REPUBLIC OF KENYA

REPORT ON ELECTRONIC LAND TRANSACTIONS,

REGISTRATION, CONVEYANCING AND OTHER RELATED
ACTIVITIES UNDER THE LAND REGISTRATION ACT, 2012
THE LAND ACT, 2012 AND THE COMMUNITY LAND ACT,
2016

PRESENTED TO

FARIDA KARONEY, OGW

CABINET SECRETARY
MINISTRY OF LANDS AND PHYSICAL PLANNING

PRESENTED BY

ERIC NYADIMO
CHAIRMAN

FEBRUARY 2019
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 TABLE OF CONTENTS
LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL ...................................................................................................... I
TABLE OF CONTENTS ............................................................................................................ V
LIST OF ACRONYMS............................................................................................................ VII
DEFINITION OF TERMS ......................................................................................................... X
FOREWORD........................................................................................................................ XI
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ...................................................................................................... XIII
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ....................................................................................................... XV
1 INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND ............................................................................... 1
1.1 Introduction ......................................................................................................................................... 1
1.2 Current Status ...................................................................................................................................... 2
1.3 Weaknesses of Current System and Need for Change .................................................................. 3
1.4 Terms of Reference ............................................................................................................................ 4
1.5 Methodology ........................................................................................................................................ 5
1.6 Justification and Relevance ................................................................................................................ 6
1.7 Organization of the Report ............................................................................................................... 7
2 LEGAL ANALYSIS ............................................................................................................ 9
2.1 Introduction ......................................................................................................................................... 9
2.2 The National Land Policy .................................................................................................................. 9
2.3 The Constitution of Kenya, 2010 ..................................................................................................... 9
2.4 Proposals ............................................................................................................................................ 18
3 COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS ............................................................................................. 33
3.1 Introduction ....................................................................................................................................... 33
3.2 Case Studies ....................................................................................................................................... 33
3.3 Conclusions........................................................................................................................................ 62
3.4 General Observations....................................................................................................................... 64
4 TASKFORCE FINDINGS ON PUBLIC PARTICIPATION ......................................................... 65
4.1 Introduction ....................................................................................................................................... 65
4.2 Extent of Public Participation ......................................................................................................... 65
4.3 Findings .............................................................................................................................................. 65
5 LAND TRANSACTIONS AND PROCESSES ......................................................................... 93
5.1 Introduction ....................................................................................................................................... 93
5.2 Functions of Ministry of Lands and Physical Planning ...............................................................93

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 5.3 Functions of NLC.............................................................................................................................96
5.4 Private Sector Involvement ............................................................................................................. 98
5.5 Processes within a Land Information Management System .....................................................100
5.6 Actors within a Land Information Management System ..........................................................103
5.7 Conclusions......................................................................................................................................129
6 CONCLUSIONS & RECOMMENDATIONS ....................................................................... 131
6.1 Conclusions......................................................................................................................................131
6.2 Quick Wins/Immediate Action Points ........................................................................................137
6.3 Recommendations ..........................................................................................................................138
REFERENCES .................................................................................................................... 147
ANNEX ............................................................................................................................ 149
Annex 1: Questionnaire ..............................................................................................................................149
Annex 2: Persons Consulted ......................................................................................................................150
Annex 3: Systems Security..........................................................................................................................152
Annex 4: Major areas of Security Concern ..............................................................................................155
Annex 5: Public Participation Schedule ...................................................................................................156
Annex 6: List of Civil Society Organizations ..........................................................................................157
Annex 7: List of Invitees to the Professionals Forum ...........................................................................158
Annex 8: Public Hearings Programme .....................................................................................................160
Annex 9: List of Participants for the Experts Consultative Forum .....................................................159
Annex 10: Proposed Guidelines for: Physical Planning; Survey; Land Adjudication .......................160
and Settlement; Valuation; and Land Administration. ...........................................................................161
Annex 11: Gazette Notice..........................................................................................................................165

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 LIST OF ACRONYMS
AAK Architectural Association of Kenya
AFIS Authoritative Control Point Information System
ALKIS Automated Real Estate Cadastre Information System
ASAL Arid and Semi-Arid Lands
ATKIS Topographic Cartographic Information System
CAMA Computer Assisted Mass Valuation System
CAPS Computerised Application Processing Systems
CAS Chief Administrative Secretary
CEC County Executive Committee
CoG Council of Governors
CORS Continuous Operating Reference System
CRM Citizen Relationship Management
CS Cabinet Secretary
CSO Civil Society Organization
DBMS Database Management Systems
DCDB Digital Cadastral Database
DLA Director Land Administration
DMS Document Management System
DOS Director of Surveys
DP Development Plan
DSDM Dynamic Systems Development Method
eDAMS Electronic Development Application Management System
EDMS Electronic Document Management System
FAO Food and Agriculture Organization
GBO Grundbuchordnung
GELIS Ghana Enterprise Land Information System
GIS Geospatial Information System
GLA Government Land Act
GNSS Global Navigation Satellite System
GOK Government of Kenya
GOK Government of Kenya
GPS Global Positioning System
HMLS Her Majesty’s Land Registry
ICT Information Communication Technology
ILMIS Integrated Land Management and Information System
IPPD Integrated Payroll and Payroll Database
IPRS Integrated Population Registration System
ISK Institution of Surveyors of Kenya
ISN Integrated Survey Network
ISO International Standards Organization
IT Information Technology
KARMA Kenya Association of Records Managers and Archivists
KBA Kenya Bankers Association

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KeNHA Kenya National Highways Authority
KEPSA Kenya Private Sector Alliance
KeRRA Kenya Rural Roads Authority
KHRC Kenya Human Rights Commission
KICA Kenya Information Communications Act
KIP Kenya Institute of Planners
KNSDI Kenya National Spatial Data Infrastructure
KPDA Kenya Property Development Association
KRA Kenya Revenue Authority
KURA Kenya Urban Roads Authority
LADM Land Administration Domain Model
LAIS Land Administration Information System
LAP Land Administration Project
LAPSSET Lamu Port-South Sudan-Ethiopia-Transport Corridor
LDGI Land Development and Governance Institute
LIMS Land Information Management System
LINZ Land Information New Zealand
LRA Land Registration Act
LRRA Land Registration Reform Act
LRSP Land Reform Sector Programme
LSK Law Society of Kenya
LTA Land Titles Act
LTR Land Tenure Regularization
MoLPP Ministry of Lands and Physical Planning
MPAC Municipal Property Assessment Corporation
MZO Ministry Zonal Office
NCPWD National Council for Persons with Disability
NEMA National Environmental Management Authority
NLC National Land Commission
NLIMS National Land Information Management System
NLIS National Land Information System
NSDI National Spatial Data Infrastructure
NTC National Titling Centre
OTP One Time Password
PDF Portable Document Format
PDOK Public Services on the Map
PDP Part Development Plan
PEXA Property Exchange Australia
PID Preliminary Index Diagram
PILAK Programme for Improvement of Land Administration in Kenya
PIN Personal Identification Number
PLIMS Public Land Information Management System
POLARIS Province of Ontario Land Registration Information System
PPP Public Private Partnerships
PS Principal Secretary
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PWD Persons with Disability
RIM Registry Index Maps
RLA Registered Land Act
RRI Rapid Results Initiative
RTA Registration of Titles Act
RTK Real Time Kinematic
SDG Social Development Goals
SGR Standard Gauge Railway
SLA Service Level Agreement
SMS Short Message Service
SPRO Survey Plan Records Office
SRM Strategic Road Map
TCPAK Town & County Planners Association of Kenya
TOR Terms of Reference
UK United Kingdom
UML Unified Modelling Language
UPI Unique Parcel Identifier
VOTS Victorian Online Titles System
WARMA Water Resources Management Authority

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 DEFINITION OF TERMS
Term Definition
Cabinet Secretary Means Cabinet Secretary in charge of the Ministry Lands and Physical Planning.
Cadastre Refers to a parcel based, and up-to-date land information system containing a
record of interests in land i.e. rights, restrictions and responsibilities.
Commission Means the National Land Commission
Conveyance The process of transferring the right of ownership of land from one person to
another
Data Custodian Refers to a person or institution responsible for the collection, maintenance and
review of data and information.
Digitization Data capture through online forms or by scanning of paper records and
subsequent extraction of data for processing on a software application
e-Citizen Official Digital payments platform that enables Kenyan citizens, residents and
visitors access and pay for government services online.
e-Conveyancing Land conveyance workflow automation through online platforms/portals and
online payments
Interoperability Refers to the ability of different information technology systems and software
applications to communicate, exchange data, and use the information that has
been exchanged. In other words, the ability of systems to have seamless
integration.
i-Tax An online Kenya Revenue Authority portal through which citizens are able to
file tax returns
Land Information Refers to an information system that enables the capture, management, and
Management System analysis of geographically referenced land-related data in order to produce land
information for decision-making in land administration and management.
National Spatial Data NSDI refers to the technologies, policies, and people necessary to promote
Infrastructure (NSDI) sharing of geospatial data throughout all levels of government, the private and
non-profit sectors, and the academic community. The goal of NSDI is to reduce
duplication of effort among agencies, improve quality and reduce costs related
to geographic information, to make geographic data more accessible to the
public.
Open Standards Refers to standards that are publicly available, can allow integration with other
applications and systems; and has various rights to use associated with it.
One Time Password Password that is valid for only one use and for a specific period after which it
becomes invalid and cannot be used again.
Records Management Field of management responsible for the efficient and systematic control of the
creation, receipt, maintenance, use and disposition of records, including
processes for capturing and maintaining evidence of and information about
business activities and transactions in the form of records
Registry Refers to a government body that deals with registration of land and is the
custodian of the land register. The registry, in this case, is under the Ministry of
Land and Physical Planning.
System Refers to Land Information Management System or in case of the whole
country, a National Land Information Management System.
Taskforce Taskforce on Electronic Land Transactions, Registration, Conveyancing and
other related activities under the Land Registration Act 2012, the Land Act,
2012, and the Community Land Act, 2016.

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 FOREWORD
From the onset, the management of land information in Kenya has been kept and managed manually
through paper records. The same applies to land registration services and conveyancing which is
largely paper based. This system as then designed served its purpose well. However, over time, this
system and processes have been subjected to various forms of capacity stress largely driven by rapid
increase in volumes of land transactions across the country. Continued reliability on the manual
system translates to increased stress on the physical records that leads to: wear and tear; production
of more paper records that require more storage space; lengthy and indeterminate transaction
turnaround times; loss and misplacement of records, increased cases of fraud and forgery; low
productivity of service providers; and frustration to the members of the public to mention but a few.

To address the above challenges, it has become imperative for the Ministry of Lands and Physical
Planning (MoLPP) to leverage on advancements made in the information technology field with a
view to developing a digital Land Information Management System (LIMS). This process
commenced by scanning of land records at the Nairobi and Central Registries. Subsequently, an
information system accessed through the e-citizen government portal was developed and rolled out
for use by members of the public. The system enabled citizens to access services on an online
platform in respect to the Nairobi Registry whose records have been fully digitized. Land registry
services such as conducting searches, payment of duty and revenue were made available online.

In a notice issued in April 2018, the Ministry directed that all land transactions in Nairobi be
conducted on line. The Law Society of Kenya (LSK) opposed the move in a case filed in court
arguing that relevant stakeholders were not consulted. Furthermore, that there was no legal
framework in place for the implementation of the process; no input of the National Land
Commission (NLC) or Parliament and that the process was not subjected to public participation as
required by law. Following negotiations between the LSK and the Ministry, it was mutually agreed
that the Cabinet Secretary do appoint a Taskforce comprising of all stakeholders with a view to
recommending an approach acceptable to stakeholders. In view of this, the Cabinet Secretary
appointed a Taskforce on electronic land transactions, registration, conveyancing and other related
activities under the Land Registration Act, 2012, the Land Act, 2012, and the Community Land Act,
2016 vide Gazette Notice No. 7859 dated 3rd August, 2018. The taskforce was tasked to come up
with a report and formulate draft guidelines for electronic registration of land transactions and
conveyancing systems.

After inauguration by the Cabinet Secretary on the 27th August, 2018, the taskforce set out to execute
its mandate. This involved review of relevant literature accessed from the internet and the library;
meeting various stakeholders including the Ministry, NLC, Counties and other external players with a
view to understanding the role played by each so as to inform the workflow process and conducting
public participation exercise that involved visits to different regions within the country to get views of

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the members of the public. Through the postal, physical and email address shared with the public, the
taskforce received written memoranda from both members of the public and professionals.
Subsequently the above process informed the zero draft report and guidelines that were shared with
various stakeholders such as the Ministry, NLC, professional bodies and Counties through the
Council of Governors (COG).

The whole process culminated into this final report, which among others contained schedules of
proposed amendments in respect of various statutes to pave way for a digital LIMS.

Finally, the Taskforce drew key conclusions from the studies and analysis during the course of
delivering its mandate and made recommendations to spearhead the digitization and e-conveyancing
processes to the benefit of all stakeholders as documented in Chapter 6.

Eric Nyadimo, MISK

CHAIRMAN

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The Taskforce wishes to extend its gratitude and appreciation to all persons who in one way or
another contributed to the success and delivery of this exercise.

First and foremost, we express our gratitude to the Cabinet Secretary, Ministry of Lands and Physical
Planning, Farida Karoney, OGW, for appointing this Taskforce and for the unwavering support that
went a long way to enable members deliver on their mandate. Our appreciation also goes to Dr.
Nicholas Muraguri the Principal Secretary, Ministry of Lands and Physical Planning, who not only
availed financial resources to the Taskforce, but also made sure that all other critical needs were met.
Support accorded by departmental heads and all the officers at the Ministry by way of shared
expertise and other logistical support cannot be gainsaid.

Our utmost appreciation also goes to the Chairman, NLC, Prof. Swazuri A. Muhammad, the
Commissioners, Chief Executive Officer, Directors and Heads of Departments of NLC for their
support and contribution that ensured the success of this exercise.

To the Council of Governors, Experts and Civil Society Organizations, we are forever grateful for
heeding our call to various consultative forums and for your valuable insights and proposals. In
particular, we wish to thank the LSK; Institution of Surveyors of Kenya (ISK); Kenya Bankers
Association (KBA); Kenya Private Sector Alliance (KEPSA); Architectural Association of Kenya
(AAK); Town and County Planners Association of Kenya (TCPAK); Kenya Institute of Planners
(KIP); Martien Tomberg, Regional Manager Kadaster International; Kadri Humal-Ayal, Honorary
Consul of Estonia in Kenya; Land Development and Governance Institute (LDGI); Kenya Property
Development Association (KPDA); Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC); Hakijamii; Nakuru
County Public Opinion Consultative Initiative; Kenya Association of Records Managers and
Archivists (KARMA); and the National Council of Persons With Disability (NCPWD) for your
invaluable inputs to the Taskforce. Our public hearings across the country were largely successful
due to the logistical support we got from County Governments (through their County Executive
Committees (CEC) Members for Lands & Physical Planning), MoLPP County Registrars, NLC
County Co-ordinators and County Commissioners.

We would also like to thank: Steve Russell (Landonline – New Zealand); Craig Sandy and Richard
Jefferson (Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning – Victoria, Australia); Dr Russell
Priebbenow (Department of Natural Resources, Mines and Energy, Brisbane - Queensland, Australia); Dr.
Daniel Steudler (Swiss Federal Office of Topography, Switzerland); Martin Baya (Ministry of Transportation,
Ontario, Canada); Graham Farrant, Victoria Abbott and Marion Depaty (Office of the Chief Land Registrar,
United Kingdom) for their response to our questionnaires which provided useful data and information
for our comparative analysis.

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To the secretariat staff, namely: Victor Ajuoga; Wahome Murakaru; Neddie Eve Mamra; Dolphine Awuor;
Hannah Githuku; and Irene Kiwool, we are indeed thankful for your helping hand in this venture.

Above all, the Taskforce acknowledges the Almighty God for the opportunity, wisdom and grace to
deliver its mandate.

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 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The Constitution of Kenya, 2010 (the Constitution) vests the management and administration of land
to both the National and County Governments. An effective and efficient LIMS is critical towards
the fulfillment of the Big 4 Agenda and attainment of Kenya’s Vision 2030. Though land is regarded
as a major factor of economic activity in Kenya as manifested in the exponential increase in the value
of land and increased pressure from population growth, this sector has not been spared by challenges
associated with ownership. Cases of inconsistencies to do with land records and ownership
documents, increased land disputes due to the opaque nature of keeping land records, increased fraud
and forgery cases touching on land and other connected vices to mention but a few give an insight
about the magnitude of the problem at hand.

The above challenges have informed the reform agenda of Government through the Ministry as far
as management and administration of the land sector is concerned. Section 7 of the Land Act sets out
this agenda well by assigning the Cabinet Secretary in charge of land to come up with a National Land
Information Management System (NLIMS) in consultation with the National Land Commission. In
line with this, the Ministry has therefore engaged in the processes of actualizing the above
Government agenda and requirement of the law by appointing this Taskforce to come up with
recommendations on how to set up NLIMS. It is expected that after the system is put in place,
management of land will greatly improve thus translating to increased and quick service delivery to
the citizens and increased revenue collection to the Government. The main objective of the
Taskforce was to: analyze and review existing policy, legal and institutional framework with a view to
formulate draft guidelines for electronic registration transactions and conveyancing system; establish
status of electronic registration transactions and conveyancing system; and to formulate guidelines for
electronic registration transactions and conveyancing system.

This report covers a detailed review of the efforts that have been put in place to digitize land records
and conveyancing processes as well as an analysis of the prevailing legal framework. Comparative
studies from other jurisdictions across the world have also been considered and the same has been
taken on board by the Taskforce while arriving at conclusions and making recommendations which
are anticipated to steer the envisaged reforms. To guide this process, the Taskforce also drafted
guidelines, which are expected to set the pace and provide navigational acumen of the desired
transformation. The draft guidelines are available in a separate document.
In the course of delivering its mandate, the Taskforce identified the need for a stable policy and legal
framework to guarantee development of NLIMS in a stable environment. To facilitate compliance
with emerging technologies, the Taskforce identified several statutes i.e. Land Act and Regulations;
Land Registration Act and Regulations; Stamp Duty Act; and Kenya Information and
Communication Act (KICA), just to mention but a few as key statutes that need review to give room
for a digital environment. For instance, the Stamp Duty Act specifies the need for franking, which is
a manual process that is not necessary in a digital environment owing to in-built checks and balances

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that verify status of payments. Proposed amendment to the same as is evidenced in the Schedule of
Proposed Amendments ensures that processing of documents electronically do not require stamping.
Similarly, documents of title being one of the categories of documents, which cannot be processed
electronically as is evident under the KICA, it ise proposed to have such documents excluded from
the list under Section 83B of the Act so as to allow electronic processing. In addition, the Taskforce
notes that the Access to Information Act set a 3-year deadline with effect from September 2016 to
ensure that all government records are converted to digital records.
In terms of policy, the Taskforce identified the need to harmonize multi-agency roles citing the cases
of duplicity between the MoLPP, NLC and County Governments in certain land transactions. The
Taskforce also recommends the operationalization of the Community Land Act to facilitate
registration and administration of community land, which covers more than 60 percent of the
country.

To ensure consistency and growth in the development of NLIMS, the Taskforce recommends the
need to have in place a strategic roadmap. This is informed by the fact that digitization is not an
event but a process that will be rolled out over time; and further the need to streamline and
consolidate the digitization process especially in cases where donors and development partners offer
financial support to the cause. Furthermore, a robust data model emerged as a key component of the
development of NLIMS, within a highly scalable Enterprise Systems Architecture capable of
integrating with other government systems. The Taskforce also recommends that the envisaged
NLIMS should consist of distinct interoperable sub-systems i.e. Cadastre, Valuation, Physical
Planning, Land Adjudication & Settlement, Land Administration and Land Registry, which populate a
separate public facing NLIMS database in real-time.

To ensure rapid system uptake, strategic investments in the national Information, Communication
and Technology (ICT) infrastructure will need to be made in terms of: training & capacity building
for officers within the MoLPP, NLC and Counties as well as professionals in the private sector;
access to electricity; and reliable connectivity for the lands offices across the country. To address the
concerns of data security and integrity, NLIMS will be expected to conform to international data
security and disaster recovery standards.

While noting that some of these recommendations may take time to implement, the Taskforce has
identified some quick wins or immediate action points that the Ministry should consider such as:
amending existing laws as per the proposed schedule of amendments; rollout of digital cadastral
surveys; finalize the digitization of correspondence files; facilitate electronic lodgment of documents
by digitizing all forms provided under the Land Registration Act (General Regulations) 2017; and
archive existing manual records. The Taskforce finally recommends the need to have in place, a
Multi-stakeholder Standing Committee to steer the development, deployment and commissioning of
NLIMS

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 CHAPTER ONE

1 INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND

1.1 Introduction
The Ministry of Lands and Physical Planning has hitherto maintained a manual system of land records
management. Initial efforts towards computerization were disparate and driven by each of the
departments within the Ministry. Details of these early initiatives have been documented in the Report on
the Ministerial Land Information Systems, 2004 1. After formulation of the National Land Policy, there
was a push for a comprehensive and coordinated approach towards establishing a modern LIMS. This
was to provide the core datasets for a National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI) for the country. The
Ministry, in consultation with stakeholders, prepared a road map for LIMS development as detailed in
the Land Reform Sector Programme (LRSP), 2006. In 2007, the Rapid Results Initiative2 programme
identified some of the data capture activities listed in the workplan of some departments for fast tracking.

As part of the land reform programme and as an aspect of development and implementation of NLIMS,
the MoLPP entered into a twining arrangement with the Swedish Authority for Survey and Mapping –
Lantmateriet - in 2009 to implement a “Project for Improving Land Administration in Kenya (PILAK)”.
The overall objective of this Project was to contribute towards a Kenya with a well-functioning land
administration with correct, accessible and reliable information that would contribute to social and
economic development. More specifically, the purpose of the Project was “Improved procedures and
operating environment at the MoLPP, leading to accessible and reliable information”. The Project aimed
at safeguarding land paper records; developing business and information technology architecture;
modernizing the geodetic network; parcel identification reform; developing a land rent collection system;
conversion of titles from Government Land Act (GLA), Registration of Titles Act (RTA) and Land
Titles Act (LTA) to the Registered Land Act (RLA)3. It was also meant to develop other land
administration systems and creating public awareness. The components of the project were to be

1
Development partners have been supporting the land reform process in Kenya for some years, including the Policy
Formulation Process and the preparation of the implementation framework for the Land Reform Support Programme (IF –
LRSP) in October 2006, which set out a framework for further support from August 2006 to May 2009. LRSP was
restructured as a Land Reform Project and an implementation Project Document was prepared to guide implementation and
funding agreements over a two-year period (October 2007 to September 2009).
2 Includes: Reconstruction of GLA Volumes; Property Valuation Database; Physical Development Plan; Cadastral Survey

Plans; File Tracking System for Settlement Plot Files; Document Management System for Land Records (Deed Files, Land
Rent Cards and Green Cards); Land Rent Information Database; Settlement Fund Trustee Billing System; Land Information
for Informal Settlements; KNSDI metadata discovery facility; Physical Development Plan Production; and Digital
Topographic Map and Digital Township Map Production as well as Digital Photogrammetry.
3 These Acts i.e. GLA, RTA, LTA and RLA have since been repealed.

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implemented within a period of three years, that is, from 2009 to 2012. The current state of the land
management system does not, however, exhibit success that may have been intended.

Similar efforts by the NLC carried prior to 2016 when amendment to the Land Act shifted the
responsibility of setting up a Land Information Management System to the Cabinet Secretary, Ministry of
Lands and Physical Planning, did not bear much fruits on account of the process having been at infancy
stage. However, what the NLC went on to develop in respect to public land i.e. a Public Land
Information Management System (PLIMS) is now complete and is awaiting integration with land parcel
data from Survey of Kenya and subsequent roll out.

More recently, the Ministry commenced on a programme of automation and digitization of the land
registries across the country. The initiative was designed to ensure efficient and effective service delivery,
enhance access to information, increase customer confidence, reduced business timelines, and enhanced
revenue collection. Major activities involved in the digitization of land registries have included:
implementation of local area networks; establishment of interconnectivity between the registries and
Ardhi House; Setting up of ICT equipment, that is, desktop computers, network printers, servers,
scanners and photocopiers; capacity building of Registry staff; conversion of analogue records to e-
records through scanning of the green cards, white cards and parcel files; Indexing of all scanned images
for serialization; data extraction from green cards and white cards; verification of the data captured;
uploading verified data to the Electronic Document Management System (EDMS) for online
transactions; training of the officers on online transactions; and online transaction of the registration
process.

Most of the computerization projects within the lands sector have delivered what could be termed as
proof of concept or initial implementation projects that are not robust and which do not offer adequate
operational solutions. Many of these systems are standalone solutions either due to the choice of the
Database Management System (DBMS) or lack of interconnectivity between departments.

1.2 Current Status

Kenya lacks a digital LIMS, a fact that has contributed to several problems. The present manual system
seems to have been tailored to support only land registration. It only contains information related to the
dimensional measurements of a land parcel and is largely oriented for internal use by the MoLPP to the
extent that the present system could be mistaken as having been designed purely for the producer of the
information rather than for the benefit of the user.

Kenyans expect various agencies charged with land matters to leverage on information technology to
improve service delivery. The system is expected to, among other things, reduce bureaucracy and

2
corruption, improve on the turnaround time needed for delivery of service, increase transparency and
openness, increase revenue collection for government through the online payment, improve on security,
and save money spent on logistics since services will be virtually available.

1.3 Weaknesses of Current System and Need for Change

1.3.1 Poor Land Records Management
The Ministry has accumulated massive land information records, dating back to over 100 years. These
records have since increased to unmanageable proportions largely due to continued use of outdated
manual systems, which is both inefficient and time consuming. The current system is beset with
inadequate storage which hampers cross-referencing of records and constrains the orderly and timely
updating of the databases in use. In this state, data and information are not easily accessible thus likely to
lead to wrong decisions and unreliable outcomes. This challenge was noted by the Standing Committee
on e-Government which on 11th May 2008 directed the MoLPP to establish a Taskforce to spearhead the
automation of the entire land records.

1.3.2 A Non-Integrated Approach

The lack of collaboration between the various spatial information stakeholders across the country results
in duplication in the management of land information systems. This problem arises because spatial
information is being collected and or maintained by different government organizations. The crucial
aspect is that all the databases used by the various organizations are supposed to be based on the cadastre
maintained by the Director of Surveys. The obvious resultant effects of this kind of arrangement include
data redundancy and wastage of resources. Even in instances where digital databases have been created,
standard data sets have not been agreed upon. Lack of a standard data model creates problems in the
integration of the data into one common database.

1.3.3 Opaque to current advances in Technology

In its present state, the LIMS has been slow in adopting new technologies. Surveyors are still required to
present their work using computational procedures that do not conform to technological advancement.
This has forced surveyors who use relatively new technologies such as Global Navigation Satellite
Systems (GNSS) or Total Stations, to convert the electronic data to paper (analogue data) before
presenting their work. The process of conversion is not only time consuming but is also prone to errors.
There is therefore need to change to digital technology to improve on efficiency and effectiveness.

1.3.4 Inefficient System Administration

The administration of the current LIMS is highly centralized and bureaucratic. This leads to delays in
land transactions including the processing of survey documents, issuance of title deeds and registration
of documents. The processing of cadastral surveying documents that support registration of land, for
3
instance, takes an average of six months from the time of survey to the production of deed plans or
amendment of Registry Index Maps (RIM).

1.3.5 Low Cadastral Coverage

Kenya has about 20% of its land covered in the formal cadastral (fixed boundaries) system. This is
complicated by informal land tenure in most urban areas and community land ownership. There is an
urgent need for the government to fast track the adjudication programme in the rest of the country in
order to bring all the land onto the register4.

1.3.6 Efforts to Address the Challenges

To address the aforestated challenges, it became imperative for the Ministry to leverage on advancements
made in the information technology field with a view to developing a digital LIMS. This process
commenced by reorganizing and scanning of land records at the Nairobi and Central Registries.
Subsequently, an information system accessed through the e-citizen online portal was developed and
rolled out. The system enabled citizens to access services in respect to the Nairobi Registry whose
records have been fully digitized. Land registry services such as conducting searches, payment of duty
and revenue were made available online.

The above partial migration to the digital platform was, however, disputed by the LSK through a case
filed at the High Court. The premise of the case is that LSK and the members of the public were never
consulted in the process of developing the information system and its eventual rollout. Following
negotiations between LSK and the Ministry, the Cabinet Secretary appointed a Taskforce, vide Gazette
Notice5 No. 7859 dated 3rd August 2018 with a mandate to study and review the Land Registration Act,
2012 and the Land Registration (General) Regulations 2017 as well as land sector related laws with a view
to formulate guidelines for electronic registration, transactions and conveyancing systems.

1.4 Terms of Reference

The terms of reference (ToR) for the Taskforce were to:
a) Analyze and review existing policy, legal and institutional framework with a view to formulate
guidelines for electronic registration transactions and conveyancing system;
b) Establish status of electronic registration transactions and conveyancing system; and
c) Formulate guidelines for electronic registration transactions and conveyancing system.

4 A case of reference is the system in the United Kingdom (UK) where the general boundary concept holds sway and the
coordinates in the map do not have legal significance but are used to develop the land information system.
5 Annex 11

4
1.4.1 Interpretation of ToR
The Taskforce interpreted its ToR as follows:
a) To review existing systems and make recommendations to address gaps and way forward in the
establishment and operationalization of an integrated NLIMS so as to satisfy the users,
stakeholders and the general public;
b) To outline a detailed end to end workflow for NLIMS;
c) To identify and review the laws applicable to the implementation of electronic registration of
transaction and conveyancing system, and those that hinder the same with a view to proposing
suitable changes; and
d) To prescribe draft rules and procedures of electronic conveyancing within the law as well as
provide guidelines for the establishment of NLIMS.

1.5 Methodology
The methodology adopted by the taskforce ranged from: desktop research6 and reviews of different
information materials; interviews (of various stakeholders); receipt and review of memoranda and
correspondence from all categories of stakeholders; engaging experts and various professionals; and
public hearings at various parts of the country.

Desktop research and analysis was important when it came to establishing the background and existing
comparatives seen as an opportunity to borrow from existing best practices. This involved the review of
the available data from the land registries, government departments, institutional reports, published
articles, books and the information from the internet.

An email address - [email protected] - was set up specifically for the Taskforce through
which stakeholders and members of the public were advised to send their views and proposals through
written memoranda. In addition, a consultative forum bringing together members of professional bodies7
was held from 17th to 18th of September 2018. Views received from the expert forum have enriched this
report.
Other engagements were as follows:
a) Public participation hearings8 were conducted from 2nd to 11th October 2018 across the country.
The public was informed of the public participation forums through newspaper notices, National
Government administrators at county levels and county government administration.

6 The information was gathered through primary and secondary data collection.
7 ISK, KBA, KEPSA, LSK, AAK, LDGI, KPDA, TCPAK, and KIP.
8 The Taskforce approached this exercise in three groups to enable a wider coverage of collecting views and recommendations

across the country.

5
 b) Meeting with various County Government Officials (including CEC Members for Lands and
Physical Planning; Land Surveyors; and Physical Planners) held on the 26th of September 2018.
c) A further engagement with the CEC Members in charge of Lands & Physical Planning was held
on the 2nd of November 2018 in Nairobi.

The Taskforce conducted a series of validation meetings on the interim report and draft guidelines as
follows:
a) Ministry of Lands and Physical Planning and the National Land Commission - 11th December
2018;
b) Physical Planning - 8th January 2019;
c) Land Valuation - 9th January 2019;
d) Land Administration, Land Adjudication & Settlement - 10th January 2019;
e) Law Society of Kenya (LSK) - 15th January 2019;
f) Professional Bodies and Civil Society Organizations - 16th January 2019; and
g) County Governments - 17th January 2019.

These validation meetings sought to verify the information gathered, build consensus on the issues under
consideration and polish the report and draft guidelines.

1.6 Justification and Relevance

Technological advancement and the global move towards digitization of land records, informed the
decision to establish a digital LIMS in Kenya. The digital LIMS will provide an efficient and effective
land administration system as envisaged under Article 60 of the Constitution of Kenya. Given that land
plays a pivotal role in the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals, the Kenya Vision 2030
and the Big 4 Agenda, one cannot overemphasize the importance of establishing an Enterprise9 LIMS,
upon which all land administration and management are anchored.

Advances in ICT and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) continue to change the way in which
information is structured, stored, managed, delivered and used. New capabilities for data collection,
storage and processing, together with the expanding requirements of users continue to direct attention to
the need for improved land information management strategies. Already, user needs have fostered
developed countries to review their land administration systems.

9
An Enterprise system is an integrated system available to an entire organization or across organizations in order to
allow large number of users to manage, share, and use spatial data and related information to address a variety of needs,
including data creation, modification, visualization, analysis, and dissemination.

6
The proper management of land in Kenya is crucial for the attainment of economic growth, and poverty
reduction. Without an efficient LIMS, managing the flow of land from those who own it to those who
need it for development becomes very difficult both for governments and for private developers. The
success of a digital LIMS is highly dependent on the information structure, analysis and conceptual data
modelling. Within the realm of a LIMS, the data including the data model, has the longest life span and is
the most expensive. These, however, hardly get priority during LIMS establishment, especially when
compared to the software component. It is this issue that this report seeks to redress. Data modelling10 is
considered a basic tool facilitating appropriate systems development and reengineering. Modelling also
forms the basis for meaningful communication between different (parts of the) systems. Data modelling
is, therefore, instrumental to the establishment of a digital LIMS; it would fill in legislative gaps and
document emerging relationships between man and land, thus, improving the integrity of the database by
maintaining logical, temporal and topological consistency.

