Irregular entries

I recently wrote about emerging forms of private land grabs. I’ve since received humbling feedback. In one case, a proprietor’s green card, which bears ownership details, was irregularly removed. It was replaced by another bearing the details of a totally different person. In another, a family processing succession found some of the land parcels which were part of their deceased father’s estate irregularly transferred to other persons. Surprisingly, the involved land registries are in rural counties. Most land fraud has hitherto happened within the highly urbanized counties, with Nairobi at the lead.

Nairobi had feedback too. In one case, a proprietor who had forwarded his deed plans to Ardhi House for the preparation of sub-leases following the subdivision of his land found them missing. Intriguingly, by the time he caught up with some, they’d been used to irregularly support sub-leases in favour of persons unknown to him. There were other equally baffling accounts. In all the cases, the affected persons have to intervene to restore their interests, a process that may be expensive, yet needlessly visited upon them.

It will involve providing evidence to either enable the land registrar to cancel the fraudulent documents, or move the court to issue orders for their cancellation. Each of the incidents could get quite complex, as they have the servings of insider complicity. Accessing a land register in any of the gazetted land registries is regulated. To alter, remove or swap an ownership record call for privileged internal access. And so does the irregular seizure of deed plans to be used in preparing a lease in favour of other persons as mentioned above. I have also witnessed instances where cadastral maps have been irregularly altered to change the number of a parcel used as collateral for a loan. The motive being to frustrate the identification and valuation of the parcel for compulsory sale by banks following default in repayments.

Centrality of land register and cadastral maps

A land register is at the center of Kenya’s cadastre. Its correctness and integrity is cardinal. And so is the cadastral map, which reflects the spatial and relative positions of all parcels on Kenya’s cadastre. The land register, along with the cadastral map, define this cadastre. Whether in hard copy or digital format, the cadastre is sacrosanct. Therefore, any changes or entries to it must be done by duly authorized officers, and upon the instructions and knowledge of the registered person or entity, or on the orders of the court. Irregularities, such as the above, have gradually introduced a significant trust deficit in our cadastre.

Security and trust are key

It’s therefore incumbent upon the Lands Ministry, which is responsible for the custody and security of land registers and cadastral maps, to take necessary measures to ensure that these records are safe and secure. It will also need to work with the affected persons, and where necessary, the courts, to ensure that any irregular entries are reversed. Periodic vetting of the responsible staff may help too.

Dated: 11th April, 2024