The recently launched a National Land Information Management System (NLIMS) commonly known as Ardhisasa on 27th of April, 2021 by the president, Uhuru Kenyatta was the culmination of effort to digitize existing cadastral maps and the corresponding ownership records in the country. It has been able to clearly delineate public from private land. The system has been made online where the two has been linked making it possible for the real time inquiries on the system.

Quick Guide: A Guide to Registering on Ardhisasa

Not all process on Ardhisasa can be initiated by a normal public account, therefore the platform provide way for professional to upgrade their account in order to transact. For example, most land registration process will require an advocate to initiate on your behalf and for survey, they will require surveyor to submit the application. With normal public account you will be privy to applications which have been initiated on your behalf by a professional but you cannot initiate application on your own.

User registration in the Ardhisasa.

To access the system, one has to pre-register into the system. Click on the Register icon on the Ardhisasa platform to be prompted to register as an individual or a company. For the individual account, natural Kenyan citizens are required to register individual user accounts. To register an account, one should have their National Identification Card Serial Number and the ID Number, a working email address, passport-sized photo (with white background), and an active phone number. (It is important to note that at the moment, only Kenyan Citizens can register an account.)

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For company user account, private limited liability companies are required to register company accounts. To register a Company account, one should have the company’s registration number, official and active company mobile number (registered using a director’s ID number), company email address, and passport-sized photo(s) of the directors (with white background).

This is the first registration which allows one to be registered into the system. However, the system allows for the account upgrading for the professionals to allow them submit their respective professional work, such as conveyance documents, development applications or survey records, for processing and/or approval.

Professional User Account

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 first have an individual user account, be a member of good standing to the relevant professional body that governs his/her profession and have copies of the requisite documentation. The upgrade to a professional account shall enable the professionals to initiate specialized services on behalf of their clients.

This is important: How to Conduct a Land Search Using Your Ardhisasa Account

How to upgrade account on Ardhisasa?

Some professionals are having challenges getting their accounts upgraded. Therefore, how can one upgrade his or her account? The following are the step by step on how to upgrade an account.

1)     Login to Ardhisasa platform.

2)     CLICK account,

3)     Click Upgrade account,

4)     Select the profession,

5)     Enter registration number,

6)     upload registration certificate and other relevant documents such as national identification card, practicing certificate and registration certificate,

7)     Verify and submit.

8)     A notification will be sent to your phone or email upon approval.

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Only four categories of professional are on the platform and they are the ones who can be their private account. These are: advocates; licensed surveyors; registered physical planners; and registered county physical planners. This list however excludes key stakeholders in the land sector such as like Valuers and real estate management agents, registered under the Valuers Registration Board, and the Estate Agents Registration Board respectively.

It is good to note that

·         if your name does not march the names in your documents, you will have to upload an affidavit confirming that the names in your document and those in your ID are indeed the same person.

·         You must be keen with punctuation. For advocates, they must insert the full stop which is in their admission number (P.105/XXXXX/YY) and do not add space where there is none.

·         These admission number must be entered as per the practicing certificate.

For example, note the difference here

Practicing certificate: P.105/XXXXX/17 (This one is correct entry)

Admission certificate: P. 105/XXXXX/2017 (This one is a wrong entry).

The lawyers have been facing challenges in upgrading of their professional transaction accounts and this can only be avoided if the correct guidelines are followed. The lawyers’ land transaction business has as a result been affected because the online portal does not recognize the law firms’ registration number. This is the main reason why these finer details are very important.

Therefore, the advocates; licensed surveyors; registered physical planners; and registered county physical planners will need the following documents to upgrade their accounts into the Ardhisasa platform.

1)     Scanned copies of practicing certificate

2)     Scanned copies of registration certificate; and/or

3)     Supporting documents for example the I.D.

Official searches, transfers and maps

The Ardhisasa system allows any registered user to make property searches, transfer property, order for a cadastral map or a title. It allows one to request department-specific services provided by the Ministry of Lands and Physical Planning including:

Land registration services- these include registration of cautions, charges, leases, certificates of title/ leases, replacement of titles, restrictions, searches, assessment for stamp duty, and transfers;

Land administration services- this includes processes such as subdivision, extension of leases, change of user, consents, lease preparation, the extension of user, and renewal of leases;

Physical planning services- this includes approval of part development plans, plan preparation, and issuance of certificates of compliance;

Survey and mapping services such as subdivision, amalgamation, new grants, re-survey, surveying of sectional properties, extension of leases, and change of user;

Valuation services asset valuation, government leasing, government purchase, estate administration, and arbitration;

Adjudication & settlement of land

Land allocation services by the National Land Commission

when requesting for an official search to a property or land, the process for searching the land must be followed.  The property owner must give permission for the search to be given. This requires that the person intending to undertake a search, and the proprietor to the property targeted for a search, must pre-register in the system. Moreover, the property owner must have entered the details of the property through the My Properties” option available in the Ardhisasa system menu. The government has further clarified that only parcels Accounts for professionals:

User feedback on account upgrading.

As would be anticipated, different users have had mixed experiences with the system. Some have found it easy to navigate the system for various services and some, especially the four categories professional; advocates; licensed surveyors; registered physical planners; and registered county physical planners are having challenges getting their accounts upgraded.

There are also concerns that the list of professionals whose accounts qualify for upgrading is too short. The land sector is very diverse and different professionals requires account upgrade. In this therefore, there has been a suggestion that all land sector stakeholders such as registered private Valuers, registered real estate agents and registered survey assistants, who regularly engage in land transactions on behalf of clients, ought to have been included.

For enquiries, please visit Ardhi House, Off Ngong Rd: P.O. Box 30450-00100, Nairobi,Kenya or email: [email protected]. The ministry can also be reached on phone: 0743922876.

Keep visiting our website https://property254.co.ke/ or call us on 0726982982 or on email through [email protected] as we continuously update our guides.