There is, thus the need to improve the present LIMS to make it simple, secure, efficient and up to speed
with modern and emerging technologies. The result should be a solid foundation in an integrated digital
land records system, which would be important for the prompt and comprehensive land administration,
land management and rational land use planning. The establishment of a digital LIMS for Kenya will
offer an invaluable contribution towards the integration of the LIMS into NSDI. This will in turn ensure
effective, efficient and transparent service delivery to Kenyans. A systematic data modelling approach is,
therefore, required for determination of requirements, analysis, design and implementation of a digital
LIMS in Kenya. This approach would ensure consistency within and between phases of development
thus avoiding gaps and mismatches.

1.7 Organization of the Report

This report is organized into six chapters. Chapter 1 provides a general introduction. Chapter 2 presents
an analysis of the legal framework and the amendments that are necessary to institute electronic land
transactions and conveyancing. Chapter 3 presents comparative studies made on other countries that
have implemented electronic land transactions and conveyancing or those that are in the process of
implementing the same. Chapter 4 presents the report on the Taskforce findings from stakeholder
consultations as well as public participation. Chapter 5 gives an overview of the land transactions and
analyses the same to identify the actors and the processes. Chapter 6 presents the conclusions and
recommendations. The Annex section contains associated reference materials that have been used to
support the compilation this report.

10 Data modeling refers to the analysis of data objects and their relationships to other data objects. Data modeling is often the
first step in database design and object-oriented programming as the designers first create a conceptual model of how data
items relate to each other.

7
8
 CHAPTER TWO

2 LEGAL ANALYSIS

2.1 Introduction
The entrenchment of an electronic LIMS cannot exist in isolation without the necessary legal framework.
The switch to this system should, therefore, be preceded by an accommodative legal environment. This
requires a review of the current legal framework to ascertain whether or not it facilitates electronic
transactions and if it contains provisions which impede the switch to electronic LIMS. In view of the
foregoing, the Taskforce reviewed the land sector statutes and related laws and has, consequently
proposed amendments as per the Schedules for Proposed Amendments. This Chapter highlights the
statutes reviewed and proposed amendments.

2.2 The National Land Policy

The National Land Policy was passed in 2009. The policy addresses issues of land management in Kenya
and it, particularly, recognizes security of tenure for all categories of residents. To achieve this, the policy
recognizes the need to improve the quality and quantity of land information through computerization
both at the national and local levels. This is because information on land in Kenya is currently manually
held, thus, occasioning inefficiency, delay, fraud, and loss of revenue. The policy proposes establishment
of an efficient LIMS, which is computer-based, efficient, user friendly, accessible, affordable, transparent
and gender sensitive. The current process of digitizing LIMS is, therefore, in line with the National Land
Policy.

2.3 The Constitution of Kenya, 2010

Chapter Five of the Constitution is dedicated to the Land and Environment sector. It prescribes that
land be held and managed in a manner that is equitable, efficient, productive and sustainable. Particularly,
equitable access to land; security of land rights; sustainable and productive management of land
resources; sound conservation and protection of ecological areas; elimination of gender discrimination;
alternative dispute resolution, should be the principles to guide land management through a deliberate
national land policy which may be subject to review from time to time.

For ease of land management, the Constitution classifies land into three categories, that is, public,
private, and community land. In this respect, Article 67 creates the National Land Commission for the

9
purpose of managing public land among other functions. Further, the Constitution mandates Parliament
to legislate on land by revising, consolidating and rationalizing existing land laws. The enactment of the
Land Registration Act, 2012; the Land Act, 2012; the Community Land Act, 2016 among other statutes
was in line with this mandate.

2.3.1 The Land Act, 2012

This statute gives effect to Article 68 of the Constitution that provides for revision, consolidation and
rationalization of land laws, and sustainable administration and management of land in Kenya. Perusal of
the Act does demonstrate under Section 6 (h) that electronic processes are recognized by providing that
Cabinet Secretary has power to coordinate the development and implementation of a National Land
Information Management System (NLIMS) in collaboration with the National Land Commission (NLC).
Coming up with an electronic systems is, thus, a function that needs to be exploited.

Section 38 of the Act provides that no suit can be brought against any contract unless the contract is in
writing, signed and witnessed by a competent witness. There is need to amend this section so as to
accommodate contracts entered electronically (see schedule of proposed amendments).

2.3.2 Land Registration Act, 2012

The Land Registration Act, 2012 has revised, consolidated and rationalized the registration of titles to
land by repealing the Indian Transfer of Property Act, 1882; the Government Lands Act (Cap 280); the
Registration of Titles Act (Cap 281); the Land Titles Act (Cap 282); and the Registered Land Act (Cap
300).

Electronic maintenance of documents at the Land Registries and access to electronic registers is
appreciated in the Land Registration Act (Sections 9 and 10). Section 9(1) (b) and (c) provides that the
Registrar shall maintain the register and any document required to be kept under this Act in a secure,
accessible and reliable format including electronic files and an integrated land resource register. Section
10 guarantees the public access to the register.

The aforementioned requirements have been escalated by the Land Registration (General) Regulations,
2017 specifically Regulation 90. Under this Regulation, provisions have been made on a number of issues
in relation to electronic transactions. Issues like the keeping of records in electronic form, transactions in
electronic form, setting up of an electronic system, access of electronic platform, electronic payment
system, recording and registration in an electronic register have been set out for implementation by the
Cabinet Secretary. The Cabinet Secretary is, therefore, given leeway to formulate guidelines to entrench
an electronic system of conducting land transactions.

10
A careful review and analysis of the Land Registration Act, however, reveals that there are a number of
provisions that may need amendment so as to allow a seamless flow of transactions electronically as
highlighted in the Schedule of Proposed Amendments.

2.3.3 The National Land Commission Act, 2012

The National Land Commission is established under Article 67 of the Constitution. The National Land
Commission Act makes further provisions on the functions and powers of the Commission and other
connected purposes. One of the functions assigned to the Commission under Section 5 of the Act is to
develop and maintain an effective land information system for management of public land.

2.3.4 Community Land Act, 2016

The Community Land Act gives effect to Article 63(5) of the Constitution to provide for the recognition,
protection and registration of community land rights; management and administration of community
land; the role of county governments in relation to unregistered community land, and for connected
purposes. The Act provides for the recognition, protection and registration of community land rights; the
management and administration of community land; and, the role of county governments in relation to
unregistered community land and related matters. Section 10 of the Act provides that there shall be
maintained for each registration unit, a community land register in accordance with Section 8 of the Land
Registration Act, 2012.

Essentially, the Community Land Act secures the interest of communities as far as ownership of
community land that is under control of a community is concerned. The interest of communities is
secured by bringing all community land under a registration regime as provided for by the Land
Registration Act. This process involves registration of communities and putting in place the Community
Land Management Committees, by the Community Land Registrar as provided under Section 7 of the
Community Land Act. What then follows is the process of recognition and adjudication of community
land as provided under Section 8 of the Act. This involves survey of the all unregistered community land
and eventually bringing it under registration as provided under the Land Registration Act. This entire
process and how it should be achieved is comprehensively provided under the Community Land
Regulations, 2017.

The Community Land Regulations were amended and published in September 2018. There is a general
concern that implementation of the Community Land Act through the Community Land Regulations has
delayed against expectations of communities and even some County Governments. There is, therefore,
need to commence the process of implementing the Act by, inter alia, conducting public awareness,

11
recognition and adjudication of community land, designation of Land Registrars as Community Land
Registrars and eventual registration of community land.

2.3.5 The Kenya Information and Communications Act, 2013

The Kenya Information and Communications Act provides for electronic commerce and for connected
purposes. Specifically, under Section 83G, it is provided that where any law provides that information or
other matter shall be in writing then - notwithstanding anything contained in such law - such requirement
shall be deemed to have been satisfied if such information or matter is rendered or made available in an
electronic form; and accessible so as to be usable for a subsequent reference. The electronic format of
doing documents and data has, through this Act, been made to rank the same as if such documents or
data are physically rendered. It is therefore instructive to note that section 83G supersedes contrary
provisions of other statutes.

However, under Section 83B, any rule or law requiring writing or signatures in the creation or execution
of a will; negotiable instruments; and documents of title will be exempt from the provision of 83G unless
the Minister11 by order modifies by removing or adding any class of transactions or matters. Processing
of electronic titles may not be possible unless title documents are excluded from the list of class of
transactions by the Minister hence the proposed amendment as captured in the Schedule of Proposed
Amendments.

Under Part VI, functions of the regulator (the Communications Authority of Kenya) in relation to
transactions and cyber security; licensing requirements; formation and validity of contracts entered
electronically; recognition of parties of electronic messages; attribution of electronic records; the manner
and acknowledgement of receipt of electronic messages; manner of securing electronic records;
compliance with requirement for a signature; legal recognition of electronic signatures; under what
circumstances a system can be declared a protected system; regulations for electronic signatures; use of
electronic records and electronic signatures in Government and its agencies; electronic gazette, among
others, have been provided.

It is worth noting that even though electronic signatures and advanced electronic signature are provided
for in the Act, the same cannot be actualized unless the Cabinet Secretary for ICT develops regulations in
line with Section 83R. Under this section, the Cabinet Secretary prescribes the process of making an

11
Minister here means the Cabinet Secretary in charge of Information Communication Technology

12
electronic signature. Development of these regulations will allow for seamless migration to electronic
land transactions.

2.3.6 The Law of Contract Act (CAP 23)

The law that regulates the making of contracts between parties in Kenya is the Law of Contract Act.
Section 3(3) of the Act is proposed for amendment as per the Schedule of Proposed Amendments.

2.3.7 Stamp Duty Act (CAP 480)

The Stamp Duty Act provides for the procedure and requirements for stamping instruments. Currently,
the stamp duty fees are payable online through the e-citizen portal. The fixing of the stamp denoting
payment of the duty is, however, done manually by presentation of the documents to the registry.

Under Section 2 on interpretation, ‘stamp’ means a stamp embossed or impressed by means of a dye or a
franking machine or adhesive stamp; and stamped and duly stamped

This implies that documents must be physically availed at the registry for stamping. There is need,
therefore, to expand this interpretation to cover instruments processed and duty paid for electronically.

2.3.8 The Evidence Act (CAP 80)

The Evidence Act makes provisions and recognizes use of electronic evidence in Kenya. In detail,
Section 78A of the Act sets out conditions for the admissibility of electronic evidence. This Act reflects
the enthusiasm of Government in creating and embracing the digital environment. The provisions of this
Act as far as evidence is concerned, therefore, resonate well with this Taskforce.

2.3.9 Survey Act (CAP 299)

The Survey Act provides for surveys and geographical names and the licensing of land surveyors, and for
connected purposes. A review of the Act reveals that there is need to amend Sections 5, 30 and 32 to
allow for an electronic LIMS.

13
2.3.10 The Sectional Properties Bill, 2018
The Sectional Properties Act that came into effect in 1987 is currently under review and thus the
Taskforce also considered the Sectional Properties Bill, 2018 that has gone through cabinet approval for
presentation to Parliament. Both the Act and the Bill provide for the division of buildings into units to
be owned by individual proprietors and common property to be owned by proprietors of the units as
tenants in common and to provide for the use and management of the units and common property for
connected purposes.

Since the individual units in a building are defined in a sectional plan, preparation of the sectional plan
and registration thereof are critical elements informing registration of sectional interests in a building.
Part II of the Bill is dedicated to this. Under this part, a sectional plan is prepared by a surveyor on
confirmation of ownership of the parcel of land the plan will apply. Attributes preceding registration of a
sectional plan is that the same should describe two or more units and that the same should be in
quadruplicate. To aid electronic processing and registration, it is necessary to require the sectional plan to
be prepared in electronic form. This necessitates an amendment to Section 4(2) of the Bill to
accommodate the electronic version of the sectional plan as a pre-requisite for registration of the
sectional plan. The same will apply to Section 9(1) of the Bill, which sets out the requirements of
sectional plans

2.3.11 The Computer Misuse and Cyber Crimes Act, 2018

Digitization of land sector operations and transactions in Kenya obviously comes with unique challenges
and risks. Safeguarding operations under the digital environment is critical hence the Computer Misuse
and Cyber Crimes Act which seeks to guide and regulate electronic transactions in Kenya. Safety of the
systems as far as human interface is concerned is guaranteed by this Act. Risks associated with
digitization of transactions and computer related offences, investigation, prosecution, sanctions and
penalties are provided in the Act. This statute is, therefore, critical since it serves as a deterrent to those
who may have the intent of committing computer related offences such as unauthorized interference,
unauthorized interception, cyber-espionage and phishing attacks. The least liability attaching to anyone
convicted of a crime under the Act is a fine or imprisonment or both.

2.3.12 Registration of Documents Act (CAP 285)

The Registration of Documents Act provides for registration of documents conferring, or purporting to
confer, declare, limit or extinguish any right, title or interest, whether vested or contingent to, in or over
immovable property in Kenya. The statute in its current form does not envisage digital registration of
instruments hence there is need to incorporate filing of documents electronically.
Section 7 provides circumstances under which the Registrar may refuse to register a document.
Amending the same to include electronic documents will suffice. Section 19 sets out the type of books to

14
be kept by the Registrar. The Taskforce recommends an amendment of the same to allow keeping of
electronic books to accommodate electronic registration of documents.

2.3.13 Access to Information Act, 2016

Access to Information Act gives effect to Article 35 of the Constitution, which provides that every
citizen has the right of access to information held by the State; and, information held by another person
and required for the exercise or protection of any right or fundamental freedom. The Act creates a
framework to facilitate access to information held by public and private bodies and promote routine and
systematic information disclosure by both public service and private sectors.

The right of access to information under the Act is, however, not absolute as Section 6 of the Act places
certain limitations to the enjoyment of this right. Limitations include disclosure of information that is
likely to undermine the national security of Kenya; impede the due process of law; or endanger the
safety, health or life of any person.

Section 17(3)(c) of the Act, which resonates well with the mandate of the Taskforce, requires that every
public entity shall not later than three years from the date12 from which this Act begins to apply to it,
computerize its records and information management systems in order to facilitate more efficient access
to information. This requirement by the law is critical since it is meant to fast track computerisation and
switch to electronic systems in Government. The appointment of the Taskforce is, therefore, in line with
the general Government policy to computerise all public records. There is therefore need to fast track the
digitisation process so as to be within the timelines prescribed by the Act.

2.3.14 Physical Planning Act, 2010; Urban Areas and Cities Act, 2011; and County Governments
Act, 2012
There are a number of land transactions that require the input of County Governments as far as planning
is concerned. Transactions such as rates clearance certificates and development control applications are a
preserve of the County Governments. It is therefore expected that these transactions should be
processed electronically and be compatible with NLIMS.

The procedural law providing for development control application is the Physical Planning Act, which is
currently under review. Part V of the Act has provided in detail concerning development control
applications. The Part, among other things, points out the extent of the power of local authorities (now
County Governments) to control development according to approved plans; development permission;
manner of making development applications; approval of the same; registration of documents that touch
12
Commencement date was 21st September 2016

15
on development control. The above procedures are replicated in the Physical Planning Bill that is
currently before Senate.

Whereas Parts XI and V of the County Governments Act and the Urban Areas and Cities Act
respectively provide for processes of planning in respect to planning authorities/cities and urban
areas/sub-counties and wards, the development control procedural aspects found in the Physical
Planning Act as well as the Bill are not provided for. It is generally provided under Section 104 (3) of the
County Governments Act that the County Government shall designate county departments, cities and
urban areas, sub-counties and wards as planning authorities of the county. Likewise, under Section 12 of
the Urban Areas and Cities Act, the management of a city and a municipality shall vest in the County
Government and administered on its behalf by a board; a manager or such other staff or officers as a
County Public Service may determine. Further, these two statutes generally vest development control
function on the County Government as well as boards and managers without providing the procedural
mechanism of implementation.

Without necessarily recommending where the procedural aspect to do with development control should
be anchored amongst the County Governments Act and the Urban Areas and cities Act, it is critical to
have a legal framework providing for a comprehensive procedural aspect concerning development
control. It is important to note that the Physical Planning Bill, though providing for a comprehensive
procedure on development control, requires harmonization with the County Governments Act and the
Urban Areas and Cities Act in many respects.

The procedural law providing for development control and other land transactions happening at the
County level should as well require that all Counties as a unit have an e-Planning System that integrates
with NLIMS.

2.3.15 Valuation for Rating Act (CAP 266) and the Rating Act (CAP 267)
Valuation for Rating Act is an Act of Parliament that empowers local authorities (now County
Governments) to value land for the purposes of rates and other connected purposes. The Act applies to
any area of a local authority in respect of which any rate on the valuation of land save for agricultural
land. The rates in respect to land are premised on the Valuation Rolls and Supplementary Valuation Rolls
that are to be prepared under Section 3 of the Act. It is required that Valuation Roll should from time to
time be prepared at least once in every ten years or such longer period as the Minister 13 may approve.

13Minister formerly in charge of Local Government

16
It should be noted that this Act was enacted in 1956 and up to date the same has not been aligned with
the Constitution so as to reflect the devolved system of government. Few County Governments have put
in place appropriate legislation to enable them effectively value land for property rating purposes. As
such, there is a vacuum in so far as Valuation for Rating Act is concerned. For this reason, the Taskforce
proposes that the national rating legislation should declare counties as rating areas.

In instances where a county prepares its own valuation roll as is the case in the present scenario, it
becomes impossible to have uniformity in the country. In addition, handling such exercises separately is
cumbersome and time wasting. Moreover, optimum use of limited pool of experts within the country
may not be realized.

A new piece of legislation on property taxation is necessary to repeal the outdated Valuation Act and
Valuation for Rating Act so as to be in conformity with constitutional provisions relating to devolution.
The same should be enacted at the national level.

2.3.16 The Land Control Act (CAP 302)

The Land Control Act was enacted for the purpose of controlling land transactions including sale,
transfer, lease, mortgage, exchange, partition and disposal in respect to agricultural land. This law
provides for the establishment of the Land Control Area, the Land Control Board, the Provincial Land
Control Appeals Board and the Central Land Control Appeals Board. It also provides for the detailed
application process for acquiring consent from the Land Control Board as well as the appeal process.

Section 9 of the Act provides for circumstances under which the Board will refuse to grant consent in
respect of the controlled transaction. These include where the division would likely reduce the
productivity of the land; or in a case where an intended disposition by way of sale, transfer, lease,
exchange or partition to a person who is not a Kenyan citizen, or a private company/ cooperative society
where the shareholders/members are not Kenyan Citizens.

This Act has been a subject of litigation in Basil Criticos V Attorney General & 8 Others & 4 Others (2012)
eKLR where orders of repeal of the same were sought on the grounds that the Hansard report of 26th
April 2012 shows that Parliament repealed the Act. After hearing and final determination of the case,
Justice Lenaola directed the Attorney General to move with speed and address the non-repeal of the Act.
This issue has not been resolved to date despite the sentiments of the Court and concerns that have
come up during public participation.

The Land Control Act is meant to control land transactions such as uneconomic sub-divisions in respect
to agricultural land. It is also meant to safeguard against foreigners owning agricultural land in Kenya.
This notwithstanding, it is increasingly evident that purposes for which this statute was enacted have not

17
been achieved for various reasons. Consents processed by Land Control Boards, for instance, do not in
many respects comply with the requirement of the law. The now common practices of issuing special
consents do not take into account factors such as the size of sub-divisions and other imperatives that
inform issuance of consents.

Article 65 of the Constitution provides that a person who is not a citizen cannot hold land in Kenya
except on leasehold tenure not exceeding 99 years. Since this control aspect has been provided for in the
Constitution, what is contained in the Land Control Act is rendered superfluous.

The County Governments Act and the Urban Areas and Cities Act assign planning and land control
function to the County Governments. This means that counties exercise development control function
in respect to agricultural land and all other types of land. The County Governments Act, nonetheless,
stops short of providing for the procedural aspect in respect to control on agricultural land. Review or
repeal of the Land Control Act to bring it into harmony with the Constitution and other statutes is
necessary to have a streamlined agricultural land control approach that is devoid of the above anomalies.

2.4 Proposals
2.4.1 Migration/Conversion to one Register under the Land Registration Act, 2012
The Land Registration Act has repealed the Government Lands Act, the Registration of Titles Act; the
Registered Land Act; the Land Titles Act; and, the Indian Transfer of Property Act whose existence
required that different modes of keeping registers were maintained at various registries. For instance,
Central and Coastal registries respectively at Nairobi and Mombasa maintain registers under GLA, RTA
and LTA. They also keep registers under the Registration of Documents Act. In addition, registers under
the Registered Land Act are still kept at the Nairobi Registry and other registries across the country.
Though the enactment of the Land Registration Act was meant to consolidate the above registration
regimes by way of a migration process as envisaged under Section 6 of the Land Registration Act and the
Land Registration (Registration units) Order, 2017, the same has not been actualized. It is critical to fast
track the above process since success of the electronic land registration system largely depends on the
harmonized register manifest by the migration process.

2.4.2 Community Land Act, 2016

The Community Land Regulations having been amended and published in September, 2018, there is a
general concern that the implementation of the Community Land Act through the Community Land
Regulations has delayed against expectations of communities and even some County Governments.
There is, therefore, need to commence the process of implementing the Community Land Act through

18
the public sensitizing exercises, recognition and adjudication of community land, designation of Land
Registrars as Community Land Registrars and eventual registration of community land.

2.4.3 Regulations for Electronic Signatures

However, though electronic signature and advanced electronic signature has been provided in the Act,
the same cannot be actualized without the Cabinet Secretary for ICT making regulations in terms of
section 83R. Under this section, the Cabinet Secretary prescribes the process of making an electronic
signature. It is worthwhile to note that such regulations contemplated under section 83R have not been
made. There is need therefore to make these regulations so as to allow seamless migration to electronic
land transactions.

2.4.4 Deadline to Digitise Government Records

Section 17(3)(c) of the Access to Information Act which in our view resonates well with the mandate of
the Taskforce requires that every public entity shall not later than three years from the date from which
this Act begins to apply to it, computerize its records and information management systems in order to
facilitate more efficient access to information. The act came into operation in September, 2016. This
requirement by the law is critical since it is meant to fast track computerization and switch to electronic
systems in Government. In light of this, it is important to fast track the digitization process in order to
meet the timelines prescribed by the Act.

2.4.5 Physical Planning Bill

The County Governments Act and the Urban Areas and Cities Act though vest development control
function on Counties in line with the Constitution, the statutes have however stopped short of providing
for a comprehensive procedure on how such control on developments should be done. However, we
note that the physical Planning Bill in its current state do provide for a comprehensive procedure on
development control. It is critical that the Physical Planning Bill be fast tracked so as to fill the current as
far as development control processes are concerned.

2.4.6 Valuation for Rating Act (CAP 266) and the Rating Act (CAP 267)
Valuation for rating Act is an act of parliament that empowers local government authorities to value land
for the purposes of rates and other connected purposes. The act applies to any area of a local authority in
respect of which any rate on the valuation of land save for agricultural land. This Act was enacted in
1956 and up to date the same has not been reviewed to align it with the Constitution and to reflect the
devolved system of Government. Few County Governments have put in place appropriate legislation to
enable them effectively value land for property rating purposes. There is therefore a vacuum as far as
valuation for rating Act is concerned. It is therefore proposed that the national rating legislation be
enacted to apply to all Counties for the sake of uniformity in the country as far as rating is concerned. It

19
shall also be necessary to fast track the enactment of the Land Value Index Bill into law. The Bill seeks to
provide criteria for the assessment of land value in respect of compulsory acquisition of both freehold
and leasehold land.

2.4.7 The Land Control Act (CAP 302)

The Land Control Act was enacted for the purpose of controlling land transactions in respect to
agricultural land including sale, transfer, lease, mortgage, exchange, partition and disposal and other
connected purposes. The passing of the Constitution and advent of devolution behooves that this Act
be reviewed to align it accordingly. Through litigation and pressure by many stakeholders agitating for
repeal of the this Act on the ground that the same has outlived its purpose as evidenced by the
Constitution on matters to do with development control of agricultural land, the same has still remained
in the statute books. Further, there is evidence that the Act is prone to abuse thus leading to subdivision
of land into uneconomic parcels and other related vices. There is therefore need to either repeal this Act
or review the same to align it to the Constitution and other relevant statutes.

20
 SCHEDULE OF PROPOSED AMENDMENTS
THE LAND ACT SCHEDULE OF PROPOSED AMENDMENTS
Sec. Content Proposed Amendment Justification
38 1) Other than as provided by this Act Amend sub-section (2) by To accommodate
or by any other written law no suit including contracts entered contracts entered
shall be brought upon a contract electronically as one of those electronically.
for the disposition of an interest in sub-section 1 cannot apply to
read: Contracts entered
land:
electronically and executed by
a) the contract upon which the
parties by way of electronic
suit is founded:
signatures.
i. Is in writing
ii. is signed by all the parties
thereto; and
b) the signature of each party
signing has been attested to by
a witness who was present
when the contract was signed
by such party.

(2) Subsection (1) shall not apply to—

(a) a contract made in the
course of a public action;
(b) the creation or operation
of a resulting, implied or a
constructive trust; or
(c) any agreement or contract
made or entered into
before the commencement
of this Act, provided
that—
(i) the verbal contracts
shall be reduced to
writing within two
years from the date
of enactment of
this Act; and

21
 (ii) the Cabinet
Secretary shall put a
notice of the
requirement to
reduce the
contracts in writing,
in a newspaper of
nationwide
circulation.[Act No.
28 of 2016, s. 55.]

LAND REGISTRATION ACT, 2012 SCHEDULE OF PROPOSED AMENDMENTS

Sec. Content Proposed Amendment Rationale
2 Insert new definition in correct To provide
alphabetical order to read: electronic means
“advanced electronic signature” of authenticating
means an electronic signature which and signing
meets all the following
requirements— documents
(a) is uniquely linked to the
signatory;
(b) is capable of identifying the
signatory;
(c) it is created using means that the
signatory can maintain under his
sole control; and
(d) it is linked to the data to which it
relates in such a manner that any
subsequent change to the data is
detectable;
“electronic signature” means data in
electronic form affixed to or logically
associated with other electronic data
which may be used to identify the
signatory in relation to the data
message and to indicate the
signatory’s approval of the
information contained in the data

22
 message;
11 every registry shall have an Make a proviso to Sec. 11 to read: So as to give
official seal and every instrument Provided that instruments processed legitimacy to
bearing the imprint of the seal electronically by any registry shall be instruments
shall be received in evidence and deemed to bear the seal of that processed
shall be deemed without further registry. electronically.
proof to be issued by or under
the direction of the Registrar
38(1) The Registrar shall not register Add as subsection immediately after To give legitimacy
any instrument transferring or (1) to read as: to electronic
vesting any land, a lease of land, Where a written statement from a certificates of
situated within the area of a rating authority is received payment of rates
rating authority unless, a written electronically, the same shall be
statement, by the relevant considered by the registrar as a valid
government agency, certifying certificate of payment of rates.
that all outstanding rates and
other charges payable to the
agency in respect of the land
including rates and charges for
the last twelve months and up to
the date of request for transfer
have been paid there is produced
to the Registrar.
39(1) The Registrar shall not register an Add as subsection after subsection To legitimize the
instrument purporting to transfer (1)-Where a certificate of clearance electronic
or create an interest in land, of rent is received electronically, the certificate of
unless a certificate is produced same shall be considered by the clearance of rent
with the instrument, certifying registrar as a valid certificate of
that no rent is owing to the clearance of rent.
national or county governments
in respect of the land.
39(2) The Registrar shall not register an Add as subsection after subsection To give legitimacy
instrument effecting a transaction (2)-Where consent on use of land by to consents
unless satisfied that any consent the National or County government processed
required to be obtained in respect is electronically presented to the electronically
of the transaction has been given registrar, the registrar shall consider

23
 by the national or county the same a valid consent.
government on the use of the
land, or that no consent is
required.
44 1) Except as otherwise provided Add sub-section to Sec. 44 to read:
in this Act, every instrument “Where practicable, an instrument
effecting any disposition processed and executed
under this Act shall be electronically by persons consenting
executed by each of the to it by way of advanced electronic
parties consenting to it, in signature shall be deemed an
accordance with the instrument validly executed”
provisions of this section.
2) The execution of any
instrument referred to in
subsection (1), by a person
shall consist of appending a
person’s signature on it or
affixing the thumbprint or
other mark as evidence of
personal acceptance of that
instrument.
3) The execution of any
instrument referred to in
section (1) by a corporate
body, association, cooperative
society or other organization
shall be effected in
accordance with the
provisions of the relevant
applicable law and in the
absence of provisions on
execution of instruments, the
execution shall be effected in
the presence of either an
advocate of the High Court
of Kenya, a magistrate, a

24
 Judge or a notary public.
4) An instrument executed
outside Kenya shall not be
registered unless it has been
endorsed or is accompanied
by a certificate in the
prescribed form completed
by a notary public or such
other person as the Cabinet
Secretary may prescribe.
5) The transferee shall in
addition to executing the
instrument, attach the
following—
(a) a copy of an identity card
or passport; and
(b) a copy of a Personal
Identification Number
certificate;
(c) passport size
photographs;
(d) where applicable, a
marriage certificate;
(e) a copy of the certificate
of incorporation, in the
case of a corporate entity;
or
(f) such other identification
documents as the Cabinet
Secretary may prescribe.
45 1) Subject to subsection (3), a Introduce a paragraph under So as to include
person executing an subsection (3) as one of the verification of
instrument shall— circumstances under which the electronic
(a) appear before the registrar can dispense with personal instruments
Registrar, public appearance to be paragraph c to
officer or other read:
If the registrar can verify that the

25
 person as is instrument has been electronically
prescribed; and processed and executed by parties
(b) be accompanied by consenting to it.
a credible witness
for the purpose of
establishing identity,
unless the person is
known to the
Registrar, public
officer or other
person.
(2) The Registrar, public
officer or other person
shall identify the person
and ascertain whether the
person freely and
voluntarily executed the
instrument, and shall
complete thereon a
certificate to that effect.
(3) The Registrar may dispense
with verification under this
section—
(a) if the Registrar
considers that it
cannot be obtained
or it can only be
obtained only with
difficulty and is
otherwise satisfied
that the document
has been properly
executed; or
(b) if the Registrar
knows the
document has been

26
 properly executed,
and shall record on
the document the
reasons for
dispensing with the
appearance of the
parties.
46 An instrument required by law to Introduce proviso to section 46 to To appreciate
be stamped shall not be accepted read: “provided that instruments instruments
for registration unless it is stamped or deemed stamped under processed and
stamped in accordance with the the Stamp Duty Act shall be executed
Stamp Duty Act accepted for registration” electronically and
in respect of
which payments
are made
electronically and
consider them as
duly stamped.

KENYA INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATIONS ACT SCHEDULE OF PROPOSED

AMENDMENTS
Sec. Content Proposed Amendment Rationale
83B This Part shall not apply to any It is proposed that the To include title documents
rule or law requiring writing or Minister should exclude processed and signed electronically
signatures in any of the title documents under
following matters— subsection (2)
(a) the creation or execution
of a will;
(b) negotiable instruments;
(c) documents of title.

The Minister may by order

modify the provisions of
subsection (1) by adding or
removing any class of
transactions or matters.

27
THE LAW OF CONTRACT ACT SCHEDULE OF PROPOSED AMENDMENTS
Sec. Content Proposed Rationale
Amendment
3 (3) No suit shall be brought A contract rendered To accommodate
upon a contract for the electronically and electronic contracts
disposition of an interest signed by parties by and dispense with
in land unless— way of advanced requirement to have
(a) the contract upon electronic signatures witnesses attest to
which the suit is shall not require contract.
founded— attestation of
(i) is in writing; witnesses, and shall
(ii) is signed by be deemed a valid
all the parties contract for this
thereto; and purpose.

(b) the signature of each

party signing has
been attested by a
witness who is
present when the
contract was signed
by such party:
Provided that this
subsection shall not apply
to a contract made in the
course of a public auction
by an auctioneer within
the meaning of the
Auctioneers Act (Cap.
526), nor shall anything in
it affect the creation of a
resulting, implied or
constructive trust.

28
 STAMP DUTY ACT SCHEDULE OF PROPOSED AMENDMENTS

Sec. Content Proposed Amendment Rationale

2 “stamped” and “duly Expand the definition to include To ease

stamped” mean that the electronic documents in whose respect processing of
instrument referred to is online payments of duty are made, to electronic
form second limb. documents by
stamped with the required and
exempting them
sufficient stamp and that the Means that: the instrument referred to:
from the manual
stamp has been cancelled, if
(2) The instrument is processed process of
necessary, in accordance with electronically and duty paid stamping.
the provisions of this Act; electronically.

THE SURVEY ACT

Sec Content Proposed amendment Rationale
5 (1) The Director shall have and use a Introduce a sub-section to read- To include
seal of office bearing the electronic
impression of the badge of the documents or
Survey Department and having plans
inscribed thereon “Survey of
Kenya”, and the imprint of such a
seal shall be valid whether
impressed or made in wax, ink or
any other substance.

(2) The seal of the Survey of Kenya

shall not be used or affixed except
by the Director or by some
person authorized by the Director
in writing in that behalf.
30 0. All survey plans and records to Add sub-section to read- To take into
be deposited with Director and account plans
to become property of processed
Government electronically
(1) Every surveyor who executes
any survey in accordance
with the provisions of this
Act and of any regulations
made thereunder shall send
to the Director all plans, field
notes and computations
relating thereto, and all such

29
 plans, field notes and
computations shall be
deposited in the Survey
Office and shall become the
property of the Government.
(2) No plan deposited in the
Survey Office in accordance
with subsection (1) shall be
altered or amended in any
way without the permission
of the Director.

