5,000 schools have applied for title deeds, says National Land Commission

National Land Commission vice Chair Abigael Mukolwe lauches the guidelines for securing Title Deeds for schools at Langata Primary Shool, Nairobi yesterday. 15/06/2015 [PHOTO/DAVID NJAAGA/STANDARD]

More than 5,000 schools have applied for title deeds and another 350 have reported cases of land grabbing, the National Land Commission has said.

NLC Vice Chair Abigael Mukolwe said since the Government took action on the protection of Lang'ata Road Primary School playground, several learning institutions had applied for land registration.

Ms Mukolwe (pictured) urged school heads who are yet to apply for registration to ensure the security of their lands.

She asked schools to take advantage of President Uhuru Kenyatta's directive that all primary schools acquire title deeds. "Since the Langa'ta incident, the Government has taken action to secure schools. The titles will be issued within 60 days of receipt," she said.

Speaking during the launch of the guide for securing title deeds for schools at Lang'ata Road Primary yesterday, Mukolwe said most cases of grabbing of school lands had been reported in Nairobi, Nakuru, Kakamega and Uasin Gishu.

"There are several cases of grabbing. It has come to our attention that most of the schools have had their fields carved off and grabbers have fraudulently acquired titles," she said.

She asked schools to ensure they physically secure their lands and report any encroachment to the commission. However, schools in informal settlements like Kibera and those that have court cases will not be issued with titles until ownership of their lands are determined.