Kenya Government to Register All Title Deeds Afresh in War Against Land Fraud

Kenya Government to Register All Title Deeds Afresh inWar Against Land Fraud

The Ministry of Lands and Physical Planning has rolled out fresh registration of all title deeds in the country.

The process will see all titles previously registered under the Registered Land Act (RLA), the Registration of Titles Act (RTA), the Land Titles Act (LTA), and the Government Lands Act (GLA) registered under a single law—the Land Registration Act of 2012.

The process will make the Registrar of Lands the only holder of the register of title deeds hence reducing instances of fraud and mismanagement of land documents, according to Lands Cabinet Secretary Farida Karoney.

“The current titles will be canceled and new ones issued under the new legal regime while retaining the ownership, size and the other interests registered against the respective title,” CS Karoney is quoted by Business Daily.

She added: “Title documents held by third parties, including banks, hospitals, and courts as security at the time of commencement shall be replaced upon application by the proprietor. The general public is advised to take note of the converted parcel numbers.”

The ministry indicated that a total of 5,493 parcels of land in Nairobi have already been earmarked for conversion under a pilot program.

“All transactions or dealings relating to parcels within the registration unit shall from April 1, 2021, be carried out in the new registers,” the ministry asserted.