32 Authentication of plans Add sub-section to read- To include

“ plans
No land shall be deemed to have been processed
surveyed or resurveyed until the plan electronically
thereof has been authenticated by the
signature of the Director or of a
Government surveyor authorized in
writing by the Director in that behalf,
or by the affixing of the seal of the
Survey of Kenya.

SECTIONAL PROPERTIES BILL, 2018 SCHEDULE OF PROPOSED AMENMDNETS

Sec. Content Proposed Justification
Amendment
4 (2) The Registrar shall not register Add paragraph c to To accommodate and
a sectional plan unless— read as: “the ease electronic processes
(a) the sectional plan
describes two or more units sectional plan is in
in it; and electronic form”
(b) the sectional plan is
presented for registration in
quadruplicate.
9 (1) Every plan presented for Amend to add
registration as a sectional plan paragraph after (b)
under this Act shall—
(a) Be described in the heading to read: “Be in
of the plan as a sectional plan electronic form”
(b) Shall be geo-referenced

30
REGISTRATION OF DOCUMENTS ACT SCHEDULE OF PROPOSED
AMENDMENTS
Sec. Content Proposed Justification
Amendment
7 7. When registrar may refuse to register Amend to introduce To entrench
(1) The registrar may refuse to accept another subsection electronic registration
for registration any document in after sub-section (2) of documents.
which any interlineation, blank, to read:
erasure or alteration appears, The registrar may
unless the persons executing the refuse to accept a
document attest with their document that is not
signature or initials such presented in
interlineation, blank, erasure or electronic form
alteration.
(2) If he registers such document, he
shall, at the time of registering the
same, make a note in the register
of such interlineation, blank,
erasure or alteration.
19 Books to be kept by registrars Amend to make this To entrench
The following books shall be kept in both section a sub-section electronic filing of
registries— and thereby introduce documents.
(a) register of documents of which the another subsection to
registration is compulsory; read:
(b) register of documents of which the The books under (1)
registration is optional; shall be kept in
(c) register of reasons for refusal to electronic form by
register the registrar.
(d) register of reasons for cancellation of
the registration of a document.

31
32
 CHAPTER THREE

3 COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS
3.1 Introduction
Many countries are increasingly are shifting away from manual handling of land records to specialized
and sophisticated information processing methods. These changes are making countries to redefine their
comparative advantage to reap the benefits of information and communication technology. This Chapter
examines the transformation of e-platforms dealing with land transactions in selected countries to
establish the context under which they were developed, how they were developed, success factors and
pitfalls to guide the development of NLIMS in Kenya. The speed and scale of the changes are varied and
present many challenges. Of particular concern are the risks to the security and integrity of the
documents during the transformation and the value addition in the technological advances.

These reviews are laid out into three parts. Part One looks at the stages pursued, whether in partnerships,
in developing the system and the subsequent management; Part Two looks into the accessibility, data
security and integration with other systems; Part Three looks into the legal frameworks (enactments
and/or amendments) and finally the general findings that can support or inform our situation in coming
up with guidelines for developing a resilient and sustainable system. The collation of information in this
Chapter is a result of a combination of desktop review and research, presentations from subject matter
experts and representatives of other jurisdictions with success stories, and data collection from
questionnaires filled up by selected experts in countries of interest.

This Chapter reviews case studies of New Zealand, Estonia, Netherlands, England & Wales, Australia,
Canada, Singapore, Tanzania, Uganda, Ghana, Germany and Rwanda. These countries were chosen
because of historical similarities with Kenya i.e. commonwealth countries with similar land tenure and
registration systems or the fact that they have developed or attempted to develop LIMS. Annex 1 shows
the questionnaire that was used for these case studies while Annex 2 lists the persons who responded to
the questionnaire.

3.2 Case Studies

3.2.1 New Zealand
3.2.1.1 System Development and Management
The Land Information New Zealand (LINZ) was formed in 1996 out of the Ministry of Justice’s Land
Title Division and parts of the Department of Survey and Land Information. The development of the
system was done in two stages. Stage one involved conversion of title records and surveys into digital
form and converting all existing land titles and most survey parcels (approximately 1.4 million or 70

33
percent of the total) to digital form14. The conversion was carried out by a private company known as
Electronic Data Systems (New Zealand) which partnered with a state-owned enterprise, Terralink, with
the objective of bringing historic land records into the system alongside the “live” records. Stage two on
the other hand focused on granting surveyors and conveyancers remote access to the electronic survey
and title records maintained in the LINZ database i.e. Landonline.15

On completion of stage two towards the end of 2002, lawyers and surveyors were able to conduct
electronic transactions directly with LINZ, in processes now known as e-survey and e-dealing. While all
surveys must be lodged electronically and conveyancers are required to lodge dealings (transactions)
electronically, there are some exceptions, which entail instruments that must be lodged manually, and
also to allow members of the public to lodge dealings. All manual dealings are scanned into Landonline
and processed electronically. The system provides for the use of digital signatures. Records are scanned
and uploaded and the manual records are kept separately. It is worthwhile to note that there was a
transitional period of approximately three to four years before the use of Landonline was made
mandatory.

System Access
LINZ is accessible from a web portal from which one can carry out land transactions. It is accessed by
internal staff and external users (surveyors, conveyancers, search users, local authorities). Internal user
access is controlled by the users’ login to the local network, external users have a Digital Certificate to
allow access, and different profiles control what users can do once logged in 16. Detailed instructions are
made available on the portal to guide users on how to obtain Maps, access Land Records, Land
Registration, Surveying and e-Conveyancing services via Landonline. On this portal, separate interfaces
for access to the system are provided i.e. for Property Professionals (surveyors, lawyers, conveyancers
and other professionals) and for Non-Professionals.

Property Professionals are able to access Landonline directly and securely carry out searches, lodge and
update title dealings and survey data in real time; whereas Non-Professionals have the option to order
copy of title or other land records through an online order form with the results being delivered
electronically as email attachments. It is interesting to note that an option is available for manual dealing
for those who wish to present physical instruments, which are in actual sense processed and recorded
electronically on Landonline.

14
Margot Schwass, Michael Vitale (2006). Case program on LINZ and the development of Landonline. The Australia and
New Zealand School of Government.
15 The transaction centre for property professionals and local councils to carry out land dealings efficiently and securely online
16 Steve Russell, Senior Landonline Application Specialist Property Rights. Questionnaire response. December 2018

34
 Laws Enacted/Amended
The implementation of stage two required the amendment of two key pieces of legislation (the Land
Transfer Act 1952 and the Survey Act 1986) to legally empower the switch from manual to electronic
transactions. This legislative change was contentious, as automation was seen by some to weaken the
security of the land title system.

Findings/Observations
a. Upon commissioning of the LINZ, a poor system uptake was noted. It was noted that beyond
systems development, there was need to allocate enough budget for “system uptake” i.e. marketing –
promotions, communications and relationship management among others. In 2003, the contracted
company commenced but two years down the line only 1.4% of title transactions and 2.3 percent of
surveys had been transacted using the system. It is notable that the contractual obligations were not
well structured leading to many variations of time and budgets. The key partner Terralink Company
went under in the process;
b. There was a problem with the database which led to loss of data, and threatened the integrity of the
database for the South Island offices. To avoid such incidents, it is important to invest in robust
Enterprise Relational Database Management Systems coupled with a sound Data Model Design
capable of seamlessly and efficiently hosting survey plans and survey data, which is dynamic in
nature;
c. There was a gap in technological capacity and ICT skills of the target end users. Some had
sophisticated IT networks, while others (chiefly lawyers) still ran largely paper-based offices. There
were many authentication steps where the digital signatures required 37 steps, whose security process
was not convincing to the users. Resistance from professionals was, therefore, experienced;
d. The system is largely electronic but few instrument types required to be lodged manually and also to
allow for members of the public to lodge manual dealings;
e. A phase period of approximately three to four years was allowed where both manual and digital
transactions were conducted concurrently before making use of Landonline mandatory except for a
few instruments;
f. All titles are digital and nothing is printed on paper; and
g. Landonline was developed over three to four years in the late 1990s. Alongside the development of
Landonline was a conversion project to ensure the data from old paper systems and databases was
converted to a suitable electronic format. Enhancements are done every 6 months since
development17.

17
Margot Schwass, Michael Vitale (2006). Case program on LINZ and the development of Landonline (A). The Australia and
New Zealand School of Government. (Already stated in No. 14 above)

35
3.2.2 Estonia
System Development and Management
Estonia is one of the most progressive and ambitious countries in ICT services making it one of the
highly rated countries on e-governance. In Estonia, access to internet is considered a social right and as a
result, 99 percent of the residents have access to internet, which facilitates access to a wide range of
government e-services.18 The e-services system was developed in phases with a citizen services
orientation starting with the basic official individual documentation. Every child born acquires a lifelong
identification that is used in all transactions ranging from health services, education, marriage, driving
license, banking and property ownership among others.

The first intervention was the establishment of an e-database of identification cards for all citizens that
culminated into a population registry. This is a once-only registration exercise that allows all citizens to
access and transact business in public and private sector services. In 1997, this system was escalated and
linked up to the electoral process and tax payments and car parking in 2000. In 2003, the system
progression allowed the establishment of a gateway to access the various web-based databases, known as
the X-Road. The X-Road delivers an interoperability architecture, which operates on a set of standards
and guidelines aimed at ensuring the provision of services for public administration. The systems
architecture offers a combination of confidentiality, accessibility and integrity through Blockchain
technology19.

Whereas the X-Road has personalized portals, public sector agencies are free to develop their own
information systems, but which must comply with the requirements of the interoperability framework. In
Estonia, the central command for the land and property registry lies with a Land Board which comprises
the government central implementation and the Informatics Council which is made up of representation
drawn from the National Government, County Government and Municipal Authorities under the
framework illustrated in Figure 3.1

18 Honorary Consul Kadri Humal Ayal presentation to the Taskforce on 27th November 2018.
19 ibid

36
 Figure 3.1: Agencies sharing Land Information

Source: https://ega.ee/ (2nd November 2018)

The data-mining project which involved converting paper titles to the electronic register started in 2000
and ended in 2008 with legal recognition. Deed scanning began in 2008 up to 2015 during which more
than 900,000 files were processed. On completion of the exercise, an electronic signature was added to
guarantee the integrity of documents. The budget for the exercise was approximately 1.1 Million Euros.
Figure 3.2 provides a history of Land Register Information Systems in Estonia.

Figure 3.2: History of Land Register Information System

Source: www.rik.ee (accessed 25th November, 2018)

37
 Access
The system is accessed through the Land Board Geoportal which offers links to thematic web map
applications which are based on the Cadastral Register i.e. there are three different user interfaces
provided as illustrated in Figure 3.3 governed by predefined user rights and privileges i.e. Citizen,
Enterprise and Public Servant Views. User authentication is based on the use of digital signatures.

Figure 3.3: Estonia System design20.

Laws Enacted/Amendments
The laws amended were: Databases Act (1997/repealed 2006), Public Information Act (2001), Digital
Signatures Act (2000), Act on Intellectual Property (applicable also for state databases), Principles of
Estonian Information Policy (1998, 2004), Action Plan of Estonian Information Policy – (e-Estonia)
(1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006) and Personal Data Protection Act21

20 ibid
21 ibid

38
 Findings/Observations
a. The top political leadership championed and remained committed to the initiative, with properly
structured goals driven at all levels of government:
b. The Estonian law requires all government institutions, including the Land Board, to accept digitally
signed documents, which has promoted the successful adoption of e-services to over 90 percent;
c. Turnaround time for land conveyancing reduced from 90 to 5 days;
d. Digital transactions eliminated data mining from paper, resulted in personnel reduction, service room
and archive room rent reduction, and less office space requirement;
e. Data is entered at source only; and
f. Blockchain technology has been incorporated to enhance the system’s security and reliability.

3.2.3 Netherlands
System Development and Management
Netherlands has a deed based land registration system22. The deed works by proving that the land
transaction took place and if transactions are not legal, they can be rolled back. The government provides
a platform known as Public Services on the Map (PDOK) for sharing data on open data policy where
data is free for download.

PDOK is a central platform which stores and distributes (nationwide) datasets provided by government
organisations. Every organisation updates their data and takes full responsibility of the dataset. Datasets
are distributed via web services and direct downloads.

PDOK organisation consists of two parts. The functional and technical management part is executed by
Kadaster Netherlands. It is responsible for delivering the PDOK IT distribution platform, the web and
download services, and supporting the users by providing a Customer Contact Centre. The Steering
Board, on its part, is responsible for the control and consists of representatives of all partner
organisations. They monitor the quality of service and are responsible for the long-term development of
PDOK. The system was rolled out at once and is supported and maintained by a large group of experts.

22
Deeds registration system is merely a registration of all important instruments related to that land. In order to establish
one's title to the land, a person (or usually their purchaser's attorney) will have to ascertain, for example, all the title documents
are properly executed; "a chain of title" is established, i.e. the proper ownerships from the granting of the land from the
government to the present owner; and that there are no encumbrances on the land that probably will undermine the title of
the land.

39
 System Access
PDOK is accessible by internal employees, professionals, stakeholders and all citizens worldwide based
on pre-defined access control rules and privacy regulation policy. The system has one nationwide
database for the registry which is closely harmonised with the nationwide cadastral database. The
information from the registry and cadastral database is accessed from the information database as shown
in Figure 3.4.

Figure 3.4: Information Access

Source: Dutch Kadastre23

The system has an Electronic Document Management System (EDMS) and is linked to a payment
collection system, the banks and the revenue authority. All the key registers are connected such as
vehicles, income, employees, companies, real estate, buildings, topography, subsoil and addresses as
shown in Figure 3.5. Figure 3.6 shows the cadastral update process. In this system, the Land Surveyors
are able to directly work with the system to update cadastral records.

23
Martien Tomberg’s presentation to the Taskforce on 16th November 2018.

40
 Figure 3.5: System of Key Registers

Figure 3.6: Cadastral Update Process

Source: Dutch Kadastre24

24 ibid

41
 Laws Enacted/Amended
A major revision of the Civil Code was effected in 1992 (symbolically called the “new” Civil Code),
together with the Cadastre Act as a specific elaboration of the parts pertaining to the system of property
rights, and its aspects of registration and cadastre. This constituted the land registers and cadastral maps
as a multi-purpose system aimed at providing legal security of tenure, facilitating the land market, and
supporting many government activities such as physical planning, development control, public
acquisition of land, land taxation, and management of natural resources.25

Findings/Observations
a. Trusted third parties (the Notary Public) are mandated to keep the original documents and the
government uses the copies to transact. The data-owners are responsible for the content and they
decide (if) when and how data is provided via PDOK;
b. The system is simple, agile and allows survey checks for quality control by use of modern digital
surveying field instruments that update data directly into the system by way of digital signatures; and
c. A mirror production environment approach is applied so that when updating it does not affect the
availability of service.

3.2.4 England and Wales

System Development and Management
The use of computers to enhance land transactions started in the 1970s; computers were then used for
storing data, run internal processes and deliver information to customers. However, electronic
conveyancing towards an e-Land Registry and the Law Commission began working together on the
necessary changes in 2000. The first phase of computerisation focused on the conversion of the manual
register to the land register online service that allows citizens to view registers at a small fee. The result
was the Land Registration Act 2002, which provided for the use of electronic documents. Interestingly,
the e-conveyancing plans were put on hold in 2007 primarily due to cost implications and also to allow
for further review of the conveyancing process with the view of stimulating the housing market.26 The
Act was designed to allow for the introduction of electronic conveyancing, and following the
introduction of the Land Registration (Electronic Conveyancing) Rules 2008. Her Majesty's Land
Registry (HMLR) team aims to register all land and property in England and Wales by 2030 but so far
just under 86 percent of the freehold land area, constituting about 26.5 million individual titles, has been
registered in England and Wales.

Digital Mortgage service allows homeowners to re-mortgage their property without having to sign paper
documents in front of a witness. The service allows homeowners to sign their documents in a few simple

25 Kees de Zeeuw, Director , Kadaster International, Country, Report September 2018

26 https://mundays.co.uk/news/news/land-registration-and-e-conveyancing/ - (accessed 26th November 2018)

42
steps at a time that suits them, using the portal gov.uk. Looking ahead, the HMLR’s Research and
Development Project (Digital Street) team is consulting with representatives from across the industry to
explore how technologies like blockchain, smart contracts and artificial intelligence could be used to
make it simpler, faster and cheaper for conveyancers to do their jobs.

Access
Her Majesty's Land Registry has the head office in London and 14 regional offices with a Computer
Centre in Plymouth in the South West of the country. Each regional office provides land registration
services for defined geographic area. At Plymouth District Land Registry, a Computerised Application
Processing System (CAPS) was introduced in 1986. Between 1988 and 1992 CAPS was extended to the
remaining offices countrywide. The land registry direct services became available in 2003. The Dynamic
Systems Development Method (DSDM) 27, which emphasises the need for the end user involvement in
the development process, was used. Business turnaround time was reduced from two weeks to a day and
customer satisfaction improved drastically.

Presently, with limited exceptions, a legal interest in land cannot be created or conveyed without a deed
in writing and properly executed. Once the title is registered, it is guaranteed by the state. The Land
Registry Rules 2003 were amended to allow for documents to be signed electronically.

Laws Enacted/Amended
Changes were made to Sections 91 to 95 and Schedule 5 of the Land Registration Act 2002, the Land
Registration Rules 2003, and the Land Registration (Network Access) Rules 2008.

Changes were required to the Land Registration Rules 2003, with the revocation of the Land Registration
(Electronic Conveyancing) Rules 2008 and the Land Registration (Proper Office) Order 2013, in order to
allow the Land Registry to continue with its digital transformation programme, and modernise and
simplify its services.

Furthermore, the Land Registration (Amendment) Rules 2018 (SI2018/70) were made on 22 nd January
2018 and came into force on 6th April 2018. The new rules were geared towards reinforcing the
provisions on the development of digital land registration (e-conveyancing) as well as lodging of digital
instruments and use of electronic signatures (e-signatures)28.

27 Dynamic Systems Development Method (DSDM) is an agile software development methodology. It is an iterative,
incremental approach that is largely based on the Rapid Application Development methodology
28 http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2018/70/pdfs/uksi_20180070_en.pdf - (accessed 26th November 2018)

43
 Findings/Observations
a. There was reorganisation of business units to provide for optimum staffing levels and to facilitate the
introduction of multi skilling and team-based working methods, which entailed the re-engineering of
business processes to streamline activities and take benefits of ICT;
b. A Public Private Partnership approach was the best way by using customer surveys and focus groups
in order to establish and measure the effect of operational and technological changes;
c. The Dynamic Systems Development Method (DSDM) has been used with emphasis on the need for
the end user involvement and call centres to handle customer queries and provide land related
information on the online services. This approach heralded a business turnaround time from two
weeks to a day and customer satisfaction improved drastically;
d. There is an Electronic Document Management System in place and most documents are scanned and
uploaded. Once scanned and uploaded the originals are destroyed and no hardcopy backups are kept;
and
e. E-conveyancing is restricted to lawyers but citizens can be given access to read and sign their e-
mortgages with digital signatures.

3.2.5 Australia
As a federation of six states and two large territories, Australia has two principal scales based on the
Torrens system of titles registration i.e. a national-scale land use mapping for baseline setting and
evaluating regional development programmes that provide a continent-scale picture of land use activity at
a coarse resolution, and a state-scale mapping in each of the Australian states and territory jurisdictions
that provides finer details supporting the development of policy and change monitoring programmes at
this level. Each state develops its register and cadastre but efforts are ongoing to integrate all to the
national register and cadastre29.

System Development and Management

3.2.5.2 Victoria
In the state of Victoria, contemporary detailed state-wide land use mapping commenced in 1996 with full
coverage completed by 2005. The land register resides in an electronic system known as Victorian Online
Titles System (VOTS)30. Within VOTS, once the information from a paper instrument is processed, an
image of the paper instrument is linked to the register information and is made available through
Landata31.

29 Rohan Bennett questionnaire response on 8th November 2018

30 Richard Jefferson, Executive Director Land Registry Services, Land Use Victoria, Department of Environment, Water and
Planning. Questionnaire response on 27th November 2018.
31 Landata-an online search service which provides access to title and property information

44
Stakeholders were involved and new practical and efficient methods for generation and integration of
land information data was established. This mapping allows annual or biennial data renewal, and links the
data directly to a common framework based on cadastral (or land) parcel units, which are the smallest
unit of land ownership in Victoria. It also separately describes land tenure (ownership), land use (type of
property) and land cover (surface cover type). Derived from three different sources, the dataset is an
integrated combination of spatial and non-spatial, raster and vector data.

The electronic land register was introduced in 2001, after a programme of data capture conducted over
the preceding 3 years. In 2008, the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) had committed to
creating a single, national e-Conveyancing solution to the Australian property industry. In 2010, National
e-Conveyancing Development Limited, now known as Property Exchange Australia (PEXA), was
formed which has now rolled out its electronic platform across New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland,
Western Australia, and South Australia. The development of the e-conveyancing system began in 2011,
with the first transaction types introduced in 2015. The land register is now fully electronic. Today, 12
major transaction types are capable of being lodged electronically and, since 1 st October 2018, these have
been mandated for electronic lodgement where a lawyer, licensed conveyancer or financial institution is
involved.

A Certificate of Title (in paper format) can be issued following a transaction, but major financial
institutions have agreed with the State that they do not require a Certificate to be printed from
registration of mortgage transactions. For non-mortgage transactions lodged electronically, the
subscriber can elect to have a Certificate printed, or to simply hold electronic control. Only
approximately half of all titles in the Register have a paper Certificate. A subscriber must destroy the
paper Certificate and convert to electronic control before an electronic transaction can be lodged. It is
intended that, within the next two to three years paper Certificates of Title would be phased out32.

System Access
PEXA is a subscriber-only system. The main subscribers are lawyers, licensed conveyancers and
financial institutions. There are fairly strict entry requirements to become a subscriber, mainly around
professional indemnity and fidelity insurance, licensing by relevant authorities as well as ‘good character’
obligations. All combinations of transactions available in PEXA were to be lodged electronically by 1st
October 2018. That is, if any instrument or combination of instruments signed on or after 1 st October
2018 was available in PEXA, it had to be lodged electronically. This requirement applies to conveyancers
and lawyers acting for a party or themselves and PEXA Subscribers. Figure 3.7 shows the proposed
roadmap for lodging transactions for e-conveyancing on PEXA.

32Richard Jefferson, Executive Director Land Registry Services, Land Use Victoria, Department of Environment, Water and
Planning. Questionnaire response on 27th November 2018.

45
 Figure 3.7: Roadmap on lodging transactions for e conveyancing PEXA33

Laws Enacted/Amended
In the state of Victoria, Electronic Conveyancing (Adoption of National Law) Act 2013 was enacted.
The main purpose was to adopt a national law relating to electronic conveyancing and to make
consequential amendments to the Transfer of Land Act 1958 and other Acts such as Property Law Act
1958, which was amended to provide for rights of purchasers as to execution in electronic conveyancing,
National Law Act 2013 (No.7 of 2013) was amended to accommodate electronic conveyancing, and
interpretation of Legislation Act 1984, was amended to accommodate Electronic Conveyancing.

Findings/Observations
a. The process to produce the initial mapping was both time consuming and labour intensive, requiring
nine years of field and office work;
b. Currently, there is only one authorised electronic lodgement network, operated by PEXA, but other
network operators will shortly enter the market;
c. An electronic information exchange exists between the land register system and the revenue authority
system. A land transaction on which stamp duty is payable cannot be lodged for registration in the
land register unless the duty payment has been made. There is no linkage between the land register
and banks;

33
Source: Source for PEXA Image – “Conveyancing Transformed – End to end e-conveyancing has arrived” August 2017
www.community.pexa.com.au – (accessed 12th November 2018)

46
d. All execution in PEXA is now electronic. If the subscriber is a lawyer or licensed conveyancer, the
subscriber digitally signs instruments on behalf of clients. Where a subscriber is a party in the
transaction (e.g. a bank is incoming mortgagee), authorised officers of the subscriber sign; and
e. There are several levels of access from basic search (viewing information in the register – no changes
can be made) through to making significant changes to information (ownership changes, creating
new lots/titles etc.)

3.2.6 Canada
Each Province in Canada has its own land administration arrangements (including cadastral survey and
land registry arrangements) with a unique history and Bar Associations that play prominent roles. The
Federal Government is responsible for surveys on Crown Lands (public land). The following discussion
gives some salient points regarding Ontario, one of the Provinces in Canada.

3.2.6.1 Ontario
There are essentially two databases that are linked: A titles database containing land registration data, and
a mapping database, which serves as an index to find property. The system also provides online access to
Ontario’s Writs database – for purposes of searching and retrieving details of writs filed with any
sheriff/enforcement office in Ontario against a debtor. It is virtually 100 percent digital. Some exceptions
to electronic registration include: documents related to the expropriation of land, Crown grants,
condominium documents and other documents that may still be registered under the Registry Act.

System Development and Management

The Government of Ontario initiated the system in 1985 as a pilot project for the purposes of records
automation and for the conversion of properties from the Registry System to the Land Titles System.
Automation of records (approximately 7.5 million parcels) and electronic registration was completed by
around 2010. Conversion from Registry (Deeds) to Land Titles (Torrens system) is approaching 100
percent; only a few properties with significant title issues to be settled remain to be converted.

The long-term goal of Province of Ontario Land Registration Information System (POLARIS) is to
integrate fully all land related information and databases into one centralised, automated, online land
information system.

The system is managed by a private company on behalf of the government in a long term contract. Fees
and charges (e.g., Land Transfer Tax) are collected through the system on behalf of government;
Property Tax (collected by municipalities) is not directly linked to the system, but municipalities have
access to the database through the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (MPAC). MPAC is a

47
not-for-profit corporation funded by the Government of Ontario and Municipalities for purposes of
assessing properties.

Almost all conveyancing is done electronically; the system (e-Reg) allows conveyancing documents (e.g.,
transfers, charges, discharges and documents general) to be prepared electronically. The documents are
made available electronically to the party’s lawyers and signed through electronic signatures. The
electronic signature is accomplished by logging into the secure system and indicate the document is
complete and ready for release. Evidence of client consent and authorisation is provided by an
acknowledgement and direction document produced electronically by the system and signed by the client and
kept by the lawyer.

System Access
The system is accessed through a web portal for people who have a user account. The system is accessed
through a personalised, specially encrypted electronic Key Fob34 and a corresponding user pass phrase.
The Fobs generate an authentication code (number) at fixed intervals which is then used to provide
secure login access. Both the electronic Fob and pass phrase must be used in conjunction to access the
system. The authentication code generated by the Fob (number) along with the pass phrase is required
when one signs the electronic instruments for completeness/submission. A smart phone App can also be
used in the place of a key Fob. In addition, the integrity and security of the system is maintained through
an audit trail of all transactions and the person (identified by the pass phrase) who performed the
transactions.

Other people working in the office of the Account Holder can be given a Personal Security License to be
able to access the system as a licensed user (e.g., law clerks within a law firm). Only people who meet
certain criteria can apply to the Director of Land Registration for authorisation to access the system to:
(i) to perform a search of title, (ii) to electronically register land, and (iii) view and print instruments,
plans and parcel registers. Generally, the following categories of people can apply for authorisation to
access the system: lawyers or legal professionals and those working under them, financial institutions,
Title insurers, search houses, the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (MPAC) and the
government. Surveyors are also able to obtain authority to access the system for purposes of performing
a search of title, view and print instruments and plans, and lately (2018) for the electronic submission of
legal (cadastral) survey plans.

Other professionals in the land sector, such as Surveyors, mainly use the records search function.
However, in theory, only people meeting certain criteria (financial resources, good character and

34A Key Fob is a small security device with built-in authentication used to control and secure access to network services and
data.

48
accountability) and standards (regulated professionals, financial institutions and mortgage brokers) can be
authorised by the Director of Land Registration to register electronic documents in the system. However,
certain functions within the process, e.g., making certain legal statements related to a transaction can only
be performed by lawyers. In the paper system, some title documents must be accompanied by supporting
evidence (e.g., a transfer under a Power of Sale). In electronic registration, the supporting evidence is
replaced by compliance with law statements – this is only performed by lawyers.

Laws Enacted/Amendments
a) The Land Registration Reform Act of 1990 was first enacted in 1984 to provide for the
implementation of POLARIS. The Act has been amended several times over the years through the
phases of the implementation. Current version is Revised Statutes of Ontario 1990. Another goal of
POLARIS was to convert all properties registered under the Registry system to one registration
system – Land Titles System. To implement electronic registration under Part III of the Land
Registration Reform Act (LRRA) the Land Titles Act, and the Registry Act have also been
substantially amended.
b) The Land Titles Act of 1990 was amended to allow for automated recording, property mapping and
assigning of property identifiers (Property Identification Number, Personal Identification Number -
PIN) as provided in Part II of LRRA. Amendments also provided for the creation and maintenance
of a property index in automated form known as a Parcel Register.
c) The Registry Act of 1990 was amended to provide for conversion of properties registered under the
Act to Land Titles Act. The Act was also amended to allow for bringing land under the automated
system as provided by Part II of LRRA.
d) The Electronic Land Registration Services Act, of 2010 was amended to allow the Government
to enter into agreements with service providers to provide land registration and related services. For
example, POLARIS is currently run and managed by a private company (Teranet Inc.) on behalf of
the Government. Teranet facilitates the delivery of electronic land registration services on behalf of
Government of Ontario.
e) Other statutes enacted or amended include: the Electronic Registration Act to permit filing of
information in electronic format and transmission to an electronic database.

Findings/Observations
a) The roll out was not done in all Registry Offices (Counties) at once, it was done gradually in phases.
Conversion of Registry to Land Titles and digitizing of paper records lasted almost two decades –
1990 to 2010. Digital tool (Terraview) was launched in 1995 to enable users to search and view
records remotely. The Electronic Land Registration System came last. Electronic transactions were
launched in 1999 in some Registry Offices. The key components were: Conversion (Registry to Land
Titles), Automation of Paper Records and Electronic Registration;

49
b) Although the 1990 Land Registration Reform Act authorized the Minister responsible for land
matters to issue Regulations making electronic registration mandatory, this was implemented
gradually in order to give lawyers and conveyancers time to adjust;
c) Once a Registry Office’s records were almost fully converted, the Minister filed a Regulation making
electronic registration optional. After a transition period (approximately one year initially), a second
Regulation would be filed making electronic registration mandatory in that specific Registry Office;
and
d) The transaction period was reduced gradually to approximately two months by 2010.

3.2.7 Germany
System Development and Management
Germany has 16 states and each state has the responsibility for legislation in the field of cadastre, though
the laws governing surveying are basically uniform across the country. The State Survey Offices and the
responsible Ministries of the state cooperate through Working Committee of the Surveying Authorities
of the States of the Federal Republic of Germany to form uniform regulations.

The initial LIMS was rolled out at once and updated regularly. For a long time, the Land Registration
System consisted of Automated Real Estate Book (ALB) and Automated Real Estate Map (ALK)
systems. However, all the data of the real estate cadastre was combined into Authoritative Real Estate
Cadastre Information System (ALKIS). ALKIS is nationally standardised and formulated in the AAA35
model together with the Authoritative Topographic-Cartographic Information System (ATKIS) and the
Authoritative Control Point Information System (AFIS). Automated Property Register is harmonised for
the whole country and has a history dating more than 10 years. The Automated Cadastral Map is fully
operational for most urban areas and was automated from 1975. The Grundbuch 36 is automated in only
few states.

System Access
E-conveyancing is limited to state authorised notaries. The system allows e-conveyancing but contracts
have to be handed in manually. The individuals can also request for information. None of these
stakeholders, however, has a direct access to the data, except state authorities, which are involved in land
exchange, for example, the Department of Rural Development.

35 Refers to AFIS-ALKIS-ATKIS-Data model. The model defines the standards and relationship of spatial data. AFIS is the
Official Control Station Information System and contains descriptive and illustrative data. ALKIS is the Official Real Estate
Cadastre Information System and contains real estate descriptive and illustrative data. ATKIS is the Official Topographic and
Cartographic Information System of the German state survey.
36 German Land Register

50
There are systems that are outside the application that are manual. There are service fees for each request
unless it is coming from a state institution. Grundbuch and cadastral maps are kept in both manual and
digital. The system is linked to the payment collection system arranged by the Ministry of Finance which
collects taxes based on the LIMS. Banks are not directly connected to LIMS but they can request
information when they prove valid reasons to access information.

3.2.7.3 Laws Enacted/Amended

Germany passed the Digital Signature Law in 1997. Additionally, on 1 st October, 2009, the law for
introduction of e-conveyancing in the Land Registry Procedure became effective. The following Articles
of the Land Register Code (that is, Grundbuchordnung or GBO) make specific provisions for e-
conveyancing:37
a. E-conveyancing and Electronic Files, Article 135, GBO - provides for applications to be conveyed as
electronic documents;
b. Receipt of Electronic Documents, Article 136, GBO - an electronic document is received by the
Land Registry, as soon as the technical facility meant for receipt has recorded it;
c. Form of Electronic Documents, Article 137, GBO – regulates the form of the electronic documents
and their equivalence with regard to the paper documents;
d. Transfer of Documents, Article 138, GBO - regulates carrying on the electronic files and the
conversion of incoming documents and/or documents which are already completed;
e. Inspection of the Files and Data Recall, Article 139, GBO - inspection of the electronic file can also
take place at another Land Registry to spare citizens from the inconvenience of long distance; and
f. Electronic Decisions, Article 140, GBO - If the file is managed electronically, the decisions (interim
provision or refusal) can also be issued in electronic form and have to be provided with a qualified
advanced signature.

