On 27th April 2021, President Uhuru Kenyatta launched the National Land Information Management System, which is a digital land resource management platform referred to as Ardhisasa (the “Platform”), which was developed to enhance the security of land records, speed up land transactions and curb fraud. Despite numerous challenges since its launch, we are now happy to report that our Firm is the first law firm to successfully present and register a Charge instrument on the Platform on 11th November 2021 with assistance from the Ardhisasa team. This alert shall provide an update on the current developments with the Platform.
Brief introduction
The Lands Registries in Kenya have over the years been marred by cases of missing files, fraud, corruption and illegal land dealings. The new digital land management platform was initiated to curb malpractices at the Lands Registries. The online system is gradually being regularized to provide a platform that will allow users to carry out searches over properties, attend to stamping of documents with duty and registration of transfers, charges and other land transaction instruments. The Platform also caters for other land transactions including payment of Land Rent. The Platform is meant to reduce the need for human interactions, prevent delays and eliminate fraud in land transactions which have been critical challenges with the manual system. The Platform has so far introduced a wholly digital registry in Nairobi with the Ministry of Lands and Physical Planning preparing for on-boarding of another twenty counties to the digital system in the coming months.
Key features of the Platform
The services available on the Platform include:
1. Land Registration services which include conducting searches, lodging of cautions, registration of Transfers, Charges, Leases, Easements, Restrictions and payment of Stamp Duty;
2. Land Administration service for payment of Land Rent;
3. Physical Planning services including approval of development plans and issuance of certificates of compliance;
4. Survey and re-mapping;
5. Land Valuation;
6. Land Allocation portal by the National Land Commission.
To access the Platform, users will be required to sign up for an ArdhiSasa Account on the Platform for the ArdhiSasa Identification number to be generated.
Procedure for registration of Instruments
All parties involved in the transaction, for example, the registered proprietor/seller, the purchaser of a property, the attorneys and directors of banking and financial institutions who will be financing the sale, the parties’ Advocates etc will be required to register on the Platform, obtain their credentials and log in on the Platform for the transaction to be concluded. The Platform contains an uncomplicated, self-explanatory step-by-step manner of undertaking each transaction. Each party involved will be required to verify the application for the same to be concluded
With our recent success with registration of a security document on the Platform, we can confidently say that our Firm will be able to assist our clients with any transaction on the said Platform.
What does this mean for you?
1. To access the Platform all users will be required to sign up for an ArdhiSasa account.
2. All applications must be verified by the parties involved in the transaction.
3. Documents for which stamp duty is payable will be franked with duty through the online system and a QR code will be generated as evidence of payment.
4. Banking and Financial institutions will be required to register their authorised attorneys on the Platform.
5. The physical registry will only be accessed at the tail end of the transaction when the original documents and the original title will be presented to the Registrar for endorsement of the entries made.
Conclusion
We are keenly following the operationalization of the Platform and will alert you of any developments as they arise.
This alert is for information purposes only. Should you have any questions or need legal advice, please contact Mwangi Kibicho (mwangi@jkkibicho.co.ke), Leah Muchiri (wmuchiri@jkkibicho.co.ke) or Antony Miti (miti@jkkibicho.co.ke)
