Kenya: Technology Could Help Orengo Make the Lands Office More …
Source: AllAfrica.com (Original Article)
The Lands department in the Ministry of Lands, popularly called "Lands", is an important office charged with land administration in the entire country.
At this unassuming office block in the Community Area of Nairobi, three technical divisions - Land Administration, Land Registration and Land Valuation - collectively manage registration of titles, leases, mortgages, cautions, caveats, transfers and prohibitions.
Applications are received there for consents, surveys, sub-divisions and allocation of land. Ardhi House is also responsible for alienation of Government and Trust land, resolution of land disputes, collection of revenue and the custody and maintenance of land records.
Since inception, the department has issued millions of titles and in any land conveyancing transaction, a member of the public has several interfaces with the Lands office. For example, before one can purchase a piece of land, one must do a title search at Ardhi House.
When one transfers a parcel, the seller must show that land rent has been paid by producing a land rent clearance certificate as well as a Consent to Transfer from the Lands Commissioner.
A valuer from the Lands office must assess the plot to ensure that it is not undervalued for tax purposes. And stamp duty (a transfer tax) is also paid at Ardhi House.
From its wide national mandate, it is clear that Lands is, as one author noted, a "big wheel in the country’s economic activity."
Its efficient, transparent and predictable operation is thus critical, not just for the private sector and the population at large. Yet concern is gradually turning to alarm regarding the inefficiency and corruption at the Lands office. A visit to the office is a trip back in time. Harried employees scurry up and down dark, unmarked passageways with peeling walls.
The sheer volume of paper being pushed is mind-boggling. One female clerk comes into degrassi the next generation dvd the registry with a big carton …continue reading