3.2.7.4 Findings/Observations
a. Not everyone is permitted to view the land register, only those who demonstrate a legitimate interest
have this permission;
b. The German Land Register is decentralized, each district having its own department; and
c. The architecture takes the form of an integrated LIMS powered by seamless data transfer processes
between Automated Cadastral Map, Automated Property Register and Automated Land Register to
ensure consistency of the contents of cadastre and land register.

3.2.8 Ghana
In 1999, the Government of Ghana launched a new National Land Policy that sought to address some
fundamental problems associated with land administration and management, and provide the overall
37 The German “Grundbuchordnung”: History, Principles and Future about Land Registry in Germany, Harald Wilsch

51
policy framework for land administration in the country (MLF 38, 1999). To steer the implementation of
the key policy actions of the National Land Policy, Land Administration Project 1 (2003 – 2010) and
Land Administration Project 2 (2011 – January 2019), dubbed LAP-1 and LAP-2, were launched. Other
than legislative reforms, digitisation of land records featured prominently in LAP-2 with the objective of
implementing a fully integrated land administration system to support registration, surveying and
cadastral works and generate all the data needed for valuation and revenue collection.

Specifically, the proposed solution was the development of Ghana Enterprise Land Information System
(GELIS) and the preparation and implementation of a National Geospatial Policy i.e. the adoption of
computer-aided information systems in the lands sector to solve the challenges of building
encroachments, paucity of reliable datasets and lack of standards and many more.

Once complete, the GELIS will present a one-stop-shop for all stakeholders, including the general
public, irrespective of where they are to digitally transact on land. GELIS will, therefore, form a vital
component of implementing the geospatial policy and the achievement of NSDI. 39

3.2.8.1 System Development and Management

GELIS software is currently at the first stage of development. A partnership between two private
companies, Sinergise and Airbus Defence & Space, was awarded the contract for implementation.
However, budget restrictions have reduced the scope for now; but its enhancement will be building on
previous success stories and moving along the road to a spatially enabled society. The policy
fundamentals are in place for building the comprehensive system that the Lands Commission needs for
the future.
GELIS will have links with other initiatives such as the Client Service Access Units that the Lands
Commission has been developing, and other software systems, such as Land Use Planning and
Management Information System, already being used in Ghana.

38 Ministry of Lands and Forestry

39 GELIS as a component of National Geospatial Policy, Graham Deane, Robert Owen, Benjamin Quaye, March 2017

52
3.2.8.2 Laws Enacted/Amended
One of the activities within the Land Administration Programme (LAP) -2 involved the review of the
statutes on land in light of digitization of land records among others. The Land Bill 2017 introduces the
concept of e-conveyancing from clauses 70 to 76. Clauses 70 and 71 provide for conveyances to be
made electronically and for the structures for facilitating electronic conveyance. Clauses 72 and
73 provides for persons who are qualified to undertake electronic conveyancing and the
conditions for conveyancing. Access granted by the Lands Commission to provide electronic
conveyancing service is not transferable (Clause 74). Clause 75 stipulates the mandatory contents of
an electronic conveyance.40

3.2.8.3 Findings/Observations
a) The project was undertaken in two phases: Land Administration Project 1(LAP-1_2003-2010) and
Land Administration Project 2 (LAP-2_2011-2016);
b) There were delays in capturing detailed requirements and preparation of the required hardware
infrastructure;
c) The roll out of GELIS is being phased with the initial roll-out in one Pilot Area already done in late
2018;
d) The development of GELIS is part of the NSDI infrastructure which is a way of enforcing standards
and interoperability;
e) Training and capacity building was essential in achieving full operationalisation of the system; and
f) Involvement of professionals in development of the system was key in capturing user needs.

3.2.9 Singapore
Singapore is a small island country in South East Asia with an area of about 712 Sq. Km. Rapid land
development is a result of government’s continuous effort in sustaining high economic growth. The
Singapore Land Authority is a statutory board formed by an Act of Parliament in June 2001. The
Authority is made of the land office, survey, land registry and land systems support unit. The role of this
Board is to regulate cadastral survey and registration; manage state land and properties; as well as create
and provide land information. Singapore uses the Torrents system of land registration.

3.2.9.1 System Development

The cadastral survey information has become the most critical land base information to support
development and planning work in government. This cadastral GIS layer data is widely known as the
Digital Cadastral Database (DCDB). In Singapore, the DCDB is shared through the NSDI platform and

40 Ghana Land Bill 2017

53
many government agencies heavily depend on this layer for their planning and operation work to serve
businesses, communities and individuals.41

The digital Land Information Management System started in 1984 with the aim of providing online
access of land data by government departments and the public42. The Land Office, Registry and Survey
departments each update the data items under their responsibility. The system has two databases, the
Register and the Cadastre. This is illustrated in Figure 3.8.

Figure 3.8: Land Information Management System in Singapore

Source: Victor Khoo. 3D Cadastre in Singapore. Singapore Land Authority presentation.

The LIMS was developed in three phases. Phase One focused on setting up the national geodetic control
network. Since Singapore is geographically small, it was done using Global Navigation Satellite System
(GNSS) as a one off exercise setting the primary network and secondary network, which is called the
Integrated Survey Network (ISN). Phase Two focused on implementing new survey procedures and
amendments of the laws to suit the land information management system. The Land Surveyors Rules
contained in the Lands Surveyors Act were redrafted to provide for the structural and procedural
changes. All cadastral boundaries were to be tied to the ISN and hence converted to “legal coordinates”.
The conversion was a 10 year programme looking at broad based conversion programme involving
public and private surveying related work, where the conversion burden was fairly borne by the users of
the system and the conversion cost was defrayed. Phase Three focused on integration of other processes

41 Victor H.S. Khoo. Towards Smart Cadastre that supports 3d parcels. 3rd International Workshop on 3D Cadastres;
Development and Practices October, 2012, Shenzhen China.
42 Low Oon Song. The Development of Cadastral Surveying in Singapore.

54
and this required inter-ministerial effort43. The cadastral survey workflow based on electronic submission
was introduced in 2004. This workflow supports paperless submission via a web portal. The workflow
which is known as the SVY21 system is illustrated in Figure 3.9.

Figure 3.9: Survey workflow in Singapore44

By 2011 electronic transmission and paperless processing of Cadastral Survey jobs was achieved;
homogeneous reference frame for all survey work was done; digital cadastral maps were being shared by
agencies and approval of Land (including air space and subterranean) and Strata Lots45 was reduced to 10
days. Figure 3.10 shows the development of the Cadastral Survey System.

43 Goh Pong Chai. An Implementation Strategy for a Coordinated Cadastre in Singapore. FIG International Congress
Melbourne, Australia 1994.
44 Victor H.S. Khoo. Towards Smart Cadastre that supports 3D parcels. 3rd International Workshop on 3D Cadastres;

Development and Practices October, 2012, Shenzhen China.

45 Lot refers to parcel unique identifier

55
 Figure 3.10: Cadastral Survey Development

Source: Soh Kheng Peng Chief Surveyor, Singapore

3.2.9.2 Laws Enacted/Amended

a) Regulations on Boundaries and Survey Maps Act 1998 to adapt use of Global Positioning System
(GPS) technology and electronic submission of cadastral survey; and
b) The Land Survey Act amendment 2000 to include all types of land survey work.

3.2.9.3 Findings/Observations
a) The differences in coordinates had to be resolved before the data of each lot was loaded into the
system;
b) The Land Office, Registry and Survey departments each updates the data items under its
responsibility;
c) The system has two databases, the Register and the Cadastre;
d) Land Information Management System was developed in three phases;
e) Main challenges in maintaining the cadastral survey system is the ability to stay relevant and progress
fast enough to support the needs of the industry and the general public. That is why the Singapore
Land Authority is constantly looking for ways to further improve the system and one of the main
thrusts moving forward is development of 3D cadastre; and
f) Data conversion took around 10 years.

56
3.2.10 Rwanda
The Land Reform Process in Rwanda has already gone through two phases. Phase One commenced in
November 2005 and was a three-and-half year programme ending in May 2009, which set out to develop
a feasible approach resulting in a Strategic Road Map (SRM) with the objective of improving land tenure
security; facilitate economic growth; encourage good land use practices and soil conservation; and
contribute significantly to land conflict management. The SRM was accepted in March 2008 46.

The support for Land Tenure Regularization (LTR) or Phase Two, was from February 2010 to August
2013 and set out two primary objectives; register all land in Rwanda for the first time which resulted in
surveying all land parcels thereby providing land titles to all rightful claimants nationwide using the
“General Boundary Principle”. The result was 10.3-million parcels registered through a one-off, low-cost
community-based LTR process. Secondly, it sought to support the design and implementation of a new
Land Administration System. This allowed extensive capacity building and the development of people in
land administration and led to 20 Land District Offices being refurbished and newly equipped 47.

The existing Land Administration Information System (LAIS) has a spatial and job-based component.
The spatial component was built on Esri’s Spatial Database Engine technology. There is a heavy reliance
on a manual workflow from office to field and back to the office. The resulting hand-drawn field work in
the current workflow is dependent on in-house interpretation and digitizing to update the spatial parcels
layer. The current process is slow, tedious and can introduce errors throughout, and the accuracy, both
attribute and positional, cannot be guaranteed. The long-term value and dependence on this data will
become compromised if it is allowed to continue.

3.2.10.1 System Development

The Land Administration Information System (LAIS) was developed by Kadaster International under the
support of Rwanda Investment Climate Project for the National Land Centre/ Office of the Registrar of
Land Titles. The information is gathered into a single database called Land Register. The spatial land
information comprises the geometry of the land parcel and its location; a Unique Parcel Identifier (UPI);
parcel size and its land use. The non-spatial land information is about land rights and rights holder; the
UPI (that links the spatial to non-spatial land information) and evidences on how the rights are attached
to the right holder48.

The system development had two main stages. The first Stage was concerned with the establishment of
the Land Information Management System with a systematic land registration, started in 2005. Before

46 Kendall James (2016).Improving Rwanda Land Administration Information Systems. Geomatics Indaba.
47 ibid
48 Biraro, M., Bennett, R.M., Lemmen, C.H.J (2014). Land Information Updating; Assessment and options for Rwanda.

57
this, land belonged to the State and the citizens only had rights on improvements (The World Bank,
2010). The second Stage was the updating of the LIMS. During system updating, a contributing factor to
the project opportunity was the implementation of a Leica SmartNet or Continuous Operating Reference
System (CORS) network covering Rwanda with eight base-stations that went live in 2015. The Rwanda
Geonet as it has been named, provides high accuracy Real Time Kinematic (RTK) corrections to GNSS-
enabled devices thereby providing a platform to deliver high accurate positional data seamlessly and
efficiently. Figure 3.11 shows the Rwanda Natural Resources Authority Workflow.

Figure 3.11: Rwanda Natural Resources Authority Workflow

3.2.10.2 Laws Enacted/Amended

In the case of Rwanda, a Strategic Roadmap for Land Tenure Reforms was guided by the National Land
Policy (2004) and Organic Land Law (2005). This provided the framework within which the Land
Tenure Regularization (from customary ownership to obligatory registration) was implemented and
included the use of a Land Tenure Regulation Support System and a Land Administration Information
System.

3.2.10.3 Findings/Observations
a) Systematic land registration started in 2005;
b) The first stage was the development of the Land Administration Information System from 2005 to
2009. Later, stage two involved update and workflow development which took two years from 2014
to 2016;
c) A contributing factor to LIMS success was the implementation of a Leica SmartNet or CORS
network covering Rwanda with eight base-stations that went live in 2015;

58
d) The information is gathered into a single database called the Land Register;
e) There is a heavy reliance on a manual workflow from office to field and back to the office which has
to be interpreted and digitized so as to update the spatial parcels layer;
f) The Rwanda Natural Resources Authority underestimated the storage space that would be required
so a quick support workaround had to be sourced;
g) The mobile internet performance in Rwanda was not as good as expected thus slowing the
implementation; and
h) The Rwanda Natural Resources Authority implemented a cloud-based file server architecture to
facilitate the delivery of the Zeno project folders remotely using 3G on their tablets. This has negated
the need to physically go into a district office and connect to the Rwanda Natural Resources
Authority network as these offices can be remote to the field worker.

3.2.11 Tanzania
Land information in Tanzania is kept under two systems i.e. the manual file/record keeping system and
the GIS/Cadastral system.

3.2.11.1 System Development and Management

During the last decade, the Ministry of Lands has undertaken efforts to modernise land administration
and develop institutional transformation. The objective of the Integrated Land Management and
Information System (ILMIS) was to integrate the spatial aspects of land administration data managed by
district offices. The initiative commenced in July 2016 and was scheduled to run for two years until July
2018 followed by a one year maintenance period before being up-scaled nationally in the next phase. The
design, supply, installation, and commissioning of the ILMIS project was to fully integrate all aspects of
land management in two stages: the Pilot Stage and the Development Stage.

The focus was to computerise the attribute data of the cadastral parcels, and registration data (certificates
of occupancy, customary rights, and land administration dossiers) managed by the Ministry in Dar es
Salaam and the zonal offices. The development is through a consortium led by IGN FI, a private
company in partnership with the Ministry under the World Bank Funded Private Sector Competitiveness
Project.

3.2.11.2 Findings/Observations
a. The project is phased and is currently on a pilot phase; and
b. The initiative is a Public Private Partnership.

59
3.2.12 Uganda
Land Administration and Management in Uganda faced serious challenges in the 1980s with a significant
deterioration in delivery of land services. The land sector reforms were anchored on the 1995
Constitution, a new legislative regime and also development and implementation of the Land Sector
Strategic Plan I (2002-2012). A key strategy under the Land Sector Strategic Plan I (LSSP I) through the
PSCP-II to help scale-up critically needed land sector reforms in several priority areas establishing the
Competitiveness and Enterprise Development Project (CEDP) was the introduction of a unified,
relevant and accessible Land Information System (LIS) to increase accessibility, affordability and use of
land information for the planning and implementation of development programmes 49.

3.2.12.1 System Development and Management

The pilot project started in 2010 to 2013 funded by the World Bank, the project was titled Design,
Supply, Installation, Implementation of the Land Information System and Securing of Land Records
(DeSILISoR)50. In 2015, the Government of Uganda with support from the World Bank commenced the
implementation of a five-year initiative known as the Design, Supply, Installation and Implementation of
National Land Information System Infrastructure (DeSINLISI) Project to scale up the computerisation
of an integrated LIMS nationally. The Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development in
conjunction with the consortium IGN FI/IGN (The French National Institute of Geographical and
Forestry Information) is currently implementing the second phase of the computerisation of the Land
Registry. The computerisation of the land information system has already been completed and is
functional in seven Ministry Zonal Offices (MZO) established in Kampala, Jinja, Mukono, Masaka,
Mbarara, Wakiso and Lira. New MZOs are currently being established in Kabarole (Fort Portal), Kibale,
Masindi, Arua, Gulu, Mbale, Mityana, Luwero, Mpigi, Tororo, Soroti, Moroto, Kabale and Rukungiri.
Once completed, the project will fully integrate physical planning, surveying, valuation, land
administration and land registration and finalise the process of transformation of land records into digital
format. Once completed, a comprehensive, decentralised, self-contained one stop Ministry Zonal Offices
will be operational in 21 locations across Uganda. Figure 3.12 shows the Uganda Land Information
Project Management.

49
Oput R.,Milledrouges, A., Stimpson, P.,Lizenko, S., Roffer, C., & Burke, C. (2017) Scaling up a pilot land management
initiative in Uganda to a National Land Information System (NLIS). Annual World Bank Conference on Land and Poverty,
Washington DC, March 20-24, 2017.
50 ibid

60
 Figure 3.12: Uganda’s Land Information Project Management51

The National Land Information System (NLIS) is a secure, scalable and sustainable system configured
around an Open-Source and full-web global land and property management solution. The new system
comprises of 1) the modification and enhancement of existing functionalities, 2) a new critical
functionality, and 3) the utilisation of new technologies and InnoLA software framework by Innola
Solutions, Inc. It is composed of the modules implemented during the Pilot Stage and reengineered
software framework for optimisation of performance and rewritten using Open Source components and
the Land Administration Domain Model (LADM) data model. The effort and resources required for roll-
out, training, maintenance and upgrades are all eased by the fully web-based NLIS (utilising
HTML5/CSS3/JavaScript). Integration with external systems is supported by an Open API and the
design of exchange file formats to which are added land valuation and physical planning modules as well
as mobile office, mobile money services for fees and Daily Case Management system.

51Source: Richard Oput, Nadege Orlova & Gasant Jacobs (2014). Development and Implementation of the Land Information
System in Uganda (achievements and results after 1 year). Integrating Land Governance into the Post-2015 Agenda,
harnessing synergies for implementation and Monitoring Impact. Annual World Bank Conference on Land and Poverty
Washington DC, March 24-27, 2014.

61
In order to ensure database consistency, full web architecture for the system implementation, excluding
scanning module, which will be implemented using desktop application, improved operations & modules
so as to reflect the user experience.

3.2.12.2 Laws Enacted/Amended

It is not very clear the exact amendments made to provide for digitisation of land transactions in Uganda.
However, there are several past studies that have identified several legislations that needed to be reviewed
and amended to provide for technological interventions in land transactions. Specifically, recommended
amendments to: the Registration of Titles Act 1924; National Records and Archives Act 2001; Land Act;
Evidence Act 1909; and the Survey Act 1939.

Uganda made transferring property easier by eliminating the need to have instruments of land transfer
physically embossed to certify payment of stamp duty. In the judicial scene, a review of the Evidence Act
was necessary to determine admissibility of electronic records in a court of law. The National Land
Policy 2013 was very explicit about the setup of a Land Information System. It has also been reported
that with an enactment of the Land Information System Law, there would be provision of a special
online access to Courts, banks and financial institutions and Real Estate Agents.

3.2.12.3 Findings/Observations
a) The LIMS is making use of the Land Administration Domain Model (LADM);
b) The project is phased and is being funded by World Bank;
c) There are large volumes of data that need to be converted to digital records; and
d) Information, Education and Communication campaigns have been carried out to support the LIS
development and implementation

3.3 Conclusions
a. Before embarking on digitisation it is important to reorganise the registries / cadastre and review the
manual processes and workflows to remove duplicities while enhancing efficiencies;
b. In most jurisdictions, there exists a separate cadastre and land registry database which are then linked
to other databases like in Netherlands and Estonia;
c. Most countries have adopted a phased approach to the systems development and deployment with a
pilot area or region and then scaled up to the rest of the offices and regions like in New Zealand;
d. In most countries, there was a private company involved in either system development or
infrastructure management. This is the case in New Zealand, England & Wales and Canada;
e. Searches are open to public upon payment of some fee in most countries, however historical
searches are restricted, and more fees are chargeable. To be able to request for the searches one has
to register in the platform for authentication;

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f. Digitisation of land records and e-conveyancing is bound to be relatively budget intensive. As such
financial planning for short term (quick wins), mid-term and long term outcomes is key for the
successful implementation. Inadequate budgetary allocations affected implementations in New
Zealand, Canada and the UK;
g. Countries have done complete overhaul of their systems once overtaken by technology by providing
better performing copies of the database and a solid data migration plan. System renewal and
upgrades due to technological changes must follow a well-planned strategy. Netherlands had to do
this in order to leap to more suitable technologies rather than do patching to obsolete technologies;
h. The world is adopting the blockchain technology. The UK and Netherlands are exploring on the use
while Estonia is already using it;
i. Most countries that successfully digitised land transactions adopted an all-inclusive consultative
multi-sectoral user driven approach. Stakeholder participation is very important to eliminate
incidences of resistance as was witnessed in countries like Australia, New Zealand and Estonia;
j. It emerged that strong political will is necessary to ensure focussed development of LIMS as was the
case in Rwanda, Estonia and Netherlands;
k. Systems development needs to be guided by a documented NLIMS strategy/roadmap to ensure
consolidated advancements in the digitisation and e-Conveyancing process e.g. the case of Ghana
which built on progress of LAP 1 and LAP 2;
l. Owing to the critical and sensitive nature of land transactions, efforts to ensure systems security,
intrusion detection and prevention are key to facilitate data integrity and confidence by the citizens
and other stakeholders;
m. To avoid duplicated efforts within government it is important to align e-government initiatives within
an elaborate enterprise system architecture/infrastructure with the holistic view of interoperability of
developed systems (both public and private). This ensures that digitisation and e-conveyancing aligns
to such strategies since this is bound to inform or impact other government functions. The Estonian
case which rides on the X-Road is one worth emulating;
n. E-Conveyancing in most countries was enabled through the use of digital signatures backed by
supporting legislation. One cannot overemphasise the fundamental role of digital signatures in e-
conveyancing as it facilitates a paperless process; and
o. Reliable connectivity to the NLIMS will be crucial in ensuring faster uptake and adoption i.e. both at
the institutional level (for internal institutional staff) and for external end users and professionals. In
most countries where digitisation and e-conveyancing is successful, Internet Service Provider
infrastructure and coverage is widespread and reliable e.g. Estonia, New Zealand, Australia etc.

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3.4 General Observations
a. Systems Access
Universal access to the system should be provided governed by predefined user rights and privileges
for various categories of users.
b. Systems Architecture
Given that this forms the framework on which digitised transactions will run, a robust and scalable
enterprise software architecture design guided by interoperability, high availability and e-governance
strategy awareness, is recommended.
c. Systems Development
An Agile strategic approach to systems development, which turned out to be successful as in the
cases of Netherlands and Estonia is a proven methodology that should see a swift development of
NLIMS. This allows for regular review of business requirements and objectives during development
while deploying and commissioning modules for immediate impact, faster implementation and lower
Total Cost of Ownership.
d. Systems Implementation
This should be done in a phased manner starting with a pilot phase then scheduled regional roll-out
while building on lessons learned throughout the process.
e. Systems Security
Security is one of the key requirements for all the stages of the conveyancing and registration
processes to guard against fraud; and vulnerability to cyber-attacks and identity theft. A detailed
approach to ensuring security of NLIMS is provided in Annex 3 and 4.
f. Legal Reforms
A stable and responsive legal framework is key to the adoption and implementation of digitization.
Most countries had to enact and amend existing laws to make provisions and anchor e-conveyancing
into Law. These statutes will bring forth rules and regulations, which govern the relationship between
the NLIMS, operators and participants in the system as in the case of the Australian Model. Chapter
2 has provided a detailed analysis and proposals for the Kenyan context.

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 CHAPTER FOUR

4 TASKFORCE FINDINGS ON PUBLIC PARTICIPATION

4.1 Introduction
Public participation is a constitutional right granted by many Articles of the Constitution. The text and
spirit of the Constitution sets out the principle that all sovereign power belongs to the people of Kenya.
This power is what entitles the people to unfettered access to the process of making public decisions
through their involvement. This ensures transparency in the formulation of policy. It is for this reason
that the Taskforce organized various public participation fora with a view to obtaining and gathering
views from members of the public and industry players concerning the task at hand.

4.2 Extent of Public Participation

The Taskforce embarked on public participation by holding stakeholder consultations and public
hearings. The Taskforce met with Departments at the Ministry of Lands and Physical Planning, National
Land Commission, Industry Experts, County Governments and Civil Society Organizations. Invitations
were sent out to the stakeholders specifically requesting them to make structured
submissions/presentations to the taskforce on the Status of Digitization; Challenges; Workflows; Quick
Wins; Existence of a Document Management System; Security of Records; and Proposals for e-
Conveyancing. Additionally, the Taskforce members made visits to the respective institutions for a first-
hand experience and situational analysis i.e. Land Registries (Central & Nairobi), Land Administration,
Valuation, ICT, Survey of Kenya, National Titling Centre and the Kenya National Archives and
Documentation Service. In addition to the stakeholder consultative forum, the Taskforce conducted
public hearings in the counties across the country from 2 nd to 11th October 2018. Annex 5 shows the
Public Participation Schedule.

4.3 Findings
4.3.1 Ministry of Lands and Physical Planning
The departments from MoLPP made presentations and submissions to the Taskforce. These included
Registration; Survey; Physical Planning; Land Adjudication and Settlement; Valuation and Land
Administration. The key observations made by the Taskforce are summarized in Table 4.1.

Although there have been significant strides made towards digitization and automation of land
transactions at MoLPP, several challenges seems to plague the process including:
a. a deficient legal framework;
b. lack of end to end visibility of processes/transactions;

65
 c. insufficient resources (both human and ICT);
d. vulnerability of records to fraud;
e. duplicated efforts across departments leading to long transactions;
f. loss of institutional memory through staff turnover/redeployment; and
g. non-sharable information held within the “siloed” departments.

Most of these challenges can be addressed by a properly executed digitization and automation strategy.
A case in point is the National Titling Centre (NTC), where bulk processing of titles is done in a fairly
fast and efficient manner due to the tight integration of Survey, Adjudication and Registration; and an
elaborate automated Title Printing System. Having delivered over 840,000 titles in as span of five (5)
years since 2013, if replicated across the country, the impact is expected to be phenomenal. It is
important to note that the end products from NTC such as RIM and Titles are available in digital format
but have to be printed out for onward processing.

4.3.2 Analysis of the system at MoLPP

The automation of the MoLPP functions has been attempted many times from as early as 2004. In 2012
EDMS was installed in an initiative sponsored by the Swedish Survey Agency – Lantemateriat. In 2014,
an enhanced EDMS, with three different instances of the same application were implemented in the
departments of Registration, Land Administration and the National Titling Center. In 2017, the current
LIMS with semi-automated customer facing application and back office processing was implemented in
the Registry with a focus on electronic collection of revenue. In addition, the system has modules that
support valuation, lease processing, land rent and stamp duty processing. Some of the functions of the
LIMS includes:
a) Online application of services via e-citizen such as online searches;
b) Land owners have access to their properties and may initiate applications on the Public Online
Self Service LIMS portal;
c) Online payments –e.g. land rent, stamp duty etc. that have resulted in reduced queues at the
banking hall;
d) Provision of a portal for lawyers, that is, LSK portal;
e) Provision of a banks portal; and
f) Internally, several workflows within Land Rent, Land Administration, Land Valuation, Collector
of Stamp Duty, Land Registration (Nairobi & Central) Departments have been automated.

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The following system security measures have been implemented:
a) Online properties must be verified by the Registrars before any transaction is allowed;
b) The use of audit trails;
c) Regular backups;
d) Verification of approvals through One Time Password (OTP);
e) Use of inbuilt system security and firewalls;
f) Use of SMS and email notifications; and
g) Owners and sellers verified through IPRS.

Future aspects of the system include:

a) Total automation of the land processes, that is, . end to end processes;
b) Full implementation of cashless collection of 100% due revenue;
c) Upgrading of the system to ease transfer of property;
d) Integration with the cadastre data from Survey of Kenya; and
e) Scaling up the system to all registries across the country.

The following are discernible about the system that is in place at MoLPP:
a) The system was rolled out before adequate infrastructure resourcing was done resulting in capacity
and stability challenges;
b) There is need for additional public awareness, sensitization and civic education on the system;
c) To enhance efficiency in the system usage and scaling, continuous staff training, and incorporation of
online user manuals and tutorials will be required;
d) System is accessed through e-citizen platform with an implementation of a One Time Password
(OTP, which is an added security layer;
e) The system allows use of forms repealed under the Registered Land Act (RLA and the Registration
of Titles Act (RTA. The Land Registration Act (LRA harmonised all registers and introduced
uniform forms for land transactions which should be used instead of the forms which have already
been repealed;
f) All registries and survey offices should be resourced adequately to ensure that the system being put in
place can be used; and
g) The system needs enhancement to include live cadastre information from Survey of Kenya.

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4.3.3 National Land Commission
The heads of departments/directorates from the National Land Commission made presentations to the
Taskforce as summarized in Table 4.2.

4.3.4 Analysis of the System at NLC

The Public Land Information Management System (PLIMS) developed by NLC involved the automation
of identified land processes and workflows; integration of the system with relevant land records and
documents; and integration of the system with other Commission systems. The guiding principles of the
system implementation included:
i. Single point of access to all systems – single sign on;
ii. Unified system implementation (integrated systems);
iii. User centric (focused) design and development;
iv. Corporate image enhancement;
v. Efficiency in service delivery;
vi. Implement complex features and present them in simplified forms; and
vii. Follow a phased implementation pathway – core functions of Commission first – growing into
other systems – to collaborating organizations.

The following workflows have been implemented:

1. Land Administration
a) Development application process including: Extension of a lease that has not expired;
Renewal of lease; Change of use e.g. from residential to commercial; and Extension of use.
b) Allocation of public land
c) Regularization of land allocated by County Government
d) Processing applications for subdivision of land
e) Issuance of consent to transfer, charge and lease Government land
f) Preparation of a new grant/lease
g) Approval of building plans
h) Issuance of land rent clearance certificate

2. Land Valuation: The following workflows have been automated: Valuation for purchase or
lease of land; Valuation of land for compensation on compulsory acquisition; Valuation for
stamp duty; Valuation for ground rent upon alienation, subdivision, lease extension and change
or extension of user; and valuation for land rating.

Land Adjudication and Settlement workflows were also automated prior to the amendment of the land
laws in 2016. However, these were not finalized. Due to limited budgetary allocation, system

75
implementation is being done through a phased approach. Phase I of the system implementation is now
complete and undergoing internal testing before being rolled out to the public. The system has public
and internal modules. The public module provides a gateway through which the public can access the
system and submit their applications. Internal portal provides a platform through which the authorised
officer can receive and process applications. The applicants are able to track their application online.
Integration with public land inventory is currently ongoing. Phase I included:
a) Procurement of solution - GIS servers, Database servers, scanners, plotters and software;
b) Establishment of GIS and data conversion laboratories;
c) System design and development;
d) Processes codification and workflow automation for land administration, valuation, adjudication
and settlement processes; and
e) System integration - This component focused on integration of the system with the Commission
systems, namely the Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Citizen Relationship Management
(CRM) and the Electronic Document Management System (EDMS). The system is also expected
to integrate with the Integrated Population Registration System (IPRS) allowing authentication of
the citizens/users details.

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4.3.5 Civil Society Organizations (CSOs)
The Taskforce sought views and proposals from selected CSOs focused on land related issues.
Specifically invitations were sent as per Annex 6. The following CSOs’ presented views or proposals
to the Taskforce: Kenya Human Rights Commission, Land Development and Governance Institute,
Kenya Property Developers Association, Hakijamii, Nakuru County Public Opinion Consultative
Initiative, National Council of Persons With Disability, Grassroots Organizations Operating Together
in Sisterhood, and the Kenya Association of Records Managers and Archivists.

4.3.5.1 Key Messages from CSO’s

a) Current Challenges with Land transactions
The following were identified as current challenges with land transactions:
1 Current manual systems are vulnerable to fraud;
2 Frustrations in long transactions marred by unclear circumstances;
3 Difficulty in tracking revenue leakages;
4 Missing files that provide avenues for corruption;
5 Rampant duplicity of titles resulting in disputes that impede development;
6 Non-existence of a backup for the physical paper based files which are exposed to absolute loss
in the unfortunate case of fire;
7 Unreliable helpdesk/customer care, which can be frustratingly difficult to reach even by phone;
and
8 Inefficiencies in information retrieval and processing of land transactions leading to high
transactional costs.

b) Views and Proposals

The following are the summarized views and proposals:
1 There is need for clear linkages with other relevant systems at the County and National level (i.e.,
land survey, land adjudication, and land registration services) as well as with Banks;
2 Consider the delicate balance between the right to privacy and access to information while
sharing and disseminating land related information within the digital platforms;
3 Learn from case studies or benchmarking from other countries that have made efforts to digitize
their land transactions such as Botswana, Estonia, UK, Canada and Australia;
4 The need for civic education on guidelines and access to digital platforms ought to be done in a
simplified format to ensure concise communication to all;
5 Digitization should guard against fraud especially in identity theft/impersonation of
owners/professionals and authorized agents;
6 The need for an Information Security Policy to curb intrusion through hacking and other cyber-
attacks so as to ensure integrity and public trust;
7 The digitization process should ensure that a clear records and document management policy is
in place based on international standards and best practices such as International Standards

81
 Organization (ISO) standards. This should also inform how existing land records can be
archived for longevity and ease of reference;
8 Consider setting up an Assurance Fund53 to hedge land owners against losses due to fraud and
erroneous entries/omissions in the digital platform;
9 Establishment of an electronic deed file for all pieces of land to improve efficiency of processing
land transactions;
10 NLIMS should be accessible to legal practitioners, individuals, companies, foreigner’s societies
etc.;
11 Guidelines should be very clear on electronic witnessing and drafting of conveyance instruments
by advocates, and, provide for the requirement of physical appearance by parties to the Registrar;
12 Timelines and workflow tracking should be defined in form of publicly declared Service Level
Agreements (SLAs) to ensure transparency of the e-conveyancing process;
13 The Ministry should meticulously and conclusively address concerns or issues and perceived
errors raised by external end users of the current NLIMS e.g. inconsistencies in Land Search
Results;
14 Any fees levied on for services on the NLIMS should be gazetted for clarity and accountability;
15 The Ministry should initiate the mapping, documentation and registration of community land in
accordance with the Community Land Act 2016 –under Sections 8, 9, 10, 11 and 13.
16 To accommodate Persons with Disability (PWD) it will be important to make provisions for
barrier free and disability-friendly environment for easy access to land registry buildings across
the country, where dedicated helpdesks for PWD will need to be setup;
17 In case of specialized equipment required by PWD to access NLIMS, concessions/exemptions
from import taxes will need to be considered;
18 Transition to digitization should be gradual to allow for a phase where both manual and digital
processes run concurrently;
19 The need for government to promote ICT literacy among citizenry to facilitate uptake of
NLIMS;
20 There should be a plan to include land transaction services at Huduma Centers across the
country;
21 The MoLPP will need to be adequately funded to facilitate rollout of NLIMS; and
22 Officers at the MoLPP will need to be retrained on ICT to equip them with skills to process land
transactions on NLIMS.
4.3.6 Public participation with Professional Bodies
The Taskforce formally invited experts drawn from various professional bodies and government
agencies who have successfully automated their functions, to make presentations at the event. The
list of organizations invited has been annexed as Annex 7 while Annex 8 shows those who attended
the forum. Outlined below is a summary of their views and proposals presented.

