President of Kenya Uhuru Kenyatta launched the National Land Information
Management System (NLIMS) commonly called Ardhisasa to
digitize all the land records in the country and establish the land management
system. The exercise began in earnest in 2013 and is aimed at
bringing efficiency and transparency in the sector of land in Kenya.
Digitization is a blessing because it is faster and more flexible, convenient,
saves money wasted on managing the paper records.

The digitization initiative is to
improve service delivery and enhance ease of doing business by addressing
various challenges in the land sector. This include inconsistency on land
records and ownership documents, increased land disputes due to the opaque
nature of keeping land records, increased cases of fraud, forgery and
corruption, lengthy and indeterminate transactions turnaround time among other
challenges.

The digitization is meant to facilitate the
following applications online;

1.
Searches (search land ownership records);

2.
Land Rent (payment of rent, uploading of
receipts and downloading rent clearance certificates);

3.
Transfer of ownership of property;

4.
Assessment of stamp duty;

5.
Creation of Securities against property;

6.
Land Rates (query and pay land rates);

7.
Obtaining consents to Transfer, Charge and
Lease;

8.
Mass Titling program verification
(authentication of owners).

9.
Cautions and withdrawal of caution
(application for the registration or withdrawal of a caution).

How to Register on Ardhisasa.

To access the
services offered on the Platform, one must hold an account with Ardhisasa. The
system provides for the registration of three types of accounts; –

1.
Individual Registration: To
register an individual account, one is required to submit the following in the
Platform;

a.
National Identification Card
Serial Number and the ID Number,

b.
Current email address,

c.
Passport-sized photo (with white
background), and

d.
Current personal phone
number. 

2.Professional User Registration:

The individual user account provides a separate interface that
enables professionals such as Advocates, Registered Physical Planners, and Registered Quantity
Surveyors to upgrade their account to a professional user
account. To register a professional user account, one must;

a)
be registered as an individual
user,

b)
be a member of good standing to
the relevant professional body that governs his/her profession and;

c)
have copies of the requisite
documentation.

The
professional account enables professionals to initiate specialized services on
behalf of their clients.

3.Company Registration:

Companies are
required to register company accounts. To register a Company account, one
should have the following;

a.
Company’s Company registration
number,

b.
Current official company mobile
number (registered using one of the director’s ID number),

c.
Current company email address,
and

d.
Passport-sized photo(s) of the
directors (with white background).

Land digitization provides long-term preservation of records of
paper records and it allows sharing knowledge within and across the land. The
transition from the first registration regime to the current one and finally to
the digitization of records has led to increased efficiency in conducting
business and improved accountability mechanisms. More is still being done to
ensure the digitization process is a success.

 Challenges that implementation of Ardhisasa may face.

Torn and missing records.

Due to the quality of the records, in most cases, the records are
misplaced or destroyed. With this, it may be difficult to retrieve and update the same in the system.
Moreover, some records are too old. The peppers are tattered not legible or
missing posing difficulties in the entire digitization process. Owners are then
forced to apply for the reconstruction of their files which is time-consuming.

Hostile working environment.

The process of digitization may be challenged if the people at the registries are
not supportive. This lack of support may stem from the
fear that if the digitization process succeeds, they will lose their jobs. Change management needs to be
handled well.

Duplicity.

In the initial period, land owners may
have to work manually and in the system. This is tiring and takes a
lot of time and is even costly. The payments of rents and rates are as well
required to be done through checking the online system for the figures then
manual payments.

 Merits of Digitization.

Saves Money

Managing physical documents are costly and this makes one spends a lot of recourses or recurring records management versus the one times cost of digitization that could reduce overhead in the coming days.

Employers spend a lot of time locating records, sorting and exporting images or texts. That compared to what an employee earns per hour will helps lay bare the true cost of maintaining physical records.

Increase efficiency

Dealing with physical documents slows down the turnaround time. By
choosing digital solutions the retrieval process at the registry will be faster.

Currently, we can rejoice that the process is underway. It is advisable for proprietors, to take
the initiative of registering to the Platform and confirming their records.