaction to just 48 hours.
Similar to that, he stated, “the technology provides you a land search results in 3 to 5 minutes as opposed to requiring between one and three months to perform a land search.”
The Head of State added that the 2016 Community Land Act, which he had also signed, was a progressive measure since it allowed local groups to legally register and hold common lands.
According to him, the new Act has made it possible for an estimated 3.5 million individuals to successfully acquire legal ownership of the community lands that make up around 150,000 square miles, or 67 percent, of Kenya’s geography.
According to President Kenyatta, “this forward-thinking legislation has allowed us to grant title deeds to group ranches in Laikipia, Samburu, Kajiado, West Pokot, and Taita Taveta, an endeavor which has uplifted nearly 500,000 people.”
He stated that by approving an additional 10 registries in Kajiado West, Kajiado South (Loitoktok), Yatta, Mutomo, Samburu, Malindi, Ruiru, Tigania West, Marimanti, and Kiritiri, the national government was able to support devolved units and decentralized land administration services, bringing the total number of registries throughout the nation to an all-time high of 67.
“In addition, we are currently building 10 more registries in Hola, Kitui, Mbeere, Bomet, Ol Kalou, Naivasha, Nandi, Ruiru, Laikipia, and Samburu to encourage efficient service delivery.
The development of these new registries will significantly aid in the decentralization of the Ministry’s functions, according to the President.
Farida Karoney, CS of Lands, claimed that the implementation of the reforms that made it easier to register 6,1000,945 new title deeds allowed her ministry to meet the goals set by the President.
“You’ll be glad to know that the colonial government and our first three administrations registered 6 million, so actually it exceeded slightly the 6 million registered in the past 100 years,” the lands CS remarked. “This is a very big amount.”
Senior government officials including the head of the public service, Dr. Joseph Kinyua, and cabinet secretaries for the interior and defense, Fred Matiang’i and Eugene Wamalwa, were also in attendance.