53 An Assurance Fund would enable compensation of land owners in the rare cases where they are deprived of title to
land either because of an error in the administration of the land title system or because they are the innocent victims of
forgery e.g. as a result of identity theft.

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a) Current Challenges with land transactions
1. Missing/lost documents leading to lengthy period within which transactions are completed;
2. Instances of fraud and corruption;
3. Difficulty in access to data which is in different locations/institutions;
4. Unmanageable archives due to the manual storage in place;
5. Escalating land resource conflicts in community lands hindering/stalling implementation of
government projects such as Lamu Port, South Sudan, Ethiopia Transport Corridor
(LAPSSET) and the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR).

b) Potential Benefits of Digitization of Land Transactions

1. Availability of timely and accurate information,
2. Convenient archiving of records leading to ease in accessing of documents;
3. Reduction or elimination of duplicity and redundancy leading to cost savings;
4. Improved capacity leading to reduced errors and mistakes;
5. Streamlined processes leading to reduced turnaround times and more revenue;
6. Preventing / Redressing Historical Injustices
7. Fast track mapping and titling of community land hence reduce conflicts and spur productive
potential in Arid and Semi-Arid Lands (ASALs) in Kenya

c) Views and Proposals

1. Preference to have qualified professionals within the land sector to handle land transactions,
registration and conveyancing. Any unqualified persons should only be granted a read only
access or capability to track applications;
2. Professionals will need to be trained adequately to handle the envisaged digital LIMS;
3. The digital LIMS will need to be reliable, secure, transparent, sustainable and accessible;
4. The need to consider either fully digital or digital/analogue hybrid deployment for the LIMS;
5. Land use planning, town planning, county planning should be part of the electronic LIMS to
avoid conflicts and demolitions;
6. Digital LIMS will ensure efficient and effective management and promote sustainable revenue
to National Government/County Governments;
7. To enhance efficiency in operations for users, it will be useful to consolidate systems into a
one-stop access to all government agencies registering projects and/or issuing construction
permits which include National Environment Management Authority (NEMA), Kenya Urban
Roads Authority (KURA) and Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA) among others;
8. The Taskforce should consider drawing lessons from case studies of Sweden, United
Kingdom, Rwanda, New Zealand, Singapore, Rwanda and Canada;
9. System should be able to protect users’ data, allow interoperability with other systems, should
use open source software as opposed to proprietary software;
10. Reforms on the legal framework to facilitate digital land transactions were proposed in the
form of review of legislation including Physical Planning Act, Sectional Properties Act, Kenya

83
 Information & Communications Act, Urban Areas & Cities Act, Survey Act, Built
Environment Bill, Built Environment Professional Bill, Valuers Act etc.;
11. To avoid duplicity and user resistance, a federated systems architecture was proposed from a
design perspective;
12. A phased approach to digitization was proposed preceded by piloting the system as a proof of
concept;
13. Transition to the digital platform should be structured to avoid halting or delaying new and
ongoing transactions; and
14. Banks proposed the need to incorporate into NLIMS a function that would allow a bank to
authorize a firm of advocates to act for it in the various stages of perfection of the securities.

d) Recommendations
Below is a summary of the key recommendations that emerged from the experts presentations.
1. Systems design should take a distributed but integrated approach without replicating existing
inefficiencies in lengthy processes such as change of user and titling.
2. In the establishment of NLIMS the following aspects ought to be considered:
a) The need to establish a unified Land Information System through the introduction of
advanced NSDI system and the relevant administrative process;
b) Accurate land information registration and management;
c) Improvement of citizen services by providing all land information and deed related
services online; and
d) Incorporation of a detailed user manual to guide end users on requirements and processes
for conducting transactions online;
3. Land transactions on LIMS will need to be restricted to the relevant professionals while
limiting access for simple tasks such as searches to the public.
4. Roles of MoLPP, NLC, County Government and the National Government Agencies in land
transactions will need to be clearly defined to avoid duplicity and conflicts in mandates.
5. Systems Architecture must be robust, responsive to disruptive changes in technology and
highly scalable to accommodate provision of world-class enterprises services. To this end, a
federated systems approach was proposed.
6. The envisaged system should incorporate deliberate efforts to enforce professional
responsibility for all actors in land transactions with close cross-referencing with professional
umbrella bodies on status and professional standing. These efforts are informed by the need
to mitigate fraud perpetrated by quacks.
7. In proposing guidelines and strategies in developing NLIMS, case studies from countries such
as Sweden, United Kingdom, Rwanda, New Zealand and Canada among others, would
provide useful insights.
8. NLIMS will need to be protected from emerging trends in cyber-crimes and hacking by
design and practice in form of elaborate Intrusion Prevention and Detection Systems.

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 9. Cryptography and the use of Digital Certificates as e-signatures came out strongly as
fundamental components of workflow automation design for land transactions.
10. The need to provide relevant linkages/visibility between LIMS and other government agency
systems such as (iTax – Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) and IPRS) would go a long way in
enriching and reducing turnaround times in land transactions.
11. Deliberate efforts will need to be made to ensure integrity and confidentiality of personal data
throughout the land management cycle. This should be done in full compliance to the Data
Protection Bill, which ought to be passed into law.
12. Careful considerations will need to be made when procuring LIMS software in terms of
Intellectual Property Rights in the case of open source vs proprietary software, ensuring the
Government’s rights and interests are adequately covered.
13. The success of NLIMS will be hinged on capacity building and sensitization of both the
operators and end-users. Adequate training will therefore be necessary before and after
deployment of LIMS.
14. Piloting of NLIMS before full-scale deployment was proposed to ensure teething problems
are addressed in a manageable manner before mass roll out.
15. Credibility of the NLIMS solution vendor(s) will be a key consideration given the sensitive
nature of Land records.
16. Workflow automation designs will need to incorporate mandatory feedback inputs to the
system to ensure in-built checks and verification around land use vs planning/regulations on
parameters such as building densities i.e. ensuring that professionals provide and upload
complete information on what has been done on the ground for approval purposes.
17. Workflow automation will need to instill Service Level Agreement (SLA) adherence and
Jeopardy Management by public officers handling transactions within NLIMS e.g. the case of
title verification for transfers, charges and discharges
18. The Cabinet Secretary should consider transforming the Taskforce into a standing committee
that meets regularly during the transition period from manual to digital land registration
processes.
19. NLIMS should make provisions for foreign non-resident investors to carry out land
transactions given the existence of current property owners who are not necessarily Kenyan.
20. NLIMS should consider and incorporate different currencies and not limit the currency
recognized in the system to Kenya Shillings.

4.3.7 County Governments

County Governments - being critical stakeholder in this process - were invited to participate in giving
their views. Specifically in recognition of the critical role played by officers at the county level in
respect to processing development applications, the Taskforce organised a County Governments
Forum at Panafric Hotel, Nairobi on the 26th of September, 2018. CEC Members for Lands &
Physical Planning; County Directors of Survey; and County Directors of Physical Planning were
invited.
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A further engagement was made possible courtesy of the Council of Governors in a workshop held
on the 2nd of November 2018, at Azure Hotel, in Nairobi where CEC Members for Lands & Physical
Planning from various counties had the opportunity to present their views and proposals to the
Taskforce. The main concerns and observations that came out of these consultations are outlined
below:
a. While some counties have made efforts to provide resources (skilled personnel and ICT
infrastructure), most of the counties lack resources that would be necessary to drive the e-
conveyancing agenda;
b. There is an apparent lack of clarity amongst county government officials on their role in land
transactions resulting in duplicated efforts in Valuation, Physical Planning and Land Survey;
c. Revenue leakages are common due to lack of accountability and inefficiency of existing manual
processes;
d. Slow and long transactions associated with the current manual processes have resulted in
frustrations to members of the public;
e. Cost implications of the setting up GIS labs at the counties was cited as a major challenge that
needs to be addressed as a priority
f. County governments representatives complained that land records under the Ministry of Lands
and Physical Planning were not accessible and/or available;
g. Prevalent fraud and corruption at the county level has led to cases of duplicated allocations and
titles. This has resulted in a lack of trust by the public and a digitized regime would provide an
opportunity to restore public trust; and
h. Encroachment and irregular acquisitions on Community Land has been aided by the non-
transparent manual process. In addition, invasion and claim of ownership among the ethnic
groups within the community land is very rampant. This promotes perpetual conflicts as well as
grabbing of community land by elites and cartels for speculative purposes.
i. County governments representatives in the forum were pessimistic about the Taskforce activities
terming it as work in futility and will never see the light of the day. They alleged that 80 % of the
land lies within the Counties, therefore, they should have been the ones driving the process as
opposed to the National government. Hence there is need to clarify roles, responsibilities and
functions of County governments, NLC and MoLPP with respect to digitalization of land records
and conveyancing process. It is desirable to develop a system that links existing databases at
national and county governments.

4.3.7.1 Recommendations
a. To harmonize operations between the county governments and MoLPP, it is necessary to give
specific directions on separation of functions in line with Schedule Four of the Constitution of
Kenya on devolved functions. This will go a long way in ensuring co-ordination, collaboration,
efficiency and synergy in land transactions and ultimate service delivery to the public;
b. Capacity building and investment on ICT resources will be necessary to facilitate the digitization
process;

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c. To avoid sanitizing fraudulent transactions, caution should be taken to ensure contentious land
parcels are not uploaded onto the envisaged NLIMS before conclusive resolution;
d. The NLIMS should be specifically designed to guard against fraud, hacking and identity theft.
e. There is need to fast-track the process of identification, adjudication, mapping and registration of
community land countrywide so that the community land register be in tandem with public and
private land registers. This will facilitate digitization and unlock productive potential of 68 percent
of land in Kenya, open unlimited opportunities for investments in terms of irrigation for food
security as well mining of underground resources
f. Digitization should be used as a tool to uncover irregular registrations within community land as a
measure to safeguard and assure community interests;
g. The digitization process should go hand in hand with transfer of Titles (for Public and
Community Land) from the MoLPP to the County Governments;
h. There is need to incorporate County Governments in the conveyancing workflow with regard to
consents to extension or renewal of leases issued by counties.

4.3.8 Public Hearings

The Taskforce collected views from the public through public hearings. Views were collected from
people’s representatives drawn from all parts of the country. The Taskforce organized itself into three
teams and clustered the country into twelve (12) strategic clusters covering all the forty seven (47)
Counties. Each team was allocated four (4) clusters. The teams visited their respective counties and
held public meetings at places as per Table 4.3. A standard power point presentation was used by all
teams to open the meeting and trigger discussions. Annex 9 shows the Public Hearing Programme.
The public meetings were well attended and speakers gave their views on various issues on land even
beyond the scope of the inquiry. Random selection of speakers at these meetings was adopted to give
a chance to a cross section of all participants to raise their issues orally. Written memoranda, where
available, were also received. Members of the public were invited using the following media:
a) Public notices through newspaper advertisements (Daily Nation of 14th September 2018 and
29th September 2018);
b) Invitation letters sent out to the Counties through the County administration and National
government administration at the counties;
c) Road shows sensitizing the local residents and inviting them to attend the meetings;
d) Oral invitations to stakeholders, especially professionals;
e) Invitation letters to Registrars and NLC County Coordinators via email seeking assistance for
mobilization of colleagues and other stakeholders within the region; and
f) Follow up phone calls to County Commissioners, Registrars and NLC County Coordinators.

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 Table 4.3. Public Hearings Schedule
Date Host County Target Counties Venue
2nd October 2018 Mombasa Mombasa, Kilifi, Kwale, Tana Kenya School of Government
River, Lamu, Taita-Taveta
Uasin Gishu Uasin-Gishu, Tran-Nzoia, Medical Education Conference Centre
Nandi, Baringo, Elgeyo- Hall –College of Health Science
Marakwet, West Pokot, Turkana
Nakuru Nakuru, Narok, Bomet, Kericho RiftValley Institute of Science and
Technology
4th October 2018 Nairobi Nairobi, Kiambu, Kajiado Bomas of Kenya
Kakamega Kakamega, Bungoma, Vihiga, Kakamega Golf Hotel
Busia
Embu Embu, Meru, Tharaka Nithi Embu University
5th October 2018 Kisumu Kisumu, Siaya, Homa-Bay Kisumu Hotel
Machakos Machakos, Kitui, Makueni Machakos Teachers College
8th October 2018 Kisii Kisii, Nyamira, Migori Kenya Institute of Highways and
Building Technology
Garissa Garissa, Wajir, Mandera Garissa Government Guest House
Nyeri Nyeri, Laikipia, Murang’a, Nyeri Polytechnic
Nyandarua, Kirinyaga
11th October 2018 Marsabit Marsabit, Samburu, Isiolo Catholic Social Hall

For the purposes of submitting memoranda, the Taskforce made public designated email, physical
and postal addresses i.e.

The Secretariat, Digitization Taskforce,

Ministry of Lands and Physical Planning,
Ardhi House, 1st Ngong Avenue
P.O Box 30450 – 00100, NAIROBI.
[email protected]

Collation of Materials and Findings

Upon conclusion of the public hearings, the Taskforce retreated and shared experiences, observations
and findings from the three teams. The Taskforce noted that there were several cross-cutting issues
identified from the diverse counties as recorded below.

4.3.8.1 Manual System

The manual system has been the medium that has been used for conveyancing since independence.
There have been adverse reports of missing or lost documents, rampant corrupt practises at the
Land’s registry and registration of land transactions taking too long. The resultant effect is loss of
revenue and public trust in the land registration and conveyance system.

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4.3.8.2 Execution and verification of signatures
Traditionally, and under present land laws, it is mandatory for conveyancing documents such as
transfers and charges to be executed by the parties and the signatures attested in the same breath. The
question arose as to how the electronic infrastructure would address attestation to execution; and
ensure compliance with the statutory provisions that maintain the current high threshold of validating
conveyance instruments.

4.3.8.3 Identifying the costs of establishment: setting up transition systems

One of the main determinants in ensuring traction of policy changes is making it possible for the
public to respond to the reviewed service delivery by government institutions. In this section, the
focus will be on how to harness the available factors of production in land conveyancing to ensure
that the resultant systems are both robust and sustainable. The public participation drive identified
the following parameters as the main concerns that the public found to be possible impediments to
the traction of e-conveyance in the country.
a) Training: As digitization is rolled out, there was general consensus that there ought to be training
of staff to gain both operational efficiency, and to cope with potential problems with the
proposed system. A challenge may arise where the training of staff is overlooked or in cases
where the staff is unfamiliar with digital platform. That may result in a situation where the
benefits of enhanced conveyance systems do not translate into improved service delivery.
b) Corruption and fraud: One of the principal concerns that the Taskforce’s public participation
drive unearthed was the fear of a rise in fraud cases: particularly where identity of personnel is
shared or where there is impersonation of owners or professionals by colleagues. From the
public’s perspective, the apprehension that the digital system would be a vehicle for theft and
fraud was real: with close parallels, being drawn with the recent upsurge in cyber-crimes targeted
at financial institutions and telecommunications service providers. Furthermore, the public was
apprehensive on the intended digitization of land transactions because other systems introduced
by government such as the Integrated Financial Management Information System and e-
Procurement have been prone to fraud and abuse in the recent past. The various meetings voiced
the fear that manual records already seem to be aiding theft and if left unchecked, the transition
to what is expected to be a safer digital platform will only transfer and entrench fraud in the
digital system.
c) Data Input Errors During Digitization: There were concerns that in the manual and paper
based system some records particularly Titles have been falsified. Hence the existence of
apprehension that during scanning of documents at the Lands Registry in preparation of
digitization, some of the falsified documents could be validated by being scanned.
d) Computer Literacy versus Automation: There was concern on the level of computer literacy in
the country. To the respondents in the public participation forums, the benefits of digitization
would be lost if computer literacy was not addressed. This brought to light the fact that there
must be drives to ensure computer literacy for at least a critical mass of conveyance participants
in the country for the benefits for digitization to be translated to common usage.
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e) Insecurity and technology failure: Members of the public noted that digital processes are
susceptible to cyber-attacks and hacking. In addition, they observed that Technology is
susceptible to failure as seen globally.
f) Preparation in embracing digitization: The public questioned whether staff and stakeholders
in the lands sector were prepared to embrace the electronic system for they were of the view that
less man-power will be needed to manage the system as opposed to the manual and paper based
medium, thereby jobs may be at stake.
g) Court Cases: The Environment and Land Court has too many land dispute cases hence
apprehension on digitization and automation of the land transactions. If done, a Land dispute in
Kenyan Courts is a case that needs physical documents hence the more reason to consider a
hybrid system. The digitized process needs to capture issues and unresolved cases on a parcel of
land and not only the details of the owner as registered. Lengthy land related litigation slows
down land transactions and likely to hinder transactions on a digital platform as well.
h) Land Adjudication: The public was apprehensive that the process of land adjudication has not
been completed in a number of areas. They questioned how the Taskforces proposes to deal with
situations where it is not clear whether the land is Private, Public or Community As such, there
was concern that an innocent buyer would then be at risk of losing portions of their land with no
compensation with the restructuring of lands and land owners not inducted/consulted during
adjudication.
i) Historical injustices: The public was concerned that there are too many historical injustices that
are yet to be resolved and as such they should be addressed to conclusion before digitization. It is
however notable that digitization is merely a process of service delivery, it seems unusual to use it
to address historical injustices and legal interventions.
j) Lack of Title Deeds: The public informed the Taskforce that digitization without title deeds will
not be useful. They pointed out that most of the land in Marsabit, Lamu, Tana River, Garissa,
Mandera, Wajir, Samburu and other unregistered lands in Kenya lack titles. The public wondered
how the country can transition to digitization before addressing the challenge of lack of Titles, as
well as cases where people have bought land with fake or illegal titles.
k) Civic Education: The issue of how the digitization platform and information would reach the
common mwananchi particularly those in the village and the illiterate was a common issue raised
in the public hearings.
l) Decentralization and integration of the digital system: Members of the public wondered
whether the digitization system would be decentralized and to what extent it would
decentralization. It was further noted that the system needs to be integrated in order to ensure all
the players in land transactions are in the system, that is, from the MoLPP, county governments,
to the National Lands Commission as well as the Professionals in private practice (Land
Surveyors, Valuers, Advocates, Physical Planners, and Architects etc.)
m) Access of the digitization platform: Members wondered how easily accessible the system will
be considering the lack of (or poor coverage) internet access in many parts of the country.
Secondly, members of the Taskforce were urged to suggest innovative ways to accommodate
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 persons with disability and consider recommending provision of both Swahili and English in the
digital platform. Members were apprehensive that the system especially in the villages would be
difficult to access accordingly proposed the need to have a back-office support akin to the
Huduma Centers.
n) Land Control Board: Members of the public raised an issue with the Land Control Boards (the
Boards). It was reported that there is increased level of corruption in obtaining consents and this
is attributed to the Boards being manned by quacks. The public sought to know whether the
process of obtaining consents will be digitized and what the modalities of the digitization process
would be.

4.3.8.4 Issuance of Title

Members of the public inquired on the following:
a) Whether the system will allow double registration of titles
b) What form of title the system will issue i.e. an e-title or physical title
c) The minimum and maximum acreage of land allowed under the system.
d) Whether the system will allow for replacement of lost titles.
e) A differentiation between what inherited, purchased or leased property is and information on
what constitutes a genuine title to purchased property.
f) Whether there would be a database for disputes over land titles.
g) Whether there will be an option for colour coding titles e.g. according to the land classification i.e.
Public, Private or Community Land

4.3.8.5 Scope of Digitization

A number of questions were raised on the scope of digitization as enumerated below:
a) Will the system digitize all elements of the conveyancing process?
b) How will government earn revenue from the digital system?
c) Access fees on the system will need to be clearly spelt out.
d) User manuals detailing the procedures of subdivisions and searches in the digital system will need
to be provided.
e) Will digitization cover land not yet adjudicated?
f) How long will the process take? Will it follow the same path as the issue of e-citizen54, which is
currently embroiled in court wrangles and battles?

4.3.8.6 Succession
Succession and inheritance of land was brought to the attention of the Taskforce. Members of the
public sought to find out how succession and the requirement for viva voce evidence for beneficiaries
would fit in with the digital system

54The official digital payments platform that enables Kenyan citizens, residents and visitors to access and pay for
government services online.

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4.3.8.7 Community Land
The Taskforce noted sentiments raised by representatives from North Rift (Baringo, Elgeyo
Marakwet, West Pokot and Turkana), northern Kenya (Garissa, Mandera and Wajir) as well as Upper
Eastern Kenya (Marsabit, Samburu and Isiolo). These Counties occupy over 60% of the total
unregistered land in Kenya, which is referred to as community land formerly Trust lands. The
members of the public raised the following concerns:
a) What would be the purpose of digitization without title deeds?
b) How will the planned compensations and benefit sharing on LAPSSET project be handled?
c) Will digitization reduce ethnic conflicts on issues related to community land such as perpetual
boundaries disputes?
d) Will digitization help to speed up land adjudication processes and kick start implementation
of Community Land Act 2016? Reference is made to the Community Land Act Regulations
and establishment of community land governance structures?
e) Pastoralist communities within the Community Land areas have no idea about the provisions
in the Community Land Act, 2016, hence the need for sensitization and civic education
before digitization.
f) What effect would digitization have on the lifestyle of the communities given that the
majority of the land falls under community land? (For instance, what would happen to
traditional sharing of grazing land, watering points, livestock movement and salts licks would
once sections of community land have been allocated to different pastoralist communities?).
g) How will digitization sort out confusion/lack of clarity in community land transaction
procedures i.e. between County Government, NLC, and MoLPP.

4.3.9 Foreign Experts’ Consultation

In an effort to gain insights from other counties who have digitized their land transactions and
processes, the Taskforce was privileged to listen to and have detailed discussions with an expert from
the Netherlands' Cadastre, Land Registry and Mapping Agency (Kadaster) and the Honorary Consul
of Estonia in Kenya.

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 CHAPTER FIVE

5 LAND TRANSACTIONS AND PROCESSES

5.1 Introduction
This chapter analyses the roles and responsibilities played by various actors in various land
transactions. The processes involving the departments/sections/units within the Ministry of Lands
and Physical Planning, National Land Commission, County Governments as well as professionals
have been set out. These agencies depend on each other for the supply of information needed for
their day-to-day operations. This includes updating of their information base for policy formulation
and decision-making. For example, the Counties rely on the Department of Surveys for the supply of
spatial information needed to prepare Physical Development Plans55. In turn, these policy documents
form the basis for development control and guiding allocation of land to various development
projects through the preparation of appropriate part development plans. The part development
plans, in turn form a basis for title surveys by the Director of Surveys to facilitate registration of land
by the Chief Land Registrar. Finally, the surveyed part development plans are used to update the
initial physical development plan by the Counties for the purposes of monitoring land use throughout
the country.

5.2 Functions of Ministry of Lands and Physical Planning

The Ministry of Lands and Physical Planning is responsible for land administration in Kenya through
its various departments of Surveying, Registration, Land Administration, Valuation, Physical Planning
and Land Adjudication & Settlement. Figure 5.1 shows the organogram of the Ministry. The
following section discusses the functions of the various departments within the ministry, each headed
by a Director.

Figure 5.1: Organogram of the Ministry of Lands & Physical Planning

55 Physical or Part Development Plans (PDPs) refer to base maps that are prepared for land use planning

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5.2.1 Department of Physical Planning
The department coordinates and guides the preparation of national, regional and urban land use
plans. In addition the department:
a) Advises the government on matters of strategic physical planning that impact on the whole
country;
b) Formulates national physical planning policies, guidelines and standards;
c) Coordinates planning at the counties; and
d) Undertakes capacity building and technical support for county planning authorities.

5.2.2 Department of Surveys

The Department of Surveys is the official agency of the government on all matters affecting land
surveys and mapping. The main functions of the department include:
a) Production, maintenance and distribution of accurate spatial data in analogue and digital
forms in all range of scales;
b) Establishment and maintenance of a national geodetic control network covering the whole
country to facilitate surveying and mapping;
c) Production and maintenance of survey plans/records for purposes of land registration;
d) Production and updating national topographical base maps for purposes of development and
planning;
e) Inspection and maintenance of national and international boundaries; and
f) Preparation and publishing of the National Atlas of Kenya, as a documentation of National
Heritage and promotion of the Nation’s identity.

5.2.3 Department of Land Adjudication and Settlement

The department has two divisions: the division of Land Adjudication that deals with the
ascertainment of rights and interests in community land and transformation of ownership from
customary tenure to individual ownership through demarcation, survey and registration. The
Settlement division deals with the settlement of landless citizens through the acquisition, planning,
demarcation, survey and allocation of economically viable agricultural land for settlement of landless
and poor Kenyans on loan basis. Other functions of the department include: Hearing and
determination of land disputes in adjudication sections; and issuance of letters of offer and legal
documents and collection of land loans as well as issuance of discharges and transfer documents.

5.2.4 Department of Land Administration

The Department is responsible for land administration and management of private and community
land in the country. In consultation with other government departments and organizations, the
department ensures that land rights for all are ascertained and security of tenure confirmed through
the titling process and other related functions. The functions include:

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a) Preparation of leasehold and freehold titles on alienated National/County Government Land;
b) Consents for various transactions on land transfers, charges and subleases;
c) Custody and maintenance of land records;
d) Establishment and management of Land Control Boards;
e) Coordinating the land administration process of planning, survey, valuation and registration for
development applications and titling; and
f) Preparation of appropriate iinstructions to the Attorney General and availing of documents in
support of the Department representation in court.

The department has the following distinct sections:

a) Correspondence Records Section; - this section is charged with the responsibility of
opening and custody of all correspondence files for both registered and unregistered land in
the country;
b) Land Rent Section; this section is the custodian of all land rent records of leasehold land.
Their duties entail updating of land rent records to enable online payments, advise on the
outstanding rent as well as the issuance of land rent clearance certificates; and
c) Plan Records Office; the section is charged with the responsibility of custody, updating and
maintenance of survey plans, development plans, boundary plans and property cards. This
section keeps records on status and planned users of all land in the country.

5.2.5 Department of Valuation

The department is responsible for valuation of land and landed properties for various purposes.
Common types of valuations carried out include valuation for stamp duty; valuation for subdivision
(rent apportionment); valuation for lease extension, change of user and extension of user; valuation
for rating; valuation for alienation; valuation for government purchase, sale and leasing; valuation for
purchase of freehold interest; valuation for compulsory acquisition; and valuation for estate
duty/public trustee administration. In addition, the department values land and property for
collection of revenue (Stamp Duty, Ground Rent and Rates). The department also determines
appropriate market rents and market values for leasing, sale or purchase by National or County
Government, Commissions and other government agencies.

5.2.6 Department of Registration

The department is responsible for:
a) Issuance of title documents;
b) Receiving applications for registration and registration of the following documents under the
Land Registration Act – including but not limited to: Registration of leases, long term and
short term leases, subdivisions/partitions/amalgamations or consolidations, transfer, charge,
discharge of charge, restrictions, inhibitions (court orders), easements, withdrawal on
restriction surrender, grant of letters (transfer by transmission), deed of rectification
(correction of name), trust deeds, deed poll, indemnity, building plan, agreements, wills,

95
 Power of Attorney and Revocation of Power of Attorney, building contracts, bonds, Deed of
guarantee Commission, caution hearing).
c) Resolving land boundary disputes;
d) Keeping and maintaining custody of land records and documents;
e) Providing official searches in respect of registered land.

The department operates the Central, Coastal, Nairobi and other Land Registries across the country.
The Central and the Coastal Registry registers titles and documents under the Registration of Titles
Act (Cap 281) (Repealed), the Government Lands Act (Cap 280) (Repealed), Land Titles Act (Cap
282) (Repealed) and the Registration of Documents Act (Cap 285) (Repealed) while the Nairobi
District registry handles documents registered under the Registered Lands Act (Cap 300) (Repealed).

5.3 Functions of NLC

The National Land Commission is an independent government commission whose establishment is
provided in the Constitution of Kenya to, amongst other things, manage public land on behalf of the
national and county governments, initiate investigations into present or historical land injustices and
recommend appropriate redress, and monitor and have oversight responsibilities over land use
planning throughout the country. The functions of the Commission are established under the
National Land Commission Act, 2012 and include the following:
a) Managing public land on behalf of the National and County Governments;
b) Recommending a National Land Policy to the National Government;
c) Advising the National Government on a comprehensive programme for the registration of
title in land throughout Kenya;
d) Conducting research related to land and the use of natural resources, and make
recommendations to appropriate authorities;
e) Initiating investigations, on its own initiative or on a complaint, into present or historical land
injustices, and recommend appropriate redress;
f) Encouraging the application of traditional dispute resolution mechanisms in land conflicts;
g) Assessing tax on land and premiums on immovable property in any area designated by law;
h) Monitoring and have oversight responsibilities over Land Use Planning throughout the
country; and
i) Performing any other functions prescribed by national legislation.
Table 5.1 gives a description of directorates within NLC with specific roles and functions for land
information management.

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 Table 5.1: Directorates within NLC and their Functions
Directorate Function
Land Administration and Responsible for the efficient organization, direction, control
Management and co-ordination of the functions of land administration.
Geo-information Responsible for developing and maintaining spatial, legal and
Management environmental databases that are relevant to real property
throughout the country.
Land Use Planning Develops and prepares an effective and efficient system for
overseeing land use planning throughout the country.
Land Valuation and Taxation Undertakes valuation for taxation on land and premiums on
immovable property. The directorate also undertakes
compulsory acquisition of private land on behalf the National
and County Governments. In addition, the directorate assesses
annual ground rents, computes stand premiums and offers
advisory on valuation services.
Natural Resources Takes stock of natural resources, monitors use and
management and ensures that land use policies are consistent
with sustainable resource utilization.
Research and Advocacy Promotes dialogue, interaction, inquiry, and participatory
research between researchers, communities and policy makers
with a view of enhancing the impact of research on land
reforms and sustainable development. In addition, the
directorate is responsible for the coordination and
administration of research, partnerships, linkages, civic
education and advocacy functions on land matters.

Figure 5.2: NLC Organogram – Departments with specific reference to LIMS

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5.3 Functions of County Governments
The Constitution, the County Government Act, the Physical Planning Act and the Urban Areas and
Cities Act provide the functions of the County Governments to include:
a) County planning and development including statistics, land survey and boundaries and
fencing and housing;
b) Preparation of the following plans:- County Spatial Plans; County Integrated Development
Plans; Sectorial Plans; Integrated Urban Development Plans; City/ Municipal/ Urban Areas
Land Use Plans;
c) Prohibiting or controlling the use and development of land and buildings in the interests of
proper and orderly development of its area;
d) Controlling or prohibiting the subdivision of land or existing plots into smaller areas;
e) Considering and approving all development applications and grant all development
permissions;
f) Ensuring the proper execution and implementation of approved physical development plans;
g) Formulating by-laws to regulate zoning in respect of use and density of development; and
h) Reserving and maintaining all the land planned for open spaces, parks, urban forests and
green belts in accordance with the approved physical development plan.

5.4 Private Sector Involvement

Land administration activities in Kenya are largely restricted to the government departments in the
Ministry of Lands and Physical Planning, the National Land Commission and the County
Governments. Private Sector involvement is however noticeable in the preparation of development
applications by Practising Registered Physical Planners, the conduct of title surveys including new
grant and subdivision surveys by Licensed Surveyors, and the involvement of Advocates of the High
Court of Kenya in the land conveyancing processes. Private sector involvement is also found through
professional bodies such as the Institution of Surveyors of Kenya (ISK), the Kenya Institute of
Planners (KIP), the Town and County Planners Association of Kenya (TCPAK) the Architectural
Association of Kenya (AAK), the Law Society of Kenya (LSK) and the Kenya Bankers Association
(KBA). The involvement of these professional bodies has mainly been at policy level, advocacy and
for advisory purposes.

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5.3.1 Land Surveyors
The Land Surveyor’s duties include:
1) Mapping surveys for preparation of topographic maps and establishment of high order control
networks;
2) Cadastral/title surveys to support title registration including sectional property surveys;
3) Photogrammetric and remote sensing surveys through the use of aerial photography and satellite
imagery respectively;
4) Topographic surveys for large-scale maps for the preparation of base maps for planning and
infrastructure designs;
5) Engineering surveys mainly for civil works (roads, railways, pipelines, tunnels) and architectural
designs;
6) Hydrographic surveys mainly to map the sea, river and lake beds; and
7) Land use and land condition surveys mainly for agriculture and related uses.

