The Lands Ministry has stepped up the planned issuance of title deeds to all public learning institutions in the country, National Assembly’s Public Accounts Committee has been told.
Lands Principal Secretary Nixon Korir told the John Mbadi-led Committee that the Ministry was collecting data on all the schools without the vital documents to include them in the programme.
"We have directed the Education Committee to submit to the Ministry schools that do not have land title deeds," Korir said.
The PS further told the MPs he has formed a technical committee comprising of officers from the Education, Treasury and Lands ministries and the counties to help fast-track the process.
He informed the committee he has involved the Treasury in the exercise to ensure charges on title deeds are waived during the implementation of the plan.
"We have asked the Treasury to exempt the institutions from paying charges imposed on title deeds so that we can issue them under public interest," he added.
The committee had noted with concern that learning institutions were embroiled in disputes with individuals who were taking advantage of the lack of title deeds to grab their land.
Gatundu South MP Gabriel Kagombe lamented that he was dealing with 159 cases of primary schools that were seeking title deeds to develop the institutions.
"My efforts to have the schools get title deeds have been frustrating," he said as he asked the PS to intervene and speed up the process.
Korir said he was aware of cases where churches that sponsored some schools have turned around to demand their land.
He assured the committee that such cases will be a thing of the past once the schools get their title deeds.