By Khaemba Wafula

The Land Registration Act of 2012 requires land registrars to keep land registers and documents relating to land in a secure, accessible, and reliable format, which includes electronic files. Ardhisasa, the National Land Information System, was launched in April 2021.

Ardhisasa is a platform that allows previously manual land transactions to be completed online. Some of the services available on Ardhisasa include land registration, such as transfer and charge registration; land administration, such as payment of land rent; physical planning applications, valuation, survey, and mapping.

What does the digitization of land records entail?

Land record digitization entails the construction of a Document Management System (DMS) for all approved physical development plans. It necessitates creating a system for managing land title records, including scanning, indexing, and archiving deed files and land rent cards, among other digital operations. Additionally, the landowner must submit an old title deed and a new one processed with a new title deed number per digitized data. 

Benefits of digitization of land records

1. Ardhisasa intends to provide a long-term solution to land ownership issues in Kenya by providing an up-to-date and verified land records database. 
2. Digitization is also designed to eliminate historical land issues such as documentation loss, title duplication, record destruction, and missing documents. 
3. It aims to improve ownership security by requiring a landowner to approve all applications made in relation to any given property. 
4. It is expected to reduce the time and cost of land transactions.
5. The digitization of land records is critical to the government’s efforts to ease business operations in Kenya and to revolutionise land ownership. 
6. Once fully developed, it will contribute significantly to achieving the principles enshrined in the Constitution of land being held in an equitable, efficient, transparent, productive, and sustainable manner.

Challenges facing digitization of land records

1. The system still needs to be completely seamless in its operations; for example, it is currently impossible to carry out multiple dispositions simultaneously (e.g., a discharge, transfer, and charge), as was previously the practice under manual registration.
2. Concerns have been expressed about the time required to complete the verification process, which has been lengthy and time-consuming, resulting in transaction delays.
3. Most property owners need to familiarize themselves with how the Ardhisasa platform operates.
4. Ardhisasa makes it difficult for foreigners to create accounts because their information, unlike that of Kenyan citizens, is not stored in the Integrated Population Registration System (IPRS) and Business Registration Services (BRS) databases. Foreigners must first write a letter to the Ministry requesting that their accounts be established, which takes time.