5.3.2 Advocates
The Advocates duties include:
a) Conducting due diligence:
1.1 Where the property is owned by an individual, conduct a search at the Registrar of
Persons and in a physical meeting confirm that the physical appearance of the client
matches the photograph on their identification documents.
1.2 Where the property is owned by a company; conduct an official search of the company at
the companies’ registry to confirm the directors and that the company has capacity to
enter into the transaction as evidenced by the constitutive documents of the company and
a board resolution.
1.3 Conduct an official search of the title in the respective registry to ascertain ownership and
the existence of encumbrances registered against the title and obtain rent demand notes.
1.4 Conduct further searches on the Deed Plans/RIM (registered mutations) at the survey
office.
1.5 Conduct searches at the County offices and obtain the rates demand notes.
1.6 Visit the site to ensure that there are no squatters or trespassers and ensure survey
beacons are on the ground.
b) Preparing the contracts, transfer documents, witnessing and execution;
c) Issuing professional undertakings (when required);
d) Obtaining completion documents such as land rates clearance certificates, land rent clearance
certificates, and consents to transfer;
e) Submitting documents for valuation and assessment and payment of duty; and
f) Submitting documents for registration.

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5.3.3 Banks/Financial Institutions
Banks ordinarily interact with the Lands Registry through their appointed agents i.e. Advocates.
Through the Advocates, banks are involved in carrying out searches on title documents; charges
where a purchase of property is being financed by the bank; discharge of charge and charges where
bank is taking over facilities of a customer from another bank; Transfers where a purchase of a
property is being financed by a bank; creation of trusts; and surrenders.

5.3.4 Physical Planners

The role of physical planners is to create plans that envision the future by making choices and
options that balance between development and environmental protection. These strategies translate
to implementation frameworks for provision of essential services that offer efficiency, convenience,
equity and attractive environment to the present and future generations. Physical Planners coordinate
and manage development using comprehensive planning tools that include land use, development
densities, transportation and infrastructure services, environmental conservation and open spaces and
urban design.

5.3.5 Architects and Engineers

Architects and Engineers play the role of the actual implementation of the physical planning
strategies by changing and transforming the nature of the land cover into new landforms through
construction of buildings, infrastructure and other components of the urban fabric. They make the
built environments more pleasant, safe and valued by their inhabitants.

5.5 Processes within a Land Information Management System

Table 5.2 summarizes the actors and processes involved in a Land Information Management System.
The NLIMS should provide clear and seamless workflows between the various institutions and
agencies.

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 Table 5.2: Processes and Products within a Land Information Management System
Actor Processes Submission Approving Products
Authority
Surveyor/ National Mapping Topographic Maps Director of Surveys Topographic Maps
Survey of Kenya Navigational Charts Navigational Charts
Registered Subdivision of Land Scheme Designs County Government Planning Permit
Physical Planner Amalgamation of Land Planning Brief (County Director PPA-2
Change of Use Location/Site Plan PPA-1 Planning/Technical Certificate of
Extension of Use Committee) Compliance
Extension of Lease PPA-5
Renewal of Lease

Registered New building design Location/Site Plan County Government Construction

Architect Alteration or Extension of Plans, sections and & (County Director Permit
existing building Elevations Planning/Technical Occupation
Application Form Committee) Permit
Licensed Cadastral Survey i.e. Computations Director of Surveys RIMs & Deed
Surveyor subdivisions, mutations etc. Survey Plans Plans56
Change of Use Cadastral Map
Extension of Lease
Renewal of Lease
Subdivision of buildings –
Sectional Plans
Amalgamation
Boundary re-establishment

Land Change of Use Approved Plans Director Land Consents

Administrator Extension of Use Planning Briefs Administration New Lease
Extension of Lease Original Lease Land Registrar Letter of allotment
Renewal of Lease Original Title Licence
Land Allocation
Amalgamations
Land Mapping Area Lists Director of Adjudication
Adjudication Demarcation/survey Registry Index Map Survey Register
Publication of the adjudication Chief Land Area list
Members’ Register
register Registrar Registry Index Map
Resolution of objection cases

Valuer Land rent determination Valuation Requisition Director Land Valuation Report
Stamp duty on land/property Form Valuation Revenue
Assessment Stamp Duty Requisition Collector of
Endorsement/ Franking Form Stamp Duty
Audits Land Registrar
Exemptions
Payments

56 RIM and Deed Plans are transitional and are to be replaced by the Cadastral Map under the Land Registration Act

101
 Refunds
Registrar Transfer Registrable instruments Chief Land Registrar Registered documents
Charges
Discharge of Charge
Leases
Surrenders
Inhibitions (Court Orders,
Restrictions)
Advocates Instructions to prepare Title details Land Registrar Registrable
contract documents Transfer instruments
Conducting due diligence Charges
Witnessing of written Discharge of Charge
documents Leases
Conducting search on titles ; Trusts
deed plan and/or cadastral Surrenders
plan

The functions or processes within a Land Information Management System are dynamic and include
a number of functions as shown in Table 5.3.

Table 5.3: Functions of the LIMS

Functions List: Land Information Management System
ID Name Description
F1 Establishing Spatial Guidance on land uses and zoning regulations.
Plans and Strategies
F2 Approve Survey Authentication of Title Surveys.
F3 Establishing new Land subdivisions and establishment of new land uses.
parcels and land uses
F4 Development Issuance of development permission to carry out development activities
Permission on land such as land subdivision, change/extension of land use or
extension/renewal of lease period.
F5 Parcel Numbering Allocation of unique identifiers to land parcels.
F6 Allocate Land Alienation and distribution of public land.
F7 Value & Tax Land Valuation of land based on Unimproved Site Value (USV57).
F8 Undertake property Find, retrieve and present parcel information identifying status of land.
search
F9 Transfer of property Transfer of property from one owner to another.
F10 Register Land Registration of Land.
F11 Charge & Mortgage Effect a charge or mortgage on a property.
Property

57The Unimproved Site Value (USV) as defined in Section 8(2) of the Valuation for Rating Act, is the market value of
unencumbered freehold in possession, ignoring any improvements, but accounting for comparable lands and factors and
statutory restrictions influencing land value.

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5.6 Actors within a Land Information Management System
A look at the activity diagrams indicates that there are a number of actors within the LIMS. The roles
of the actors vary with the land process in question. In that respect certain functions are shared thus
showing how closely knit and dynamic the LIMS is. Tables 5.4 identifies the actors and gives a
summary of their functions.
Table 5.4: Actors within the LIMS
Actors
ID Actor/Department Functions
A1 Cabinet Secretary Incharge of the Ministry of Lands & Physical Planning, serving as the political head
directing policy and advising the government.
A2 NLC Manages public land on behalf of the National and County Governments.
A3 Chief Land Registrar Is responsible for effecting changes in the register and issuance of title deeds as
supported by Deed Plans or amended Registry Index Maps.
A3 Land Registrar Works under the Chief Land Registrar and is responsible for the registration of
land under general boundaries in the districts.
A4 Director of Valuation Determines value of property for rating, insurance, ground rent and stamp duty
purposes.
A5 Director of Surveys Manages the Department of Survey and is responsible for defining the geodetic
control network, authentication of title surveys, preparation of Registry Index
Maps, Deed Plans, Base Maps and storage of survey records.
A6 Regional Surveyor Coordination of county offices in the region and RIM amendments including
quality control of mutation surveys for registration maps.
A7 District Surveyor Incharge of mutation surveys undertaken at the District level, receives, approves
and registers the surveys.
A8 Licensed Surveyor Authorised by the government to carry out title and mutation surveys and
thereafter lodge records with Director of Surveys for authentication and
subsequent registration.
A9 National Director of Preparation of National Physical Development Plan, Coordinate the preparation of
Physical Planning Regional/Inter-County Physical Development Plans and process their statutory
approval
A10 County Director of Manages the County Directorate of Physical Planning and is responsible (in liaison
Physical Planning with National Director of Physical Planning) for County Physical Development
Planning. Responsible for development control (planning approvals and ensure
planning compliance for orderly development).
A11 Registered Physical Authorised to prepare and submit development applications for approval
Planner, (subdivisions, amalgamation, change/extension of use, extension/renewal of lease).
A12 Registered Architect Authorised to prepare and submit development applications for Building Plans (all
category of buildings on registered parcels of land).
A13 Registered Engineer Authorised to prepare and submit development applications for Civil Engineering
plans for infrastructure on approved subdivisions and structural plans for approved
building plans.
A14 Director Land Manages the Department of Land Adjudication and Settlement and is in charge of
Adjudication & the adjudication of trust lands.
Settlement

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A15 Land Control Board Provide statutory approvals for dealings in agricultural land.
A16 County Director of Responsible for preparation of County Valuation Roll and determination of Land
Valuation and Rating Rates.
A17 Qualified Advocate conducts due dilligence, prepare contracts and conveyancing instruments, witnesses
execution and submits instruments for registration.
A18 Bank/Financial Advances loans to members of the public and organisations.
Institution
A19 Land/Property Owner Owns land, has rights to subdivide, develop or transfer property.
A20 Collector of Stamp Assesses and collects stamp duty.
Duty

The following subsections give a detailed description of the processes identified in Table 5.3. The
Activity Diagram of the Unified Modelling Language (UML) is then used to model the various
processes so as to illustrate the dynamic nature of a system by modelling the flow of control.

The workflows described in this section, are a generalisation of common processes encountered in
the day-to-day activities. The processes described conform to the legal framework. For example the
Land Control Act provides that any sale, transfer, partition, lease of or other dealing in agricultural
land will be null and void unless the parties to the transaction have obtained consent from the Land
Control Board (GoK, 1989b).

5.6.1 Process of Acquiring Title to Land

There are various methods through which title to land may be acquired. Under Section 7 of the Land
Act, title to land may be acquired through: allocation, land adjudication, settlement programmes inter
alia. Allocation of land means the legal process of granting rights to public land and is carried out by
the National Land Commission on behalf of the either the National or County Governments. Land
adjudication refers to the process through which land held under customary tenure (Community
Land) is individualised and granted in individual names. This section focuses on creation of titles
through allocation and the land adjudication processes. Table 5.5 presents the two scenarios.

In Figure 5.3, the activity diagram for actors involved in the allocation of public land process is
presented. Under Section 12 of the Land Act, the process of allocation of public land is initiated by
the National or County Governments, as the case may be, through their respective Cabinet Secretary
or County Executive Committee Member responsible for matters relating to land whenever they are
satisfied that it is necessary to allocate the whole or a specific part of public land. Once satisfied, the
respective Cabinet Secretary or CEC Member is then required to submit a request to the National
Land Commission for allocation of the said land. The Commission may allocate public land by way
of public auction, notice of tenders, public drawing of plots, public exchanges, public request for
proposals or by way of application confined to a targeted group of persons. Once allocated, the
recipient of the grant has to pay one year land rent in addition to stamp duty before registration can

104
occur. The Land Registrar then opens a property file for the new land parcels. Before public land is
allocated, it is by law required to be planned, surveyed and serviced and guidelines for its
development prepared. This implies that the Physical Planning, Surveying, Valuation and Land
Registry Departments play various roles in the process of allocation of public land.

Figure 5.4 depicts the process of establishing parcels through land adjudication. The model provides
for appeals in situations where the land owners dispute the boundary positions. The model also
provides for changes to be made to the Preliminary Index Diagrams (PID) that are used as the basis
for land registration. Title deeds are then issued by the Land Registrar.

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 Table 5.5: Process of acquisition of title to land

Function Description: Land Acquisition

Function Allocation of public land (F1)
Actors Lessor (National or County Government), Ministry of Lands & Physical Planning,
National Land Commission, County Government, Director of Surveys, Director of
Physical Planning, Chief Land Registrar, Land Owner, Land Adjudication Committees,
Land Adjudication Officer, Director of Land Adjudication, Land Registrar, Cabinet
Secretary (Ministry of Lands and Physical Planning), CECM (Lands)
First Scenario: Allocation of public land
1. The Lessor determines that it necessary to allocate the whole or part of a public land
vested in its favour.
2. The respective Cabinet Secretary or CEC member in charge of matters relating to land,
as the case may be, submits a request to the National Land Commission for allocation of
the identified public land.
3. Once the request is handed in to the National Land Commission and approved, the
National Land Commission commences the process of having the public land planned,
surveyed and serviced and guidelines for its development prepared.
4. The Director of Surveys prepares a general base-map showing the specific public land in
a defined region.
5. The Lessor uses the base-map to prepare a Part Development Plan (PDP) as a
comprehensive land use scheme.
6. The PDP is approved by the Cabinet Secretary/CEC Member in charge of matters
relating to land and forwards it to the Lessor.
7. The Lessor appoints a Licensed Surveyor who relies on the approved PDP as a basis for
Survey of the comprehensive scheme and sets out the parcels and lodges the survey with
the Director of Surveys for authentication.
8. Director of Survey checks and authenticates the survey and proceeds to prepare a
cadastral plan.
9. The Director of Survey signs and seals the cadastral plan and forwards it to the Chief
Land Registrar and the National Land Commission.
10. The National Government and County Governments ensures that the planned and
surveyed land is serviced through provision of water, electricity, roads and other basic
amenities.
11. Once planned, surveyed and serviced, the National Land Commission issues a public
notice of action, to the public and interested parties, of the intention to allocate.
12. The National Land Commission proceeds to allocate the public land through any of the
means identified in law through issuance of a letter of allotment – which provides
conditions to be fulfilled and requisite payments in stand premium and ground rent.
13. Once all the conditions in the letter of allotment have been met and payments done, the
NLC prepares a lease to be executed by the NLC on behalf of the National or County
Government, as the case may be, on the one part and the allottee on the other part.
14. The lease is then forwarded to the specific County Registry where the public land is
situated for registration.
15. The Chief/County Land Registrar effects registration and issuance of Certificate of Lease
titles.

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 Second Scenario: Land Adjudication (Community Land to private land)
1. A formal written petition is delivered to the Cabinet Secretary in charge of matters
relating to land with a request to have an area earmarked for adjudication. This petition is
copied to the County Governments.
2. A Land Adjudication Board convenes at the Ministry of Lands and Physical Planning to
deliberate and approve the adjudication petition.
3. A directive is issued to the Department of Survey based on the results of the Board
deliberations to visit the site, conduct reconnaissance of the terrain, and give
recommendations.
4. The reconnaissance mission provides its professional recommendations to the Land
Adjudication Board for consideration.
5. Based on these recommendations, the Board deliberates and, if satisfied, approves the
adjudication request.
6. Land adjudication committees are set-up to ascertain and arbitrate rights and interests in
the land.
7. The Survey Department proceeds to formally survey the areas earmarked for
adjudication (adjudication areas). The fieldwork for the Adjudication Section is done by
officers of the Department of Land Adjudication and Settlement, with supervision from
Survey of Kenya58. After the survey work is complete, the Survey Department generates a
Cadastral Map of the area which contains parcel numbers, size of land and a map sheet
number.
8. The Adjudication Record and the Map of the area are made available to the community
for public examination.
9. Objections to the Adjudication Register are heard by the Land Adjudication Officer.
10. Any parties dissatisfied with the decision of Land Adjudication Officer, can make appeals
to the Cabinet Secretary.
11. After hearing and determining of objections and appeals to the Adjudication Register, the
Director of Land Adjudication signs the certificate of finality and forwards the
Adjudication Register (Adjudication Record and the Cadastral Map) to the Chief Land
Registrar for registration and finally issues title deeds.

58
Landowners in presence of Land Adjudication Officers identify their land boundaries. The boundaries are
demarcated by Adjudication officers using enlarged aerial photographs, ground survey methods or both; and

107
5.6.2 The Land Subdivision/Development of Multiple Units
The subdivision of land as interpreted in section 3 of the Physical Planning Act means the “division
of any land held under single ownership into two (2) or more parts” (GoK, 1996). This definition is
applicable whether the subdivision is by conveyance, transfer or partitioning for the purpose of sale,
gift, and lease or for any other purpose (ibid). The Physical Panning Act further classifies this as Class
A development59 requiring the lodgement of a development application60 for approval under the
provision section 29 (b) of this Act. In Kenya, a distinction is made if the subdivision applies to land
parcels under the fixed boundary or the general boundary systems. Table 5.6 depicts this distinction.

Figure 5.5 depicts the Land Subdivision Process where eight (8) Actors are identified. Land
subdivisions have to be approved by the County Governments through the issuance of a planning
permit (PPA.2) before any title survey can be carried out. This approval as specified under section 42
(1) of the Physical Planning Act, is to ensure that any new development conforms to the relevant
Physical Development Plan. Approvals, where granted, may make modifications to the initial
application and subject the development permission61 to such conditions as may be deemed
necessary.

Title surveys are undertaken by Licensed Surveyors and then lodged with the Director of Surveys.
Once received, title surveys are registered i.e. the computations and survey plans are numbered and
the parcels given unique numbers. The plans and computations are then checked for consistency
before they are authenticated. After authentication, the Director of Surveys sends an authentication
letter to the Licensed Surveyor. The authentication letter contains a demand for checking fees and
asks the Licensed Surveyor to submit deed plans (for sealing and signing) or request for RIM
amendment by the Director of Surveys. The Licensed Surveyor is required to prepare the deed plans
on linen paper. These documents together with the checking fees are then submitted to the Director
of Surveys.

59 Class A development is defined under Section 3 of the Physical Planning Act as the making of any material change in
the use or density of any buildings or land or the subdivision of any land.
60 Development Application means an application made under Section 31 of the Physical Planning Act for any

development in land and which must be accompanied by such plans and particulars as are necessary to indicate the
purposes of the development showing the proposed use and density.
61 Development Permission refers to the permission, which is granted under Section 33 of the Physical Planning Act with

or without conditions. Where development permission is refused the applicant may appeal to the relevant physical
planning liaison committee.

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 Table 5.6: The Process of Land Subdivision
Function Description: Land Subdivision
Function Subdivide Land Parcels (F2)
Actors Director of Survey, Registered Physical Planner, County Government,
National Land Commission, Licensed Surveyor, Chief Land Registrar,
Land Owner (Property Owner), Land Registrar, District Surveyor,
Regional Surveyor, Land Control Board
First Scenario: Fixed Boundaries
1. Land Owner engages a Registered Physical Planner to prepare a subdivision scheme.
2. County Government approves the development application after circulating to relevant
department/agencies for comments/clearance and issues Planning Permit (PPA.2) with
necessary performance conditions.
3. Licensed Surveyor undertakes ground survey based on the approved development
permission.
4. Licensed Surveyor lodges title survey with the Director of Surveys for authentication;
5. Director of Surveys checks survey, authenticates and requests Licensed Surveyor to
prepare deed plans or request for amendment of RIM.
6. Director of Survey seals and signs amended RIM or deed plans and forwards the same
to the Chief Land Registrar. County Government monitors implementation of the
performance conditions and issues Compliance Certificate.
7. Chief Land Registrar effects registration based on the Compliance Certificate and the
amended RIM or deed plans and issues Title Deeds.
Second Scenario: General Boundaries
1. Land Owner makes an application to the Land Control Board (LCB) for consent to
subdivide.
2. The Land Control Board considers and approves the application to subdivide.
3. Registered Physical Planner prepares subdivision scheme.
4. County Government approves the subdivision scheme after circulating to relevant
department/agencies for comments/clearance and issues Planning Permit with
necessary performance conditions.
5. Licensed Surveyor undertakes mutation survey based on the approved development
permission. Licensed Surveyor lodges mutation survey with the District Surveyor.
6. District Surveyor receives numbers and approves the mutations.
7. Regional Surveyor amends the existing RIM by inserting the mutation.
8. Land Registrar effects registration based on the amended RIM and issues Title Deeds.
Third Scenario: Multiple Building Units
1. Property Owner engages a Registered Architect to prepare building designs.
2. County Government approves the building plans application after circulating to
relevant department/agencies for comments/clearance and issues Construction Permit
with necessary performance conditions.
3. County Government monitors implementation of the performance conditions and
issues Occupation Certificate.
4. Property Owner engages a Licensed Surveyor to re-survey the land and geo-reference
the individual building units. Licensed Surveyor submits sectional plan to the Director
of Surveys for checking, approval and authentication.
5. The Director of Surveys forwards sectional plan to the Chief Land Registrar.
6. Chief Land Registrar effects registration based on the Occupation Permit and the geo-
referenced Survey Map and issues Unit Title Deeds.
7. County Government values the individual unit to determine the rates payable and
enters the new parcel in the Valuation Roll.

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It is notable that there are a total of 41 steps in receiving and checking of fixed boundary surveys as
shown in Figure 5.7. The average duration from receipt to the end is estimated at 115 days. As
indicated above, work submitted by a Licensed Surveyor goes through preliminary checking, final
checking and authentication before being submitted to the Land Registry as either deed plans or RIM.
It is estimated from previous studies that 71 percent of Licensed Surveyors have to follow up
progress of over 60 percent of their jobs while 29 percent follow up between 30 percent and 60
percent of their work. This points out to the need for a better system to manage the submission of
cadastral data and processing of the work. Figure 5.8 shows the workflow in the Survey checking
process.
Figure 5.7: Steps in Checking Fixed Boundary Surveys

115
 Figure 5.8: Workflow in the Survey Checking Process

Request for Survey by

Owner or NLC

Initial Preparation

Surveyor Completes Survey

and Submits to Director of
Survey for Checking

Authorization by Director and Is Survey No

Return to Surveyor
SADC Authorized?

Yes
No
Survey Records in Is it a New
Boundary Overlaps Check
storage Grant Survey? Yes

No
Referencing and Boundary overlap
Numbering of Survey Yes present?
Records

Final Checking Preliminary Checking

Is Survey
Authentication
Approved? No

Yes

NLC/Surveyor Notified
Cadastral Decision

Registration Under Indent for RIM

Indent for Deed Plans
RTA RTA or RLA? RLA Ammendment

Drawing and Sealing of

Amendment RIM
Deed Plans

Submit Deed Plans to Submit Amended RIM to

Lands Admin Lands Admin

Payment of Stamp Duty Payment of Stamp Duty

and Fees and Fees

Registration of Title Under Registration of Title Under

RTA RLA

Registration

Supplementary Work
Notification to Owner
and Authorities

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5.6.3 Land Development Process
Under section 3 of the Physical Planning Act, any change in land use and the extension of lease once
the period of lease has drawn to an end are classified as Class A development (GoK, 1996). A
development application is therefore required before any changes in the status of the land can be
effected. The Change or Extension of Use is deemed to occur on private land and as such the role of
NLC is minimal if any. Table 5.7 depicts the change or extension of use process while Table 5.8
shows the extension of lease or renewal of lease process.

Table 5.7: The Change/Extension of Use Processes

Function Description: Change of Use

Function Update Parcels (F3)
Actors Director of Surveys, Licensed Surveyor, Land Owner (Property Owner),
Registered Physical Planner, County Government, Chief Land Registrar;
Directors of Physical Planning and of Land Administration (Ministry of
Lands), Director Valuation in the Ministry of Lands; Property Owner
First Scenario: Change of Use
1. Property owner engages a Registered Physical Planner to prepare a Planning Brief in support
of the desire to change or extend land use.
2. The Registered Physical Planner prepares Public Notices (on-site billboard and two
newspapers that have countrywide circulation) inviting representations/objections addressed
to the County Government.
3. At the expiry of the 14 days Public Notice, the County Government approves or disapproves
the application. This is followed by approvals by Directors of Physical Planning, Survey and
Land Administration as per their areas of expertise i.e. land use, survey and
ownership/status/history.
4. If approval is granted, the property owner engages a Licensed Surveyor to prepare change or
extension of user deed plan.
5. Licensed Surveyor forwards change or extension of user deed plan to the Director of Surveys
for checking, authentication and approval.
6. After re-survey the land is revalued by the Director Valuation so as to incorporate the
enhanced rent in the title/lease.
7. Property owner lodges change of user documents to the Director of Land Administration in
the Ministry for processing of a new lease incorporating the new user/extension of user and
the new land rent after re-valuation, surrenders the title and gets a registration with the desired
use.
8. The Chief Land Registrar executes the lease.
9. The Land Registrar registers the change - for deed plans this is done in the Central Land
Registry in Nairobi and Coast registry in Mombasa while for RIMs this is done by the County
Land Registrars.
10. County Government re-values the land to determine the rates payable and enters in the
Valuation Roll.

Figures 5.8, 5.9 and 5.10 model the processes for extension of lease, change of use and renewal of
lease respectively.

117
 Table 5.8: The Extension/Renewal of Lease Processes

Function Description: Extension and Renewal of Lease

Function Update Parcels (F3)
Actors Director of Surveys, National Land Commission, Licensed Surveyor, Land
Owner (Property Owner), Registered Physical Planner, County Government,
Chief, (Principal) Land Registrar, and Director of Land Administration (National
Government); Property Owner.
Scenario 1: Extension of Lease
1. Within five years the National Land Commission issues notices to land owner on the expiry
date of the lease and advises on their pre-emptive right to apply for an extension of lease and
whom to apply to.
2. If within one (1) year after the notice is issued there is no response, the land owner engages
Registered Physical Planner to publish Public Notices in 2 newspapers that have countrywide
circulation.
3. Registered Physical Planner prepares an application and a planning brief to the National or
County Government (the lessor) giving justification for the extension.
4. National or County Government approves the lease extension application after circulating to
relevant offices for comments and specification of conditions as necessary.
5. National or County Government extends the lease for a specified time and forwards their
decision to the National Land Commission for implementation.
6. If approval is granted, the property owner engages a Licensed Surveyor to re-survey and geo-
reference the land.
7. Licensed Surveyor forward extension of lease deed plan to the Director of Surveys for
checking, authentication and approval.
8. The Director of Surveys prepares and submits a new signed and sealed deed plan or RIM to
National Government (Ministry).
9. The National Government (Chief Valuer) re-values the land considering the extended lease
and assigns a new enhanced annual rent.
10. The Director of Land Administration (National Government) prepares a new lease document
after the lessee surrenders the existing title.
11. The Chief Land Registrar executes the lease.
12. The new lease is registered by the Land Registrar (for those with deed plans this is done in
Nairobi and Mombasa while for RIMs, it is at the County Registry Offices).
13. National or County Government re-values the land to determine the rent/rates payable.

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 Scenario 2: Renewal of Lease62 (Expired Lease)
1. An application for renewal occurs where prior notice of expiration by the National Land
Commission has not been given as required under Section 13 of the Land Act No. 3 of 2012.
2. The land owner engages Registered Physical Planner to lodge an application and prepare a
Planning Brief to the National Land Commission giving justification for the renewal.
3. The National Land Commission approves the renewal of lease application after circulating to
relevant offices for comments and specification of conditions as necessary.
4. If approval is granted, the property owner engages a Licensed Surveyor to re-survey and geo-
reference the land.
5. The National Land Commission re-values the land to determine the stand premium and rent
payable and issues Letter of Allotment.
6. Property owner engages a Licensed Surveyor to re-survey and geo-reference the land.
7. Licensed Surveyor forward extension of lease deed plan to the Director of Surveys for
checking, authentication and approval.
8. The Director of Surveys prepares and submits a new signed and sealed deed plan or RIM to
National Government (Ministry).
9. The National Government (Chief Valuer) re-values the land considering the renewed lease
and assigns a new enhanced annual rent.
10. The Director of Land Administration (National Government) prepares a new lease document
after the lessee surrenders the existing title.
11. The new lease is registered and issued by the Land Registrar (for those with Deed plans this is
done in Nairobi and Mombasa while for RIMs it is done at the County Registry Offices).
12. The National Government issues a new lease certificate.

62Leases that have expired are deemed to have reverted to government and are therefore Public Land. The National Land
Commission thus approves/renews such applications but implementation in terms of preparing the new lease is done by
the Ministry (National Government). The Director of Land Administration prepares the lease for registration by the
Registrar.

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5.6.3.1 The Challenges of Physical Planning Legislative Transition
It is notable that the Physical Planning Act of 1996 was prepared with a national outlook. Planning
was clearly structured along a central model of governance where planning policy formulation was
coordinated at the national level. The Act under Part II Section 5, empowers the Director of Physical
Planning to formulate national, regional and local physical development policies, guidelines and
strategies. The role of implementing these policies and plans (development control) was a delegated
function to local authorities (Part V of this Act). Under the current constitution, the physical
planning function has been largely devolved and operationalized by the County Government Act
(Part XI) which states clearly the objectives of county planning and the obligations of the county
governments. Further, under the Urban Areas and Cities Act, the Urban Management Boards now
have the responsibility of preparing detailed and integrated plans (Part V) and assume much of the
development control and service delivery functions of former local authorities. This further
complicates the transition because all these levels of governance have a planning role to play.

To-date there has not been a clear transition of Physical Planning to these devolved units. The
Physical Planning Bill that has attempted to address this transition remains in limbo. It is apparent
that the duty of securing continuity and consistency in the transition of Physical Planning functions
from the previous dispensation is not clear.

5.6.4 The Land Conveyancing/Transfer Process

Land transfer or conveyancing is defined as the process of moving the legal ownership of land from
one person to another (Onalo, 1986: 221). Table 5.9 depicts the land transfer process.

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 Table 5.9: The Process of Land Conveyancing/Transfer
Function Description: Cadastral and Land Registration System
Function Transfer Property (F4)
Actors Land Owner, Vendors Advocate; Purchaser’s Advocate; Purchaser;
Government Valuer; Collector of Stamp Duty; Auditor; Registry
Superintendent; Investigation Officer; Land Registrar; Land Control
Board; Dispatch Officer; Director Land Administration
Scenario 1 – Transfer of Freehold/Leasehold Titles
1. Vendor’s Advocate prepares the sale agreement and forwards it to the Purchaser’s Advocate
for approval, engrossment, execution by the Purchaser and witnessing. The duly executed
agreement is then forwarded to the Vendor’s Advocate for execution, witnessing and
stamping.
2. The Purchaser’s advocate prepares the instrument for registration63 and obtains the
completion documents (where applicable) Rent clearance certificate, Rates Clearance
Certificate, Land Control Board Consent to transfer; and consent to transfer from the
Director Land Administration MoLPP;
3. The Purchaser’s advocate books the instrument for valuation by the Government Valuer who
determines the value for purposes of stamp duty;
4. The instrument is forwarded to the Collector of Stamp Duty for endorsement (where
applicable) and assessment of stamp duty payable;
5. Assessment and payment of Capital Gains Tax is done by Vendor’s advocate (where
applicable);
6. Stamp duty is paid by the Purchaser’s advocate and the instrument is submitted for franking
( to confirm payment of stamp duty);
7. Upon payment of the registration fee by Purchaser’s advocate, the instrument is submitted to
the registry for booking and registration;
8. At the registry the document is booked by Registrar and forwarded to the Auditor to
confirm payment of land rent and stamp duty;
9. After auditing, the files are retrieved from the strong room for matching of instrument with
title by Registrar;
10. After matching, documents are allocated by the Registry Superintendent to the Investigation
Officers for verification for compliance on all the registration requirements;
11. If compliant, entries are made and if not the document is rejected with reasons. Upon
rejection, documents are dispatched to the presenter (the advocate who booked the
document for registration) who must comply before resubmitting the documents for
registration once again;
12. After entries have been made by the Investigation Officer, the documents are forwarded to
the Land Registrar for signing;
13. The documents are photocopied and forwarded to the Registry Superintendent, for sealing.
The Photocopied documents (which are also sealed) are retained in the deed file for future
reference; and
14. The Registry Superintendent dispatches sealed documents in the “A” book, and forwards
them to the dispatch officer who records them in a register and dispatch to the pigeon holes
for storage and eventual collection by the presenter.

63 The instrument in this case is either a transfer, transfer to Lease, Conveyance, Charge, and Lease.

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The process of sale and purchase of land transfer is initiated by a willing seller and a willing buyer. It
is essential for the parties to a land transaction to enter into a written sale agreement and sign the
same in the presence of a witness. This is based upon the provisions of the Law of Contract Act
which provide that no suit shall be brought upon a contract for the disposition of an interest in land
unless the contract upon which the suit is founded is in writing, signed by all the parties thereto; and
the signature of each party signing has been attested by a witness who is present when the contract is
signed by such party. Upon fulfillment of the obligations of the sale agreement, the parties are
required to sign a transfer of land.

While the Law of Contract Act does not define who or what the qualifications a person attesting a
contract for disposition of land should have, and while the Land Registration Act of 2012 is silent on
who should prepare and attest instruments relating to disposition of Land, the Advocates Act
provides that no unqualified person shall, either directly or indirectly take instructions or draw or
prepare, inter alia, any document or instrument relating to the conveyancing of property or for which
a fee is prescribed by any order made by the Chief Justice under Section 44 of the Advocates Act
(Section 44 provides for the Advocates’ remuneration).

Once the Land Registrar receives the documents purporting to transfer land, he or she must make
certain checks before the transfer can be effected. Firstly, the Land Registrar confirms that all rates
are paid up to date (for properties within a rateable area) by requiring the production of a current
rates clearance certificate and that all land rent is paid up to date (for leasehold hold properties) by
requiring the production of a current land rent clearance certificate. These conditions do not apply to
land held as freehold. In addition, with respect to leaseholds the Land Registrar must verify that the
proprietor of the land in question has met the prescribed conditions of allotment or grant. These
conditions include the permitted user, and plot coverage. The breach of such conditions could result
in cancelation of the title.

Secondly, for agricultural land, the Land Registrar must verify that consent to transfer has been
obtained from the Land Control Board. Lastly, the Land Registrar would request for assessment of
the property to determine if stamp duty is payable. Where stamp duty is deemed payable, this has to
be paid together with the land transfer fees before the transfer can be effected. Figure 5.11 models
the land conveyancing processes.

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5.6.4.1 Manual Registration Process of Documents at the Central Registry
The process of Registration starts with collection of Stamp duty and other prescribed fees. Once the
document is booked, it becomes an accountable instrument. After booking, deed files are matched,
investigations done and ' entered in the "A” Book. The Registrar of Titles signs the document and
eventually it is copied and dispatched. A document follows the procedure described here below for
its registration.

