•Players in the legal professions have also been roped in with some lawyers, during the drawing up of land agreements facilitating the sale or declaring the acreage already sold leading to losses for families.
•Another land fraud trick has been involving government officials issuing succession letters to strangers leading to families losing part or whole of their heritage.
It is Saturday afternoon and we catch up with Sylvester Odhiambo a casual labourer in Ugenya, Siaya County after he had just made a payment for a parcel of land he is in the process of acquiring.
This is his second take at purchasing land after a mouth-to-mouth agreement with one of his relatives over a land purchase, ended with him losing his cash and failing to secure the land.
This case is not unique to Odhiambo as evidenced by the many land fraud cases that are currently ongoing in the courts throughout the country.
In Nairobi, we meet George Gesare a resident of Tassia in Embakasi who says that he has avoided visiting his rural home for over six years now because of a contentious parcel of land back at home that he had acquired.
Land scams have spread across the country with brokers identifying "idle land" - owned by the government or private developers and colluding with crooked surveyors and Lands ministry officials to subdivide it and sell it off to unsuspecting buyers.
This has seen many Kenyans are losing their land in fraudulent transactions despite the existence of laws to protect them, with little knowledge exposing a lot of Kenyans to fraud. The Ministry of Land has thousands of such reported transactions.
In an effort to protect Kenyans, several housing and property companies have set up consultancies.
With cases of land fraud particularly amongst first-time buyers on the rise, advisory services around best practices for acquiring property has become more essential.
The chair of the Association of Real Estate Stakeholders Kinyua Wairatu, who is also the CEO Maono Lands Limited, says it is becoming necessary to set up consultancy to educate clients on land due processes.
“You cannot just buy land because you are willing, you must understand the history of the land you’re buying, this has seen a lot of Kenyans losing money because they failed to do due diligence”
He adds that Kenyans should stop rushing to buy land through ‘overnight’ deals, where many people lose their money.
People in the diaspora have been among the biggest casualties who come home after years of pumping investments Back home only to realise the land they bought isn’t theirs.
“People in the diaspora for instance United States buy land but they are not able to go home and verify the land because some don’t have all the papers to allow them back to US when they leave this country so they need to build trust with the property acquisition process,” said Kinyua
Zani Properties co-director Job Kariuki also says that For starters buyers should upon identifying a piece of land that is satisfactory in convenience, size, soil or location, enquire whether the land is registered and available for use by conducting a land search using details on the title deed.
“Due to the increase in appetite for land and the desire for home ownership, there has been an increase in cases of land fraud, and one needs to be vigilant to safeguard their investment,” said Zani Properties co-director Job Kariuki.
Previously, one had to walk into the lands registry offices at the county and national levels to get this kind of information, but this process has been made simpler through the National Land Management System which integrates all land data on one platform.
Over the years, some of the tricks applied by the crooks include manipulating illiterate land owners to surrender their title deeds and eventually ownership is transferred illegally.
Another trick has been involving government officials issuing succession letters to strangers leading to families losing part or whole of their heritage.
Players in the legal professions have also been roped in with some lawyers, during the drawing up of land agreements facilitating the sale or declaring the acreage already sold leading to losses for families.
“Conduct a search to know the true owner of the land, to know whether the land has a restriction such as a caveat, unpaid rates, or a bank charge, to know the exact size of the land as captured in the land records, to know the history of the land, and to know the rent payable to the government, if there is any,” said Kariuki.
Upon ascertaining that the land is available, Joseph Kamau, also a director at Zani Properties, says that it is advisable to instruct the services of a licensed land surveyor to verify dimensions of the land and confirm the availability of boundaries.
To protect against exploitation when purchasing land, he says that it's crucial to hire a reputable agent for an accurate market estimate and a conveyancing lawyer for legal guidance.
Lawyers help verify key documents and review contracts for potential issues.
He pointed out that land transactions are safest when funds are exchanged through lawyers, not directly between buyer and seller.
Due diligence, such as speaking with neighbors about the land's ownership history, can uncover potential disputes. Once confirmed, the buyer’s advocate prepares a letter of offer, often requiring a 10 per cent down payment.
Alternatively, both parties may opt to open an escrow account until the sale is finalized.
Afterward, the seller's lawyer drafts a sale agreement. Legal requirements, including approval from the area Land Control Board and stamp duty payments, are then processed before finalizing the transaction and transferring ownership.
Last year, it emerged that the rising cases of fraudulent property transfers are deterring prospective buyers, especially first-time homebuyers and those purchasing popular eighth-acre plots on the outskirts of Nairobi.
Middle-income earners, who form the bulk of these buyers, are increasingly wary as they seek affordable alternatives to the city's skyrocketing housing prices and unaffordable mortgages.
Many face frustrations after conducting official searches at the Ministry of Lands, only to later discover that their transactions were illegal or irregular, leaving them at risk of losing their investments.