Lands ministry rolls out Ardhisasa digital platform in Murang'a

Murang’a residents have been reprieved after the Ministry of Lands rolled out Ardhisasa, an online platform that will allow them to transact digitally.

The ministry embarked on the process of digitising local lands records in 2021 and is the second registry after Nairobi to be digitised.

According to Cabinet Secretary Alice Wahome, the process was made easier by some of the challenges that were experienced in digitising the Nairobi registry that mostly stemmed from the hurried process.

Wahome said her ministry’s aim is to ensure all land registries are digitised as soon as possible, noting that Isiolo registry will also be rolled out in a few weeks while others such as Marsabit and Naivasha are in the process.

Ardhisasa, the CS explained, will drastically stem issues of land fraud that have been plaguing the sector for a long time.

This, she said, is because the platform will allow land owners to open an account that only they can operate.

The account will send a One-Time Password (OTP) that will only be viable for a few minutes to the mobile phone number of a land owner once a transaction is attempted on their land.

“This platform will make it impossible for somebody to fraudulently deal with another person’s land as it will inform the land owner every time,” she said, urging land owners to visit the registry to enlist on Ardhisasa.

Wahome said the ministry will have a customer care desk at the registry whose role will be to help locals register on the platform and to show them how to use it.

She added that Murang’a registry was chosen after Nairobi as it has some of the highest land tittles registered in the country.

Lands Principal Secretary Nixon Korir added that the county has 20 land locations that have all been scanned and digitised, with over 387,000 titles.

Digitisation will also cushion from loss of documents that make it impossible for Kenyans to transact using their land, he said.

“In Nyando, the lands registry caught fire last year and many documents were lost. That will never happen again once documents are digitised,” he said.

He however cautioned land users against being lured to give their  OTP to frauds as that would give them access to their accounts.

Local MPs hailed the ministry for the milestone that they said will stem many land succession cases reported in the county.

The leaders said most of crimes reported in the county stem from land ownership issues as families and land owners fight.

Kigumo MP Joseph Munyoro said the biggest challenge will be to convince land owners to come out and register and have their land ownership documents verified.

“We have been seeing many cases of family land sold without the consent of family members and many public schools also have no tittle deeds,” he said.

Gatanga MP Edward Muriu said digitisation will stem graft in the registry while protecting the sanctity of land ownership documents.

“Previously, people would hire other people to appear in lands boards to testify that the land being sold is theirs to defraud the real owners,” he said.

Nominated senator Veronica Maina expressed concerns that most land in Murang'a is owned by men and urged the ministry to ensure women’s consent is availed before a transaction is done.

“This platform will help reduce backlog of land cases and intermeddling. I am personally bringing amendments to the Lands Act to make intermeddling of land processes criminal especially in succession cases,” she said.

Maragua MP Mary Waithera said cases of double and triple allocation of tittle deeds have been rampant.

“I don’t how it happens at the registry that five people are all allocated the same land and have properly stamped tittles,” she said.

Waithera called on the ministry to conduct civic education to sensitise the older generation on the importance of using the digital platform.