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.)

You need to know: How
Ardhisasa is changing the process of purchase and sale of properties in Kenya

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 Company 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.

Must Read: How
the process of digitization works though ardhisasa at Ardhi House

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 www.premieragent.co.ke
or call us on 0726982982 or on email through [email protected]
as we continuously update our guides.