Why title deeds have to be registered afresh in Kenya

Why title deeds have to be registered afresh in Kenya

The Ministry of Lands recently announced a new lands registration system which will see title deeds issued before the enactment of the Land Registration Act in 2012 canceled and new ones issued.

Under the new arrangement, the Land ministry will utilize the Registry Index Maps (RIMs) as a reference, replacing the deed plans, further minimizing land fraud.

RIMs display all land parcels within an area as opposed to a deed plan that captures data on one specific parcel.

The government has been issuing titles manually under the Registered Land Act (RLA), Registration of Titles Act (RTA), Land Titles Act (LTA), and Government Lands Act (GLA).

Dealings relating to parcels within the registration unit shall from April 1 be carried out in the new registers.

A pilot run of the migration is already underway in Nairobi with some 5,493 parcels already marked for conversion by the Registrar of Lands.

Lands CS Farida Karoney said the process will entail the preparation of cadastral maps together with a conversion list indicating new and old numbers for parcels of land within a registration unit.

She added that the cadastral maps together with a conversion list will be published in the Kenya Gazette, with the notice specifying when the register shall be open to the public for transactions or dealings within the registration unit.

''Any person with an interest in land in the registration unit shall lodge a complaint to the registrar who shall resolve the same within 90 days of receipt,'' Karoney said.

At the commencement date, all registers shall be closed and all transactions carried out in the new register. However, all the closed registers and supporting documents shall be maintained in the new registration unit.

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