Documents that have been received from the stamp duty section which have duly been assessed,
payment made and franking done are presented at the central registry booking for registration. The
documents are accompanied with clearances (rent and rates), bank slips and valuation reports where
necessary. Booking forms (application for registration forms) are filled in quadruplicate with details of
the presenter, nature of documents and annexures. The first booking form (green in colour) has
revenue stamps affixed on it64. Different documents attract varying registration fees. All four forms
are stamped with the booking stamp which reflects day and date of booking. The booking officer will
assign a day book number to the documents which will be indicated on both the forms and the
conveyance instrument. The remaining three counterparts of the booking form (pink, white and
yellow) are for assigning to the officer, for dispatch with document and presenters copy respectively.
Presenter uses the yellow form to trace and collect document after registration or rejection.

After booking, documents are audited then matched with their deed files for those with titles and
forwarded to the Registry Superintendent for allocation. Matching entails listing down title numbers
on a ‘morning list’ then retrieving files from the strong room and merging the same with the booked
documents. Documents under Registration of Documents Act and Powers of Attorney are taken
straight to the RS for allocation as they do not have to be matched with deed files. New
leases/allocations and perpetual succession (trust) documents are also sent straight to the Registry
Superintendent for allocation to the Investigation Officers (land registration officers and assistant
land registrars). The Registry Superintendent then assigns documents to Investigation Officers in the
“A” book which is a register that shows status of documents from allocation to completion and
dispatch.

Investigation Officers work on the documents by checking whether all necessary annexures have
been attached, whether they are valid, whether payment receipts have been attached and whether
documents have been duly drawn, witnessed and executed by Advocates. Entries are either made or
documents rejected with full reasons for rejection indicated on the two booking forms (pink and
white). Making entries entails stamping the document with a wooden stamp (various documents have
their unique stamps) that has been inked on a violet ink pad. Details such as date, booking number,
volume number, entry number, folio number, file number and provision for signature are provided
for in the impression of the stamp.

64 Standard registration fee is Kenya Shillings Five Hundred Only

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Documents are then forwarded to the registrars for signature. The documents are either signed or
sent back to the Investigation Officer for further action. Documents that have entries and have been
signed are forwarded for copying, while those that have been rejected and signed are sent straight to
the Registry Superintendent for dispatch in the ‘A’ book. Rejected documents are then recorded in
the dispatch register and sent to the pigeon holes for eventual return/collection to the presenter.

After copying, documents are sent to the Registry Superintendent for sealing. Upon dispatch, sealed
copies are retained by the office while original and counterparts are sent back to the presenter. The
registry also retains the completion documents, but returns the payment slips to the presenter. The
presenter uses the yellow form to check status of the document from the “A” book counter then
collects the document from the dispatch counter if status reads dispatched. Rejected documents may
be resubmitted upon compliance with the reasons for rejections.

5.6.4.2 Challenges with Registration

It is notable that there are challenges at the registry enumerated as below.
a) Documents are booked manually making the process tedious and time consuming;
b) Documents are physically inspected by the Internal Auditors in their offices which is time
consuming;
c) The documents are manually matched with the deed files which are also retrieved manually and
which are at times unavailable due to misfiling.
d) The documents are manually entered into the “A” book and manually allocated to the
investigation officers thus time consuming.
e) The documents have to be photocopied after registration which, again, lengthens the time for
processing documents; and
f) The GLA volumes and Kalamazoo binders are torn and are in tatters making registration
impossible necessitating and reconstruction which is time consuming and prone to incorrect
entries.

5.6.4.3 Property Registration

One of the key objectives of digitization of land transactions is to enhance efficiency and in doing so,
contribute towards the ease of doing business in Kenya. As previously stated in this report, the
Ministry will achieve this through the implementation of a digital LIMS and by ensuring that the
relevant legal provisions are amended to facilitate digital transactions. In addition, it will be necessary
to re-engineer the various land related processes by eliminating the steps that will be rendered
obsolete by the amendment of laws and the processing of transactions in a digital format.
According to a study conducted by the World Bank and published in the report titled Doing Business
2019, and by way of example as shown in Figure 5.12, it is noted that it takes approximately 49 days
to complete registration of a transfer of land in Nairobi.

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 Figure 5.12: Current Property Registration Process in Nairobi

In our analysis, the introduction of digital LIMS and the elimination of unnecessary steps can reduce
the duration to register property to 14 days (as illustrated in Figure 5.13) and that the duration could
go even lower upon amendment of the relevant laws as discussed in Chapter 2.

Figure 5.13: Proposed Property Registration Process in Nairobi

5.7 Conclusions
The entire processes as outlined in this chapter depict a complex and highly involving sub-activities
straddling various levels of government and across departments with different approaches with some
linkages. The common denominator in all these activities and processes is land. The chapter has
demonstrated the roles and responsibilities of each actor in the current form and attempts to connect
the cycle of activities and linkages to the documentation process.

At the institutional level, there are the devolved and centralized functions. The most fundamental and
core ingredient is land data. The cadastre information is critical for both planning at the counties and
documentation at the national level. Planning at both levels of government provides guidance on sets
of interrelated decisions on land uses, linked to specific contingencies anticipated in the future. The
maintenance and distribution of this dynamic land data is the preserve of the Director of Surveys
office, which also maintain a national geodetic control network.

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An analysis of the survey workflows shows the number of steps and time that it takes to process and
authenticate surveys. From this, it is clear that, there is need for the development of a Cadastral
Workflow Management System that would allow Licensed Surveyors to submit their data in digital
format and to track their work remotely. This would aid a great deal in reducing the time it takes to
process the survey work and in so doing greatly contribute to the ease of doing business.

The workflows highlighted in this chapter clearly show the interplay between the various actors.
Further, they demonstrate that a seamless end-to-end processes requires reliable cadastre information
which ensures accountability of decision makers in safeguarding the interests of the community is
essential. Land registers on their part should be regularly updated to reflect the spatial dynamics and
related social and economic activities in order to have a complete land information management
system. An analysis of the processes show the need for process reengineering before embarking on
digitization so as to ensure that the digital processes are leaner and focused on the need to deliver
spatial information.

Our analysis has shown the lack of clear roles played by the National Land Commission and the
Ministry of Lands & Physical Planning on planning functions. Both the Ministry and NLC have fully
fledged planning departments i.e. Land Use Planning and Physical Planning departments respectively.
This is further complicated by a third department of Housing and Urban Development domiciled at
the Ministry of Transport, Infrastructure, Housing and Urban Development whose role is to lend
support on urban development to County Governments.

A glaring example of duplication is the publication by the Land Use Planning and Physical Planning
departments of parallel guidelines for the preparation of County Spatial Plans. To complicate this
further the NLC has a document guiding the process for the preparation of integrated urban land use
plans under the Urban Area and Cities Act. All these aspects create duplicities, which lead to
confusion, which must be addressed. There is a clear expectation that the framing and approval of
strategic policy remains pivotal for both national government and counties in their explicit planning
functions. The National Land Use Policy (Session Paper no 3 of 2009) and the National Spatial Plan
(2015-2045) have been prepared by Department of Physical Planning, which bear significant
contribution to county and inter-county interests.

There is urgent need to address these duplicities and eliminate any contradictions on the national
planning linkages. The national government planning synergies must translate into best practices to
individual counties or coalition of county governments – in concept and processes.

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 CHAPTER SIX

6 CONCLUSIONS & RECOMMENDATIONS

This Chapter presents conclusions while identifying quick wins or immediate action points and
recommendations.

6.1 Conclusions
Land registration is one of activities in the final stages of the land administration processes. For the
successful implementation of electronic land transaction, all the land management processes including
Surveying, Valuation, Physical Planning, Land Administration, Land Adjudication & Settlement etc.
should also be considered. The processes should be able to integrate seamlessly and be available to
both internal and external users. This will facilitate end-to-end land transactions and processes.

6.1.1 Developing a National ICT Strategy and Platform

In order for NLIMS to be successful, it should be founded on a National ICT strategy, which
provides for the objectives relating to the development of ICT infrastructure and implementation,
management and coordination of the various component of ICT.

Comparative studies have revealed that Estonia ranks among the most digitally advanced societies in
the world. For example X-Road is the backbone of e-Estonia as it allows the nation’s various public
and private sector e-Service databases to link up and function in harmony. Estonia’s e-solution
environment includes a full range of services for the general public, and since each service has its own
databases they all use X-Road. To ensure secure transfers, all outgoing data from X-Road is digitally
signed and encrypted, and all incoming data is authenticated and logged.

Originally X-Road was simply used to send queries to different databases. Now it has developed into
a tool that can also write to multiple databases, transmit large data sets and perform searches across
several databases simultaneously. X-Road was designed with growth in mind, so it can be scaled up as
new e-services and new platforms come online.

Today, X-Road is also implemented in Finland, Azerbaijan, Namibia and Faroe Islands. X-Road is
also the first data exchange platform in the world that allows data to be automatically exchanged
between countries. Since June 2017, automatic data exchange capability has been established between
Estonia and Finland. Our recommendation is that the Ministry of Information Communication and
Technology takes up the responsibility of developing a platform upon which other state departments
can rely for the implementation of their respective digital platforms.

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6.1.2 NLIMS Roadmap
It is notable that over the years a number of attempts have been made to develop a LIMS without
much success. A number of donors and development partners have been involved and continue to be
interested in helping MoLPP achieve a digital NLIMS. It is however notable that most of these
efforts are uncoordinated and often lead to a waste of time and resources. There is therefore the
urgent need for the MoLPP to develop a NLIMS roadmap. This road map should outline the plan to
reach short-term and long-term goals through the use of appropriate technology solutions. This
roadmap should provide development of policies to govern key information, which would help the
MoLPP make better decisions around technology investments and interventions by different donors,
development partners, County Governments and the National Land Commission.

6.1.3 Data Model

a) There is need for the Ministry to develop a data model to support the NLIMS;
b) The data model should include but not limited to ownership, spatial dimensions, encumbrances,
land use, tenure and category of land for all land to facilitate easier identification, processing and
access by relevant authorities.

6.1.4 System
a) At the minimum, there should be a separate database for the Land Registry, Cadastre, Physical
Planning, Land Valuation, Land Administration and Land Adjudication and Settlement which
copy information to a public information database (information gateway) to allow for public
access;
b) A great number of institutions are involved in LIMS having a centralized database65 would be
important so as to reduce instances of data duplication and therefore redundancies as the case is
today. However, the establishment of a one-stop-shop through a centralized database, while
desirable, is a monumental task. The opposition noted thus far is mainly because of the different
sectoral interests. Certain organizations fear that they may lose the power they wield if they share
or make available the data under their control. A Distributed Database66 architecture with several
nodes representing various stakeholders is one way to solve such a problem. Figure 6.1 depicts a
distributed database architecture, which could be adopted. Each node (Physical Planning, Land
Registry, Cadastral, Valuation, Land Administration and Land Adjudication) supports its own
maintenance activities and supplies data or information as represented in the data model. This
kind of arrangement helps to deal with the fear that having a digital land record system would in
essence declare certain actors irrelevant. Furthermore, the mistrust arising from handling of data
by multiple actors will be eliminated as each actor will be responsible for the authenticity and
security of the data that they create.

65 A centralized database refers to a database in which all data resides on one computer at a single location. This data can
then be accessed by users via DBMS.
66 A distributed database is defined as a logically interrelated collection of shared data, physically distributed over a

computer network (Connolly and Begg, 2005: 731).

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 Figure 6.1: Proposed Distributed Database Architecture for the NLIMS

The distributed database architecture in addition, gives weight to the NSDI concept and the view
expressed in the Cadastre 2034 model, that is, the categorization of data into layers and management
by the most capable organization.

6.1.5 Legal Framework

The entrenchment of a digital Land Information Management cannot exist in isolation without the
necessary legal framework. The switch to this system should therefore be preceded by an
accommodative legal environment. This therefore requires review of current legal framework so as to
provide for the intended changes. The current legal framework either do not contain provisions
permitting electronic transactions, or have provisions, which impede the switch to digital Land
Information Management System. In view of the foregoing, this Taskforce has reviewed the land
sector statutes and related laws and has consequently proposed amendments as per the schedule in
Chapter 2.

6.1.6 Infrastructure
a) There is need to have necessary capacity (software, hardware, human resource) at the land offices
(MoLPP, NLC and Counties) so as to facilitate the NLIMS. Notably the hardware and software
will need regular maintenance, upgrades and replacement as necessary so as to ensure that the
system functions optimally. This implies that there should be in place a maintenance culture to
ensure that the software and hardware are up to date and running at all times;
b) Access to reliable internet/connectivity is crucial for the successful implementation of a digital
NLIMS. Redundant links that ensure near 100 percent availability with necessary Service Level

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 Agreements (SLA) will need to be put in place. Efforts must also be made to ensure internet and
electricity availability across the country to ensure that users can make use of the NLIMS.
c) The various regulatory bodies (i.e. Land Surveyors Board, Valuers Registration Board, Planners
Registration Board, Law Society of Kenya etc.) need to acquire cryptographic infrastructure
(public key infrastructure) to enable them to manage the professionals under their jurisdiction.

6.1.7 System Rollout

There is need for piloting of the NLIMS before full-scale deployment so as to ensure that teething
problems are addressed before actual rollout is done. The pilot phase would allow for testing and
improvement of the user experience. During the pilot phase, it would be necessary to run both
manual and digital processes, however at the time of actual roll out there would be need for some
compulsion to ensure that items that can be handled digitally are handled digitally with no recourse to
manual systems.

It is notable that in most jurisdictions where e-conveyancing has been rolled out, the initial step was
always to convert manual records into digital records67. The functionality to allow e-conveyancing has
then been introduced progressively over a period of years. For example in Victoria in Australia, there
are currently 12 major transaction types capable of being lodged electronically. These transaction
types account for more than 90 percent by volume of all transactions lodged. The remaining
transaction types (approx. 140 in number) will be progressively introduced during the first half of
2019.

6.1.8 Financing of the System

The development of a digital NLIMS incorporating all the land in the country into one system is
bound to have substantial financial demands. These demands would range from investment in the
education and training of personnel, equipment purchase and the development of the associated ICT
infrastructure (internet, software, hardware and database development). The question then arises as to
whether Kenya is in a position to finance such a development. An analysis of the public participation
shows that Kenyans are supportive of a digital NLIMS. We note that there are millions of land
records, the question then changes to whether Kenya can afford not to institute a digital NLIMS.
There is need for the cultivation of a land information market through which revenue can be realised
from the sale of information products to maintain the NLIMS. Alternatively, efforts should be made
towards:

67
The digitizing of paper records in Ontario, Canada lasted almost two decades i.e. from 1990 to 2010. Electronic
transactions were launched in 1999 in some Registry Offices. Although the 1990 Land Registration Reform Act
authorized the minister responsible for land matters to issue Regulations making electronic registration mandatory, this
was implemented gradually in order to give lawyers and conveyancers time to adjust. Once a Registry Office’s records
were almost fully converted, the minister filed a Regulation making electronic registration optional. After a transition
period (approximately one year initially), a second Regulation would be filed making electronic registration mandatory in
that specific Registry Office. The transition period was reduced gradually to approximately two months by 2010.

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 a) Public Private Partnerships;
b) Internal funding as a flagship project through the national budgetary process as well as
appropriation in aid from revenue generated from services;
c) External funding from donors and development partners;
d) Funding supplemented by revenue from appropriation-in-aid from the NLIMS services; and
e) A determined percentage of the revenue generated from the fees could be used for system
sustainability and service enhancement.

6.1.9 Valuation
Currently registrable instruments must be stamped or franked as proof of payment of stamp duty.
There is need to make this process fully digital so as to reduce the amount of time it takes. There is
need to do away with franking since safeguards have been provided via proof of online payment.

While Private Valuers have been allowed to carry out valuation for stamp duty, it is still not clear on
how issues such as payment of fees and accountability will be handled. There is need to provide
guidelines on how the same should be actualized.

It is notable that a lot of properties are not on the valuation roll, a fact that continues to deny County
Governments critical revenue in terms of property taxes. There is need to consider the deployment of
Computer Assisted Mass Valuation Systems (CAMA68). The outcome of CAMA models would be a
valuation roll and property taxation map. There is also need for comprehensive development of
valuation function databases that are readily available to support registration processes (land rates;
stamp duty; land acquisition and compensation; new grants; land rent; renewal of leases; charges and
mortgages etc.)

6.1.10 Implementation of Plans and Development Management

Spatial planning has consequences not just for plan making but for implementation too. Most forms
of development are subject to the prior approved spatial plans and encompass an end-to-end
development process of individual land parcel approval, development and monitoring of outcomes.
As a natural resource and factor of production, land resonates powerfully socially and economically
with the community. Land owners have to engage a series of professionals who have to navigate the
institutional processes. The process are often lengthy cumbersome and bureaucratic and have evolved
over the years creating a cycle of relationships that require a comprehensive, coordinated and
improved land governance.

This has heralded the concept of managing development at the county level requiring focused
governance reforms at the county level and manpower professionalization. A development team

68 CAMA is the systematic appraisals of a group of properties as of a given date using standardized procedures and
statistical testing.

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approach with high levels of trust and involving all the enforcement agencies but remembering the
county planning regulatory function.

Ideally, a County Directorate of Planning should be the hub or the “one-stop shop” for citizens in
ease of doing their business on planning and land transactions. These directorates should be manned
by qualified and competent personnel. There is urgency to address the sharing of information during
the approval process and development management processes to ensure all material considerations
are captured. The following enforcement and compliance agencies should play a role in the
determination of the outcomes:
a) Land Control Boards in the land development process (subdivisions, change of user etc.);
b) National and County government departments touching on land and development;
c) National Government Agencies (National Environmental Management Authority, – NEMA;
Water Resources Management Authority, – WRMA; Kenya National Highways Authority, –
KeNHA; Kenya Rural Roads Authority, – KeRRA; Kenya Urban Roads Authority, – KURA;
and Kenya Electricity Transmission Company Ltd. - KETRACO);
d) Utility companies (Kenya Power, Water Supply, Sewerage Reticulation); and
e) Urban/Municipal Boards.

6.1.11 Country wide mapping and geo-referencing

In order for the NLIMS to succeed there is need to ensure that all land parcels have the necessary
coordinates to enable all such records to be digitized. Notably areas under fixed boundary do not
have a problem however; large parts of the country are under general boundaries. The Director of
Surveys should therefore develop a comprehensive programme for systematic geo-referencing of
land, including co-ordination of setting up of Continuous Operating Reference Systems (CORS) that
would speed up data capture in the field thus making it easier to digitize the land records. This means
that Survey of Kenya should be adequately resourced to enable them carry out this task that requires
country wide mapping as well as a budget to build and maintain the CORS. Country wide mapping
can be undertaken using a mix of aerial imagery for the urban areas and high resolution satellite
imagery for the rural areas. In addition, there is need for the government to undertake mapping at
defined intervals say every 5 years or 10 years. There is also need for the Director of Survey to come
up with a homogeneous datum and coordinate system that would allow for all the maps to sit on one
platform away from the current status where we have numerous datum and coordinate systems in use
making it difficult to have one system for mapping.

In addition, the Director of Surveys should develop a standard for the exchange of land parcel data
electronically. This standard shall enable surveyors to submit or retrieve complete data including
approvals and digital signatures in one job file. Examples include the New Zealand LINZ data format
based on the LANDXML standard or Finland’s InfraModel also based on LandXML as well as SOSI,
the Norwegian Format. The standard should be developed in collaboration with the local national

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standards body and international partners such as Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) and
International Federation of Surveyors (FIG).

6.1.12 Electronic Signatures

Executing and authenticating certain documents require that they be signed. When such documents
are in electronic form, it behooves that they be signed electronically by way of an electronic signature.

Section 2 of the Kenya Information and Communications Act (KICA) defines the terms “electronic
signature” and “advanced electronic signature” the latter being an advanced version of the former.
Electronic signature is therefore data in electronic form affixed to or logically associated with other
electronic data, which may be used to identify the signatory in relation to the data message and to
indicate the signatory’s approval of the information contained in the data message.

Whereas, advanced electronic signature, is an electronic signature, which meets all the following
requirements:
(a) It is uniquely linked to the signatory;
(b) It is capable of identifying the signatory;
(c) It is created using means that the signatory can maintain under his sole control; and
(d) It is linked to the data to which it relates in such a manner that any subsequent change to the
data is detectable.

Deliberately so, Section 83P provides that where any law provides that information or any other
matter shall be authenticated by affixing a signature or that any document shall be signed or bear the
signature of any person, then, notwithstanding anything contained in that law, such requirement shall
be deemed to have been satisfied if such information is authenticated by means of an advanced
electronic signature affixed in such manner as may be prescribed by the Minister.
From the attributes of the advanced signature, it is evident that the same is more secure as far as
authenticating documents that by law require to be signed hence official and accepted method of
authenticating documents. Land documents that require signing and authentication will therefore be
executed by way of advanced electronic signature as opposed to the electronic signature, which is of a
simpler version.

6.2 Quick Wins/Immediate Action Points

The following are seen as quick wins or immediate action points:
a) Amend existing laws as per Chapter 2 through an omnibus bill to save time required to amend
each law on its own;
b) Rollout digital cadastral surveys by developing an appropriate infrastructure that can capture and
store cadastral survey data for onward transmission to the registry - this can be achieved through
regulation 26(4) of the Survey Act.

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c) Rollout NLIMS using cadastral data that has been done using fixed boundary surveys and
integrate areas under general boundaries over time through a geo-referencing program as
provided for under LRA (2012);
d) The Department of Land Administration should finalize on the scanning and digitization of
correspondence files and avail the same to NLIMS;
e) Facilitate electronic lodgment of documents by digitizing all forms provided under the Land
Registration (General) Regulations, 2017;
1. The user shall then:
i. Populate the online form(s) and attach photos (if required) and other relevant documents;
ii. Print the form, execute and have it attested before an Advocate;
iii. Scan and upload the form(s) to the system;
iv. Once the registrar receives the electronic document, the system will send notification to the
applicant indicating the date and time when it was received.
v. The electronic should then be forwarded for valuation (if required) and once this is done
the user should receive an acknowledgment message from the Director of Valuation;
vi. On completion of Valuation the user should proceed to assess and pay duty and other fees
electronically before registration;
vii. For documents that cannot be lodged electronically e.g. certificates of title, which the
Registrar requires the production of the original, the same should be lodged manually.
viii. The system should then notify the user upon successful registration or otherwise.
2. Documents bearing original signatures and seals must be retained by the approved
person/user for a specified period to be prescribed by the Registrar; and
3. The provisions of Section 34 of the Advocates Act shall apply to the lodgment of documents.
f) Archive records: We do not have to immediately scan all records into the system, we can archive
and digitize progressively and on a need basis. Some documents may not be relevant currently but
should be stored in such a way that they can be retrieved easily. All old records should be well
kept for archiving and referencing while new records should be captured, stored and managed on
a digital platform.
g) Establish a Public Key Infrastructure for all concerned Ministry, NLC and County staff as well as
the other professionals that need to use the NLIMS. Each of the actors should be issued with a
digital certificate with authorisation from their respective statutory registration board.

6.3 Recommendations
The following recommendations from the Taskforce are drawn from the situational study and
conclusion drawn therefrom.

6.3.1 Integration and Institutional Roles

a) There is need to clearly define the roles of the MoLPP, NLC, County Government and the
National Government Agencies in land transactions so as to clarify mandates and operational
roles.

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b) There should be separate system modules for the Land Registry, Cadastre, Physical Planning,
Valuation, Land Administration and Land Adjudication & Settlement which copy information to
a public information database;
c) It should be responsibility of respective agencies generating data to have custody and protect
their data i.e. the intellectual property remains with developers or producers in this regard it is
necessary for the different agencies to develop interoperable systems.
d) There is need to provide relevant linkages/visibility between NLIMS and other government
agency systems such as (iTax – KRA and IPRS) this would go a long way in enriching and
reducing turnaround times in land transactions. In addition, the integration of the various systems
will enhance efficiency, transparency, accountability and avoid interagency conflicts.
e) To enable integration and interoperability with other systems the NLIMS should use
interoperable platforms that provide clear forward and backward linkages with other relevant
systems at the County and the National level (land survey, land adjudication, and land registration
services) as well as with Banks, under the guidance of relevant laws, policies and regulations.
f) The Ministry in collaboration with the NLC and County Governments should coordinate the
integration of land information systems at all levels including linkage to the Kenya National
Spatial Data Infrastructure (KNSDI);
g) KNSDI should define the data interchange formats and protocols.

6.3.2 System Development

a) The electronic system should be reliable, secure, transparent, sustainable and accessible
b) There is need to develop a system that gives access to users according to defined hierarchy of
access rights-the following categories of persons may have user access rights.
(i) Various agencies that have user rights
(ii) Professionals who are members of a regulated professional organization involved in
land management processes e.g. Surveyors, Advocates, Physical Planners, Valuers, and
Estate Agents etc.
(iii) Registered owners/proprietors
c) Access to the system should be through biometrics, National ID, Alien ID, Military ID, and
certificate of incorporation in case of corporate entities and business registration number for
businesses that are not incorporated; Plus a Personal Identification Number (PIN). As a
minimum, the system should implement two factor authentication (e.g. password plus one time
password) to ensure that access is still restricted incase of loss of password;
d) The system should maintain a comprehensive audit trail of all processes capable of being
retrieved by authorized officers.
e) System offences including but not limited to: unauthorized access; unauthorized interference;
unauthorized interception; unauthorized disclosure of password or access code; cyber-espionage;
computer forgery; computer fraud; identity theft and impersonation; phising; and fraudulent use

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 of electronic data will be penalized in accordance with the provisions of the Computer Misuse
and Cyber Crimes Act;
f) The system should have a robust system security commensurate with sensitivity of land
registration information e.g. data security will need to employ encryption and access should have
rigorous user access authentication;

a) There is need to ensure that the system has enough capacity to handle the large number of
transactions to avoid stagnation and losses;
b) The system design should take a distributed but integrated approach i.e. there should be a
uniform way of accessing the system even with the servers at different locations;
c) The system should be available nationwide and not experience any downtime arising from
breakdown of some components or crash. It should be able to recover itself using backup;
d) The system should be developed using open and interoperable standards;
e) The system should be scalable and capable of being upgraded;
f) System development should adopt a simple and phased approach (Agile approach) as opposed to
fixed price comprehensive system. As may be dictated by necessity the system may use open
source or commercial off the shelf software;
g) The NLIMS should operate an electronic mail system able to identify users by codes or
pseudonyms, or identifier addressees from a distribution list or directory and should retain the
information to ensure accurate identification of the sender and addressee(s) of messages that are
in the records;
h) While transmitting the data, the system should be able to retain and preserve specific information
for each electronic mail message including sender details, date, message metadata, attachment to
message and any necessary data for the purpose of providing context of the record; and
i) The need to have a user manual, demos and tutorials in place for better user experience.

a) The digital platform will need to be protected from emerging trends in cyber-crimes and hacking
by design and practice in form of elaborate Intrusion Prevention and Detection Systems. As such
there will be need to develop an information security policy. Security of the system will ensure
integrity and public trust.
b) Deliberate efforts will need to be made to ensure integrity and confidentiality of personal data
throughout the land management cycle. This should be done in full compliance to the Data
Protection Bill, which ought to be passed into law.
c) To ensure security of the records there is need for in built checks and verifications of the
documents lodged into the system.
d) Develop system with security features that guard against internal and external threats. The system
must implement intrusion detection systems as well as extrusion detection and management.

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e) The system should have security features that minimize unauthorized addition, modification,
alteration, erasure, or deletion of data, records, and documents.
f) There is need to explore the use of blockchain or any emerging tested technology to protect the
NLIMS data.

a) The system should guarantee 99.9 percent availability with no or minimal down time;
b) The system should use available up-to date hardware and software technologies to ensure
nationwide availability;
c) The system should have continuous backup.
d) The system should have a business continuity plan that ensures the system continues to run even
if some components are completely or temporarily broken down. In the event whole system
crashes, it should be capable of recovering itself using backup hardware and data with fault
tolerance approaches.

a) System upgrade shall be done to address prevailing technological changes, vulnerabilities and
problems that might occur in an existing system component;
b) Updates shall be performed based on the review of posted security flaws or patches for each type
of update applicable to the computer system;
c) The system should be scalable and allow future changes or improvements; All changes made to
the system should be documented to keep track of updates made;
d) All updates and upgrades made to the system and server should be performed by authorized
system administrator; computing infrastructure supporting the system should be upgraded as
required.

a) Piloting of NLIMS before full-scale deployment is proposed to ensure teething problems are
addressed. As such the manual system should not be completely and immediately phased out. It
ought to run concurrently with the digital system during the pilot study. However once the digital
system is rolled out, the manual processes should stop.
b) It is recommended that the NLIMS adopts a Distributed Database Management System
(DDBMS) within the confines of a National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI. In this way, the
organizations involved in the NLIMS maintain ownership of their data and avoid data duplication
and redundancy.
c) It is further recommended that the NLIMS data and information be presented to the user
through a unified interface.

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The envisaged system should incorporate a deliberate effort (in the form of an agreement or digital
certification) to enforce professional responsibility and liability for all actors in land transactions with
close cross-referencing with professional bodies on the status and professional standing. This effort is
informed by the need to mitigate errors due to omission or commission, fraud etc.

6.3.3 Supporting Legal Framework

There is need to cultivate a stable policy and legal framework upon which a stable NLIMS shall be
premised. To achieve this, the following should be done:
a) Review the National Land Policy so as to provide a better road map for a digital NLIMS;
b) Finalize on the KNSDI policy so as to provide clear guidelines on data sharing and data
custodianship; and
c) Amend the land laws as per the schedule provided in chapter 2 of this report.

6.3.4 Survey and Mapping

a) There is need of reorganizing the records and workflows at Survey of Kenya as well as the field
stations so as to ensure that the data is converted to digital data in order to improve on data
storage, access and cross referencing of records;
b) There is need to develop a programme for systematic or sporadic mapping of the country and to
ensure that this can be done at regular interval say every 5 years;
c) There is need to fast track the geo-referencing of the general boundary maps so as to ensure all
land parcels can have defined coordinate systems;
d) There is need to develop and use one coordinate system and datum across the country to ensure
that all the maps can be put in one platform; and
e) There is need for the densification of the CORS network so as to reinforce real time digital
positioning in the field through the use of GNSS technology.

6.3.5 Change Management

a) The success of the electronic system will be hinged on capacity building and sensitization of both
the operators and end-users. Adequate training will therefore by necessary before and after
deployment of the digital LIMS.
b) There will be need to carry out capacity building for the professionals, public servants and
relevant stakeholders to ensure seamless and smooth operations, borrowing from most of the
case studies.

a) There ought to be mass civic education on the guidelines and the online platform. Members of
the public and stakeholders need to be sensitized on what is digitization, what documents would

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 be lodged and registered in the electronic form, how to transact electronically among others.
Hence an information and user manual ought to be developed
b) The civic education exercise ought to be conducted in a simplified format to enable the general
public understand and easily comprehend electronic conveyancing and the system.

6.3.6 System Financing

There is need for the MoLPP to consider the following options for funding the system development:
a) Public Private Partnerships,
b) Internal funding as a flagship project through the national budgetary process as well as
appropriation in aid from revenue generated from services.
c) External funding from donors and development partners
d) Funding supplemented by revenue from appropriation-in-aid from the NLIMS services.

6.3.7 Benchmarking
In proposing guidelines for electronic conveyancing, case studies from other jurisdictions that have
embraced and implemented electronic conveyancing such as Netherlands, United Kingdom, Estonia,
New Zealand, Singapore and Canada among others, would provide useful insights. There is need for
the Ministry to undertake benchmarking studies with clear queries formulated so as to ensure answers
that would be important for the development of the NLIMS.

6.3.8 Proposed Road Map

The system development should adopt a phased approach with four main stages as follows:
Stage 1: Situational Analysis
a) Analyse the land transactions and processes in terms of actors, use cases, workflows,
infrastructure, organisational structure and human resource capacity;
b) Define roles as well as responsibilities to avoid conflicts and duplication;
c) Identify areas of integration for the processes;
d) Re-engineer the processes, where necessary, and align the legal framework to fit to the re-
engineered processes; and
e) Undertake system scoping and rationalisation of resources so as to know what exists
(hardware, software, human resource) and then rationalise existing resources so as to leverage
what has been done in the past.

Stage 2: Database Development

a) Develop a data model that includes but not limited to: ownership information; encumbrances;
tenure; spatial dimensions; land use; and land category;
b) Develop a digital cadastral database i.e. converting all manual land parcel data to digital
records;
c) Digitise registry documents as necessary;
d) Connect and integrate to relevant databases such as IPRS;

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 e) Test the system;
f) Conduct end user and system administration training
g) Pilot the system; and
h) Rollout the system.
i) System monitoring and evaluation

Stage 3A: Development of a Digital Cadastral Workflow System

a) Develop a Digital Cadastral Workflow System;
b) Test the system;
c) Conduct end user and system administration training
d) Pilot the system; and
e) Rollout the system by allowing surveyors to submit digital data rather than paper/PDF based
survey plans (i.e. ePlans).
f) System monitoring and evaluation

Stage 3B: Development of an Electronic Development Application Management and

Permitting System
a) Develop an Electronic Development Application Management and Permitting System at each
County;
b) Test the system;
c) Conduct end user and system administration training
d) Pilot the system; and
e) Rollout the system by allowing Registered Physical Planners, Architects and Engineers to
submit digital development application and track the status of their work.
f) System monitoring and evaluation

Stage 3C: Development of a Digital Land Valuation and Revenue Collection Module
a) Develop a Digital Land Valuation and Revenue Collection Module
b) Test the system;
c) Conduct end user and system administration training
d) Pilot the system; and
e) Rollout the system by allowing Registered Valuers to submit valuation online and track the
status of their work.
f) System monitoring and evaluation

Stage 4: Development of a National e-Conveyancing System69

a) Identify all the land conveyancing processes;
b) Analyse and re-engineer the conveyancing processes where necessary;
c) Prioritise and develop e-conveyancing modules;

69 Includes land administration and registration.

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 d) Test the system; and
e) Conduct end user and system administration training
f) Pilot the system;
g) Rollout the system by allowing for transfer of property via an online platform; and
h) System monitoring and evaluation.
Figure 6.2: Proposed Roadmap

6.3.9 Guidelines
The Taskforce has developed draft guidelines that would facilitate electronic transactions and
conveyancing. However, the application of the guidelines would in some instances require that the
application be preceded by the amendment of legislation as indicated in Chapter Two of this report.

