DIGITIZATION OF LAND RECORDS IN KENYA. HOW DOES THIS AFFECT YOU?

Everything is all moving to digitalization, right? Land is not an exception. In Kenya, this ideastarted in 2013 for Land Registries to give emphasis on section 9 and 10 of land registrationact 2012. As explained by tikenya.org, section 9 gives the Registrar of Lands the mandate tomaintain the register and any document required in a secure, accessible and reliable formatwhich includes amongst other ways, electronic files. Section 10 on the other hand, placesemphasis on the accessibility of the register of members of the public by electronic meansamongst others. The process started being facilitated by Hon Charity Ngilu, who was the land minister at that time.The whole idea of land digitization in Kenya was to aim at increased and effective servicedelivery and avoiding losing of documents. It also would make it easier through the trackingsystem and help in solving the problem of long wait and delays on land issues.

Importance of digitization of land records

• Digitization meant easier tracking of records and therefore enhanced service deliveryto the people of Kenya.
• It also meant easier storage of information especially the spatial plans.
• Also, it provided security to land records, land records are always very sensitive in theirnature.
• It is faster and more convenient to retrieve documents relatedto land issues.
• It is also flexible and reduces the amount of money that would have been wasted onmanual storage system of records.

With digitization comes a pile of how the whole process would affect one especially when it comes to land issues in Kenya.

HOW DIGITIZATION OF LAND RECORDS CAN AFFECT REAL ESTATE IN KENYA

The best thing about how digitization of land records affects real estate industry is in a positiveway. As much as there could be a negative effect, the extent is not as much as the positiveway. Digitization speeds up the land acquisition procedure, by easing transfers of lands as wellas allowing the buyer to start their projects early enough after purchase. Another thing is thatit helps identify the real owner of a certain parcel of land and keeps even records tracing fromthe old days. In comparison to manual way of keeping the land records where papers wereprone to being lost, it is easier to have all the documents attached to it together throughdigitization. Needless to say, digitization easily shows the use of the parcel of land and in caseof any change of user, it is easier to retrieve the same information from the electronic storagefiles.The security that is attached to digitization of land records in Kenya has seen many stakeholdersbeing attracted to the real estate industry. They attach the trust to the whole process and this has animplication on the overall growth of the real estate industry. This also attracts competition in theindustry, the trick is to be creative and innovative in order to remain relevant in the industry.

In conclusion, there is always a change and we are made to adjust to those changes. Digitization ofland records brought more advantage than disadvantage and embracing it would mean that our businesses are secure as well as easier.