The Principal Secretary for Lands Mr. Nixon Korir has warned that land officials found aiding citizens to process counterfeit documents so as to acquire title deeds will be dismissed from service and prosecuted.
He said physical planners and Registrar of Lands were supposed to help the government and the citizens to acquire genuine documents and ensure they give the fairest service to all.
Korir said that the government’s intention to digitize all the land was to make sure that the poor and the widows were not discriminated against at the expense of the rich and the influential individuals.
“All Kenyans have the right to land and those using fake allotment letters to terrorize the less privileged in the society will not survive in the digital era,” the PS said.
Speaking to journalists after inspecting the digitalization program at Isiolo Ardhi House, Korir said the owners of the fake document would be the first to be arrested and appear in court while officers would lose jobs and get jailed.
He added that the digitization programme would benefit the citizens since the common disappearance of documents at the Lands offices would be brought to an end and enable citizens access services online and report any fishy deals to authorities for quick action.
Korir said that Isiolo Ardhi House would serve Marsabit and Isiolo Counties where new files and the green cards would be kept.
He added that only 7,000 title deeds from both counties have been issued to owners and urged for expedition of issuance of the documents so that many people would benefit from the new programme of fast tracking acquiring title deeds.
The Lands’ PS appealed to members of the public to be vigilant and make available information about lands officers, middlemen and some junior officers who intentionally hide documents so as to corrupt those seeking government services.
Korir directed the Chief Land Registrar Mr. David Nyandoro to speed up the digitization process at Isiolo and have all documents and files easily retrievable upon request.
The PS said that other teams from his department were in Mombasa, Kilifi, Lamu and Tana River to update digitalization of lands in Coast region.
By David Nduro