The guidelines relating to the following matters have been forwarded in advance under a separate
report outline:
a) the setting up of an electronic communications system under the Chief Land Registrar's
management and control, for maintaining the register in an electronic form and for enabling
the carrying out of transactions under the Land Registration Act which are capable of being
effected electronically;
b) the access to the public of information maintained electronically;
c) the creation of electronic documents and instruments;
d) the recording or registration of electronic documents in the register;
e) the electronic generation and communication of applications for registration in the register;
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 f) the provision for a system of electronic payments in relation to transactions involving
payment of fees; and
g) other ancillary matters necessary for improving the land registration system and service
delivery generally.
However, the application of some of these guidelines may commence based on the existing system
that has been developed by the Ministry.

Further, during the development of the guidelines, it was considered necessary to also develop
guidelines for Valuation, Physical Planning, Surveying, Land Administration and Land Adjudication
and Settlement in order to facilitate those processes relating to land. In this regards, the Taskforce
developed draft guidelines for the processes that can be developed further after the necessary
amendments in the respective laws relating to valuation, surveying, physical planning and Land
Adjudication. These draft guidelines have been annexed as Annex 10. These guidelines are necessary
if we are to develop a resilient NLIMS that offers end-to-end seamless operations for the Ministry
and other stakeholders such as NLC and the counties.

6.3.10 Establishment of a Multi-Stakeholder Standing Committee on NLIMS

There is need for the establishment of a multi-stakeholder standing committee comprising of major
stakeholders (Ministry, NLC, Counties and Professional Bodies). The committee should meet
regularly during the transition from manual to digital LIMS until full functionality is achieved. The
committee would also be necessary for system improvement in light of a dynamic environment
particularly technological changes and policy regimes among others. In addition, the committee will
need to conduct regular reviews of the system so as to ensure continuous improvement in response
to challenges, dynamics and structural changes. This proposed committee can be made up of: an
Executive Committee, Steering Committee and Technical Working Groups.

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 REFERENCES
A report on the automation of all the Ministry’s Lands records, a reference document towards
the establishment of a GIS based NLIMS, Ministerial Taskforce on the Automation of the Ministry’s
of Land Records, August, 2008.
Connolly, T. M. and Begg, C. E. (2005): Database Systems, A practical Approach to Design,
Implementation and Management, 4th Edition, Addison-Wesley.
Dale, P. F. and McLaughlin, J. D. (1999): Land Administration, Oxford University Press.
De Soto, H. (2000): The Mystery of the Capital: Why Capitalism Triumphs in the West and Fails
Everywhere, Basic Books, New York, USA.
Government of Kenya (1977a): The Land Adjudication Act (CAP 284) of the Laws of Kenya,
Government Press, Nairobi, Kenya.
Government of Kenya (1977b): The Land Consolidation Act (CAP 283) of the Laws of Kenya,
Government Press, Nairobi, Kenya.
Government of Kenya (1984b): The Sectional Properties Act, 1987, Government Press, Nairobi,
Kenya.
Government of Kenya (1984b): The Valuation for Rating Act (CAP 266) of the Laws of Kenya,
Government Press, Nairobi, Kenya.
Government of Kenya (1986): The Rating Act (CAP 267) of the Laws of Kenya, Government Press,
Nairobi, Kenya.
Government of Kenya (1989b): The Land Control Act (CAP 302) of the Laws of Kenya,
Government Press, Nairobi, Kenya.
Government of Kenya (1989c): The Survey Act (CAP 299) of the Laws of Kenya, Government
Press, Nairobi, Kenya.
Government of Kenya (1996): The Physical Planning Act (CAP 286) of the Laws of Kenya,
Government Press, Nairobi, Kenya.
Government of Kenya: The Access to Information Act, 2016, Government Press, Nairobi, Kenya.
Government of Kenya: The Advocates Act, (CAP 16) of the Laws of Kenya, Government Press,
Nairobi, Kenya.
Government of Kenya: The County Government Act, 2012, Government Press, Nairobi, Kenya.
Government of Kenya: The Registration of Documents Act (CAP 285) of the Laws of Kenya,
Government Press, Nairobi, Kenya.
Government of Kenya: The Urban Areas and Cities Act No. 13 of 2011 (Revised 2016),
Government Press, Nairobi, Kenya.
Government of the Republic of Kenya (2010): The Constitution of Kenya, Government Press,
Nairobi, Kenya.
Government of the Republic of Kenya (2018): Computer Misuse and Cyber Crimes Act, 2018,
Government Press, Nairobi, Kenya.
Government of the Republic of Kenya: Evidence Act, (CAP 80) of the Laws of Kenya,
Government Press, Nairobi, Kenya.
Government of the Republic of Kenya: Kenya Information Community Act, 2012, Government
Press, Nairobi, Kenya.
Government of the Republic of Kenya: Law of Contract Act (CAP 23) of the Laws of Kenya,
Government Press, Nairobi, Kenya.

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Government of the Republic of Kenya: National Land Commission Act, 2012, Government Press,
Nairobi, Kenya.
Government of the Republic of Kenya: Stamp Duty Act, (CAP 480) of the Laws of Kenya,
Government Press, Nairobi, Kenya.
Government of the Republic of Kenya: The Community Land Act, 2016, Government Press,
Nairobi, Kenya.
Government of the Republic of Kenya: The Land Act, 2012, Government Press, Nairobi, Kenya.
Government of the Republic of Kenya: The Land Registration Act, 2012, Government Press,
Nairobi, Kenya.
Lemmen, C., Van Der Molen, P., Van Oosterom, P., Ploeger, H., Quack, W., Stoter, J. and
Zevenbergen, J. (2003): A Modular Standard for the Cadastral Domain. Paper presented at ‘The
Third ISDE Congress’, Czech Republic, September, 2003.
Lemmen, C., Van Oosterom, P., Zevenbergen, J., Quak, W. and Van Der Molen, P. (2005):
Further Progress in the Development of the Core Cadastral Domain Model. Paper presented at ‘The
FIG Working Week 2005 and GSDI-8’, Cairo, Egypt, April 16th – 21st, 2005.
LIMS Implementation Development Plan (2008 – 2010), Kenya Land Reform Sector
Programme, national Land Reform Secretariat
National Land Policy (NLP) (2009): Government Press, Nairobi, Kenya.
National Land Use Policy, Government Press, Nairobi, Kenya.
National Spatial Plan, Government Press, Nairobi, Kenya.
Onalo, P. L. (1986): Land Law and Conveyancing in Kenya, Heinemann Publications, Nairobi,
Kenya.
Progress Report (April – June 2012), Project of Improving Land Administration in Kenya
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 ANNEX
Annex 1: Questionnaire

Republic of Kenya
TASKFORCE ON ELECTRONIC LAND TRANSACTIONS, REGISTRATION, CONVEYANCING
AND OTHER RELATED ACTIVITIES UNDER THE LAND REGISTRATION ACT, 2012 THE LAND
ACT, 2012 AND THE COMMUNITY LAND ACT, 2016.
Introduction
The Cabinet Secretary, Ministry of Lands and Physical Planning appointed the Taskforce on Electronic Land
Transactions, Registration, Conveyancing and other related activities under the Land Registration Act, 2012
the Land Act 2012 and the Community Land Act, 2016 vide Gazette Notice No. 7859 of 3rd August 2018.
The Taskforce is mandated to study and review the Land Registration Act, 2012 and the Land Registration
(General) Regulations 2017 and land sector related laws with a view to formulate guidelines for electronic
registration transactions and conveyancing systems and submit draft guidelines on the same within two
months. The Taskforce is benchmarking with countries that have implemented Land Information System to
assist it come with a road map that will guide on developing integrated solution for Kenya which is cadaster
based. In line with this, we are requesting you kindly to respond to the following questions that would assist us
on designing Land Information System:

Questionnaire
1. Is the management of the Land Information System in your country centralized or distributed i.e. do you
have separate databases say for the registry and the cadastre?
2. Is the Land Information System linked to a payment collection system?
3. Is the Land Information System linked to the banks or the revenue authority?
4. Is there an Electronic Document Management System in place?
5. How is the system accessed and by whom and to what extent?
6. Does the system integrate manual processes or is it fully digital?
a. How do you deal with attestations
b. How do you deal with charges?
c. Do you maintain separate manual records?
d. What records are maintained as manual?
7. Does the system allow for e-conveyancing?
a. Is e-conveyancing restricted to Lawyers?
b. What Laws have been amended to facilitate digital land transactions or e-conveyancing?
8. How was the Land Information System rolled out? For example, was it phased out or was it rolled out at
once?
9. Do you have in place digital Title Deeds?
10. Do you frank or emboss documents as proof of payment?
a. Does your system allow for e-franking?
11. How long has it taken to develop the Land Information System?
Thank you for taking your time.

Yours sincerely,
Eric Nyadimo, MISK
Chairman, Digitization Taskforce

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Annex 2: Persons Consulted

New Zealand
Steve Russell
Senior Landonline Application Specialist
Property Rights
E [email protected] | DDI 04 498 3823 | M 027 661 6640
Wellington Office, Level 7, Radio New Zealand House, 155 The Terrace
PO Box 5501, Wellington 6145, New Zealand | T 04 460 0110
W www.linz.govt.nz |data.linz.govt.nz

Australia
Victoria
Craig Sandy, Surveyor-General of Victoria
Chair, Surveyors Registration Board of Victoria
Registrar of Geographic Names
Surveyor-General Victoria
Land Use Victoria | Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning
2 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne, Victoria 3000
T: 03 919 40284 | M: 0418 387 183 | E: [email protected]

Richard Jefferson,
Executive Director - Land Registry Services
Land Use Victoria | Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning
2 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne, Victoria 3000
T: 03 919 40656 | M: 0436 696380 | E: [email protected]

Queensland
Dr Russell Priebbenow
Director of Surveys
Survey Integration, Land and Spatial Information
Department of Natural Resources, Mines and Energy
P: +61 7 3330 4779 (VOIP 24779) M: 0417 615 965
E: [email protected]
A: Level 17, 275 George St, Brisbane | GPO Box 2454, Brisbane QLD 4001
W: www.dnrme.qld.gov.au

Netherlands
M.H. (Martien) Tomberg
Region Manager Kadaster International
E: [email protected]
T: +31 881835178
M: +31 651215991

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Switzerland

Dr. Daniel Steudler, Licensed Cadastral Land Surveyor

Chair of EuroGeographics-CLRKEN
Swiss Delegate to FIG-Commission 7
Swiss Federal Office of Topography swisstopo
Geodesy and Federal Directorate for Cadastral Surveying
Seftigenstrasse 264, CH-3084 Wabern, SWITZERLAND
Tel. +41 58 464 54 82
Mailto:[email protected]
www.swisstopo.ch / www.cadastre.ch

Canada
Ontario
Martin Baya, OLS, OLIP |
Geomatics Section | Engineering Office| West Region | Ministry of Transportation
T: 519-873-4530 | F: 519-873-4403 | [email protected]

Her Majesty’s Land Registry for England and Wales

Victoria Abbott
Head of Stakeholders and International Co-ordination
Office of the Chief Land Registrar
Land Registry Head Office
Trafalgar House, 1 Bedford Park, Croydon CR0 2AQ
United Kingdom
Mob: +44(0)7920 814 085
E-mail : [email protected]

Marion Depaty
Policy Officer (Stakeholder and International)
Office of the Chief Land Registrar
Trafalgar House, 1 Bedford Park, Croydon CR0 2AQ
Telephone: 0300 006 3827

Graham Farrant
Chief Executive Officer
HM Land Registry for England and Wales
Trafalgar House, 1 Bedford Park, Croydon CR0 2AQ
United Kingdom
Mob: +44(0)7920 814 085
E-mail : [email protected]

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Annex 3: Systems Security
The introduction of technologies and systems aimed at improving the process of conveyancing is
crucial for both clients and the property industry. E-conveyancing services offer unrivalled efficiency
compared with traditional conveyancing practices. While there have been some teething problems, e-
conveyancing is a positive step for the future of conveyancing

Security is one of the key requirements for all the stages of the conveyancing and registration
processes. This includes physical, logical and procedural security measures, as well as the security of
e-documents or data. Data stored by the component services must be protected against loss,
corruption and access by unauthorized personnel. The e-Conveyancing service must gain the
confidence and trust of users by strict adherence to an appropriate level of security.

It must be capable of achieving security accreditation through the production of, and demonstrable
adherence to, an appropriate accreditation document set that details the risks and countermeasures to
be taken. The e-Conveyancing service must strike a balance between security, usability and cost.
Access must not be irksome or onerous, but equally security must not be compromised. However,
security must not be cumbersome such that it reduces usability and scalability.

Levels of System Security

There are five major level of security that must be implemented to safe guard the digitized and
automated environment. The current situation at the ministry may require update including all levels
of security control as follows:
(i) Administrative or procedural controls - consisting of approved written policies,
procedures, standards and guidelines regarding information access, responsibility for editing
and maintenance, responsibility for data back-up, maintenance of registers, use of personal
devices in work environment etc.
(ii) Technical or logical controls – the use of software and data to monitor and control access
to information and computing systems including passwords, network and host based
firewalls, network intrusion detection systems, access control lists, and data encryption etc.
(iii) Data access controls -include clear and strictly enforced procedures of identification,
authentication and authorisation of the access to data including different levels of access
(view, copy and print, editing) to different types of the data and different users;
(iv) Data integrity controls -procedures and technical system features to ensure that changes to
the data are executed only by authorized personnel or processes, based on proper

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 documentation or registered requests and to ensure that any alteration of the data is properly
documented and can be traced back.
(v) Physical controls – control of the work environment and computing facilities, access to and
from such facilities as well as appropriate doors, locks, heating and air conditioning, smoke
and fire alarms, fire suppression systems, security cameras, barricades, fencing, security
guards, cable locks, separating the network and work place into functional areas etc.
System security is concerned with implementing various measures that complement each other in the
five levels identified above.

Information Security
A key aspect of Information Security is to preserve the confidentiality, integrity and availability of
an organization’s information. Loss of one or more of these attributes, can threaten the continued
existence of even the largest Organization.

Data security refers to protective digital privacy measures that are applied to prevent unauthorized
access to computers, databases etc. Data security also includes protection of data from corruption.
It is an essential aspect of IT for organizations.

The CIA triad of information security is an information security benchmark model used to
evaluate the information security of an organization.
Confidentiality is a set of rules that limits access to information,
integrity is the assurance that the information is trustworthy and
accurate, and availability is a guarantee of reliable access to the
information by authorized people (from www.techopedia.com/definition)

Integrity: The service must ensure the integrity of data and messages against accidental or deliberate
malicious alteration from the point at which they are sent by the originator to the point at which they
are received. Integrity of the service must be demonstrable such that any changes to any data or
message between the sender and the recipient can be identified and authenticated.

Digital Signature are used to secure the integrity of information. A Digital Signature is a method for
authenticating digital information, analogous to ordinary physical signatures on paper, implemented
using techniques from the field of Public Key Cryptography.
Authenticity: The system must be capable of identifying and authenticating the users, conveyancers,
Government Agencies with interfaces to the service, staffs and anyone else authorised to have access
to the system services. Digital Signatures, encryption, user logins are some of the ways this is
implemented.

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Non-repudiation: The service must ensure the integrity, authentication and non-repudiation of data
and information exchanged, after any agreed alterations between the parties. No party using any part
of the system service must be able to deny that they had sent or received any document(s), message(s)
or data that had been sent or received. Digital Signature and certificates as well as time-stamps make
information or transactions undeniable.

Privacy: The system must provide assurances that privacy is maintained in documents, data,
messages and information exchanged via the component services between users and any other parties
that use the system. It must be capable of ensuring that unauthorized persons cannot read a
document even if they gained access to it. Privacy of information can be protected through
encryption and access rights control.

Audit trails: Comprehensive audit trails of all activities that take place within the system must be
kept and preserved. Security aspects related to document exchange must be implemented across
stakeholder systems to prevent security compromise as a result of their system interacting with the
Lands systems. Stakeholders and professionals must accept responsibility for the security of their
systems. Internal procedures to ensure information is obtained from legitimate sources is critical.

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Annex 4: Major areas of Security Concern
a. IT Risk Management: There is need to identify risks to IT data and systems and put in place
measures, such as SSL certificates, firewalls, passwords and anti-virus software, to protect the
organization and IT systems. A risk management plan which helps to identify and manage risks
has to be put in place.
b. Business Continuity Planning: A business continuity plan can minimize the damage,
interruption and loss of business, and identify which critical business functions, equipment and
data need to be restored first in case of disaster or a major system failure.
c. Natural disasters and IT systems: Natural disasters such as fire, and floods present risks to IT
systems, data and infrastructure. Damage to buildings and computer hardware can result in loss
or corruption of customer records/transactions.
d. Procedures for using IT systems: There must be well documented procedures about using and
accessing IT data and systems, backing up data and data protection in the organization. These
define how employees and other system users behave.
e. IT data and systems protection: Data protection and maintaining a secure online presence will
build trust as well as help meet legal obligations. All IT data and systems are at risk of hacking,
malware, viruses, spam and online scams that may corrupt the hardware or allow criminals to
steal private data. Protection may include use of secure socket layer (SSL) certificates,
cryptography, backing up data, authentication and use of passwords. Protect against human errors
such as incorrect data processing, careless data disposal, or accidental opening of infected email,
physical break-ins as well as online system intrusion. However whatever security measures
implemented must be comply with the laws in place and take cognizance of various methods
through which system and data security may be compromised.
f. Hackers, cybercrime and information/IP theft: Sophisticated and complex e-crime includes
the theft of information or intellectual property, such as trademarks or customer credit card
details by exploiting various system vulnerabilities. Hackers illegally access your hardware and
data to use information such as credit card details for cyber fraud and can corrupt or compromise
your online security.

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Annex 5: Public Participation Schedule
Date Stakeholder Venue
4th – 5th September 2018 MoLPP Ardhi House, Nairobi
NLC
6th September 2018 KPDA Ardhi House, Nairobi
Hakijamii
17th – 18th September Experts: LSK, ISK, AAK, KIP, TCPAK, Masada Hotel, Naivasha
2018 KBA, KEPSA
26th September 2018 County Governments Sarova Panafric Hotel, Nairobi
31st September 2018 Kenya Association of Record Managers Ardhi House, Nairobi
and Archivists (KARMA)
2nd – 11th October 2018 Public Hearings (see detailed schedule in Various counties across the
Table 4.3) country
29th October 2018 Government Digital Payments Ardhi House, Nairobi
30th October 2018 National Titling Centre (NTC) Respective offices in Nairobi
Survey of Kenya
31st October 2018 Central Registry, MoLPP Ardhi House, Nairobi
Nairobi Registry, MoLPP
1st November 2018 Kenya National Archives Kenya National Archives
Building, Nairobi
2nd November 2018 CEC Members for Lands Azure Hotel, Westlands, Nairobi
16th November 2018 Martein Tomberg, Kadastre, Netherlands Ardhi House, Nairobi
Peter Mwangi on behalf of LSK
27th November 2018 Kadri Humal Ayal, Honorary Consul of Ardhi House, Nairobi
Estonia in Kenya
11th December 2018 Validation Workshop with MoLPP and Crowne Plaza Hotel, Nairobi
NLC
8th January 2019 KIP Ardhi House, Nairobi
TCPAK
County Physical Planners – Nyeri,
Kiambu
9th January 2019 Valuation Department, MoLPP Ardhi House, Nairobi
ISK
County Valuation Officers – Kiambu,
Kajiado and Nairobi
10th January 2019 Land Administration Department, Ardhi House, Nairobi
MoLPP
Land Adjudication and Settlement
Department, MoLPP
Surveys Department, MoLPP
15th January 2019 Law Society of Kenya Crowne Plaza, Nairobi
16th January 2019 Validation Workshop with Professionals Crowne Plaza, Nairobi
i.e. TCPAK, LSK, KIP, ISK, KBA, AAK,
KEPSA, KPDA, LDGI
17th January 2019 Validation Workshop with County Crowne Plaza, Nairobi
Governments

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Annex 6: List of Civil Society Organizations
1. Consumers Federation of Kenya
2. Kenya Alliance of Resident Associations;
3. Kenya Human Rights Commission;
4. Pamoja Trust;
5. Resource Conflict Institute;
6. Hakijamii;
7. Kenya Land Alliance;
8. Land Development and Governance Institute;
9. Kenya Property Developers Association;
10. Kenya Association of Records Managers and Archivists;
11. National Council of Persons With Disability; and
12. Nakuru County Public Opinion Consultative Initiative
13. Grassroots Organizations Operating Together in Sisterhood;

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Annex 7: List of Invitees to the Professionals Forum
1. Institution of Surveyors of Kenya.
2. Kenya Bankers Association.
3. Kenya Private Sector Alliance.
4. Law Society of Kenya.
5. Architectural Association of Kenya.
6. Registrar of Companies.
7. National Transport and Safety Authority.
8. Land Development and Governance Institute.
9. Kenya Property Development Association.
10. Town and County Planners Association of Kenya
11. Kenya Institute of Planners
12. Peter Mwangi - Law Society of Kenya
13. Dr. Zubeda Yusuf Mucheke - Senior Principal Land Registrar, Ministry of Lands and Physical
Planning.

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Annex 8: List of Participants for the Experts Consultative Forum
List of Participants – Experts Consultative Forum, 17th – 18th September 2018 at Masada
Hotel, Naivasha.
No. Name Organization Designation
1 Eric Nyadimo KEPSA/ISK Chairperson
2 Bellinda Akello NLC Joint Secretary
3 Pauline Pesa MoLPP Joint Secretary
4 Jasper N. Mwenda ISK Member
5 Eric M. Mugo MoLPP Member
6 Mary Macharia NLC Member
7 L. Sereu Moinket LSK Member
8 Mildred M. Ambani KIP Member
9 Edward Ole Kateiya LDGI/Maasai Mara University Member
10 Tom Abuta MoLPP Member
11 Eugene N. Lawi CoG Member
12 Caroline Kihara Bankers Association Member
13 David Gatimu KPDA/TCPAK Member
14 Samuel Nthuni NLC Member
15 Esther Omulele LSK/MMC Africa Law Member
16 Carolyne Menin MoLPP Member
17 Charles Wamae LSK/Wamae & Allen Member
18 Riamond Molenje Kenya Bankers Association Head of Legal, HR and Industrial Relations
19 Abraham Samoei ISK Council Chair
20 Felix Kiptum ISK Member
21 Emily Wawira Njeru ISK Chair, Professional Practice & Ethics
22 V Gikonyo Gitonga KEPSA Lands, Physical Planning & Housing Sector
Board Chair
23 Mairura Omwenga TCPAK Chairman
24 James Ivia LSK Advocate, Member of IP & ICT
Committee
25 Dr. L. Esho Salaon KIP Chairman, Governing Council
26 John Koyier Barreh KIP Reg. & Licensed Town Planner
27 Dr. Zubeda Mucheke MoLPP Registrar
28 George Arabbu AAK Member
29 Ibrahim Mwathane LDGI Board Chairman
30 Neddie Eve Mamra Taskforce Secretariat
31 Hannah Githuku Taskforce Secretariat
32 Victor Ajuoga Taskforce Secretariat
33 Wahome Murakaru Taskforce Secretariat
34 Dolphine D Awuor Taskforce Secretariat
35 Irene Kiwool Taskforce Secretariat

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Annex 8: Public Hearings Programme

Republic of Kenya
TASKFORCE ON ELECTRONIC LAND TRANSACTIONS, REGISTRATION,
CONVEYANCING AND OTHER RELATED ACTIVITIES UNDER THE LAND
REGISTRATION ACT 2012, THE LAND ACT, 2012, AND THE COMMUNITY LAND
ACT, 2016.
PUBLIC HEARINGS PROGRAMME
The Taskforce structured its programme to commence with courtesy call to the offices of County
Commissioners, Governors, Land Registries and the National Land Commission County
Coordinators, either a day to the main event or early morning as time allowed. The Officials would
give an introduction of their county and apprise the Taskforce on the status of land transactions,
challenges facing the people in the region.

The taskforce would then proceed to the public hearing venues to interact with and hear views and
comments as well as address issues raised from the general public with regards to electronic
conveyancing and the move from the physical manual system.

The taskforce employed the following format to conduct the public hearings:
1. Started with a word of prayer
2. Introduction of the members of the Taskforce and secretariat
3. Introduction of the members of the public
4. Presentation of the Taskforce mandate’s, its working Terms of Reference, its rational in
conducting the public hearings and its intended objectives and goals
5. Public presentations and submissions of written memoranda (if any) from: members of the public
and institutional representatives
6. Members of the public and institutional representatives were given an opportunity to give their
comments, views, proposals and seek clarifications Techniques used were presentation and
plenary discussions. The facilitators ensured that there was clarity of subject matter, inclusive and
effective representation, climate of integrity and provision of opportunity for balanced influence
and ensured commitment to the process.
7. Vote of Thanks
8. Closing prayers

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Annex 10: Proposed Guidelines for: Physical Planning; Survey; Land Adjudication
and Settlement; Valuation; and Land Administration.
A. Physical Planning Guidelines
1. Establishment of Development Control and Planning Compliance System
a) The system shall at the very least comply with both policy and legal frameworks that
govern Land Use / Physical Planning by ensuring harmony between national, inter-
county, county, sub-county and urban areas planning requirements;
b) The system shall enable the submission in electronic format development applications at
the county including but not limited to: Subdivision; Amalgamation; Change of Use;
Extension of Use; Extension of Lease; Renewal of Lease; and Approval for construction
of buildings and structures.
c) The system shall enable inter- and intra-departmental at national and county government
agencies sharing and tracking of the submitted development applications for evaluation,
commenting and determination;
d) The system shall generate and maintain an electronic register of approved applications,
minutes of proceedings of planning determinations and logs for development compliance.
e) The planning system should be linked to the cadastre and to the land registry;

2. Access of information maintained electronically

a) The system shall be accessed by Registered and Practicing Physical Planners, Architects,
and Engineers;
b) The public may access policy documents, extracts minutes of proceedings of planning
determinations and other filed plans on a read-only basis;

B. Valuation System Guidelines

1. System Establishment
a) There is need for the deployment of a Computer Assisted Mass Valuation System whose
outcome shall be a valuation roll and property taxation map for guidance purposes70
b) There is need for a valuation system that would allow interim land valuations based on
approved land subdivisions or change or extension of use for provisional levying of land
rates;
c) There is need for a Valuation System that allows final valuation of newly surveyed and
registered parcels of land for entry into the Valuation Roll;
d) The valuation system should be linked to the cadastre and to the land registry;
e) There is need for comprehensive development of valuation function databases that are readily
available to support registration processes71

2. Access to Information
a) Access to valuation information shall be restricted to professionals and government agencies
b) The public may access ONLY information related to their land parcels upon payment of a
requisite fee.

70Actual valuation shall be done by a registered valuer.

71Land rates; ground rent, stamp duty; capital gains, land acquisition and compensation; new grants; renewal & extension
of leases; sale and purchase; charges and mortgages and or any other requirement

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3. Revocation or suspension of access
a) The Director of Valuation may, after investigation restrict, suspend or terminate the user’s
access in cases of: contravention of If a user contravenes the obligations or the terms and
conditions, the obligations (terms and conditions), Fraud; identity theft; system misuse;
unqualified persons assessing the system; and death.
b) The following shall be the method of appeal against suspension or revocation;
i. A person who is subject of any of the following decisions may request the Director
of Valuation to provide, the grounds for the decision in writing,:
i. A decision by the Director of Valuation to refuse to approve the person as
user.
ii. A decision by the Director of Valuation to suspend, restrict or revoke the
person’s approval as user.
iii. A decision by the Director of Valuation to attach a condition to the person’s
approval or to vary or revoke a condition to the approval.
ii. A Person who has received written grounds for the decision from the Director of
Valuation may appeal against the decision to the Cabinet Secretary.
iii. The Cabinet Secretary shall within 14 days on receipt of the appeal, constitute a 5
member committee comprising of representatives from the Ministry, Institution of
Surveyors of Kenya, National Land Commission, Council of Governors; any other
relevant person;
iv. After the hearing of the appeal, the committee shall communicate its decision to the
aggrieved party within 14 days;
v. An aggrieved party may appeal the decision of the committee to the Environment and
Land Court.

C. Surveying System Guidelines

1. System Establishment
a) There shall be a Cadastral System for submission of cadastral data by Licensed Surveyors.
b) The Licensed Surveyors system shall be able to track their work in order to establish the
status of their submission/application.
c) The Licensed Surveyors shall, receive a notification from the system upon approval and
authentication or disapproval of the survey work by the Director of Survey.

2. Submission of Data
a) Cadastral plans and filed plans in the Registry, including sectional plans, shall be provided in
electronic format.
b) Upon completion of work in an adjudication section, the adjudication register (adjudication
record and map) for the registration section shall be presented to the Chief Land Registrar in
electronic format.
c) Practicing Licensed Surveyors and Surveyors working under instructions of the authority
responsible for land survey shall submit all survey records, accompanied by relevant planning
approvals, for checking, to the authority responsible for land survey in electronic format.
d) Map and area lists of a settlement scheme shall be forwarded to the Chief Land Registrar in a
digital format.

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 e) Transfers of land from the Settlement Fund Trustees shall be maintained in electronic format.
f) The authority responsible for land survey shall prepare electronic plan extracts, from the
cadastral plan, for use in electronic conveyancing.

3. Access to Information
a) Access to survey data in the electronic database maintained by the authority responsible for
land survey shall only be granted to Surveyors on a read-only basis.
b) The public may access cadastral maps, cadastral plans and other filed plans on a read-only
basis and upon payment of a requisite fee.

4. Types of Searches
a) The system shall provide for Cadastre Search - the results from this search should be a spatial
description i.e. Size, dimensions and Parcel Number
b) The system shall provide for document search including but not limited to: FR; Survey Plans;
Control Points and Topographic Maps

5. Revocation or suspension of access

a) The Director of Survey may, after investigation restrict, suspend or terminate the user’s access
in cases of: contravention of If a user contravenes the obligations or the terms and
conditions, the obligations (terms and conditions), Fraud; identity theft; system misuse;
unqualified persons assessing the system; and death.
b) The following shall be the method of appeal against suspension or revocation;
vi. A person who is subject of any of the following decisions may request the Director
of Surveys to provide, the grounds for the decision in writing,:
iv. A decision by the Director of Surveys to refuse to approve the person as user.
v. A decision by the Director of Surveys to suspend, restrict or revoke the
person’s approval as user.
vi. A decision by the Director of Surveys to attach a condition to the person’s
approval or to vary or revoke a condition to the approval.
vii. A Person who has received written grounds for the decision from the Director of
Surveys may appeal against the decision to the Cabinet Secretary..
viii. The Cabinet Secretary shall within 14 days on receipt of the appeal, constitute a 5
member committee comprising of representatives from the Ministry, Institution of
Surveyors of Kenya, National Land Commission, Council of Governors; any other
relevant person;
ix. After the hearing of the appeal, the committee shall communicate its decision to the
aggrieved party within 14 days;
x. An aggrieved party may appeal the decision of the committee to the Environment and
Land Court.

D. Land Administration Guidelines

1. System Establishment
The Land Administration Module shall-
a) handle development applications and prepares leases and consents be capable of sending
notices for lease extension etc.

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 b) be capable of interacting with other offices to facilitate land administration functions;
c) be linked to the Cadastre and the Land Registry;
d) facilitate tracking the of transactions.

2. Access to Information
a) Access to the Land Administration Module shall be on a read-only basis
b) The public may access and track information from the Land Administration Module.

3. Revocation or suspension of access

a) The Director of Land Administration may, after investigation restrict, suspend or terminate
the user’s access in cases of: contravention of If a user contravenes the obligations or the
terms and conditions, the obligations (terms and conditions), Fraud; identity theft; system
misuse; unqualified persons assessing the system; and death.
b) The following shall be the method of appeal against suspension or revocation;
i. A person who is subject of any of the following decisions may request the
Director of Land Administration to provide, the grounds for the decision in
writing,:
ii. A decision by the Director of Land Administration to refuse to approve the
person as user.
iii. A decision by the Director of Land Administration to suspend, restrict or revoke
the person’s approval as user.
iv. A decision by the Director of Land Administration to attach a condition to the
person’s approval or to vary or revoke a condition to the approval.
i. A Person who has received written grounds for the decision from the Director of
Land Administration may appeal against the decision to the Cabinet Secretary.
ii. The Cabinet Secretary shall within 14 days on receipt of the appeal, constitute a 5
member committee comprising of representatives from the Ministry, Institution of
Surveyors of Kenya, National Land Commission, Council of Governors; any other
relevant person;
iii. After the hearing of the appeal, the committee shall communicate its decision to the
aggrieved party within 14 days;
iv. An aggrieved party may appeal the decision of the committee to the Environment and
Land Court.

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Annex 11: Gazette Notice

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