Disjointed land data to blame for Syokimau destruction

By Marcus Boit

One of the most pursued things in Kenya and indeed the world over is home ownership. It is in this vein that many residents work extra hard and sacrifice so much to save for this life investment.

It is, therefore, disheartening to see these hardworking Kenyans lose what they have saved for decades in just a few minutes. It is even worse that some of the investors may be forced to repay huge loans for property they did not get a chance to enjoy. This is the case in the recent demolitions in Syokimau.

The massive destruction leaves more questions than it gives answers. Who is really to blame? Is it the individual buyers, the seller or the Government through the Ministry of Lands and the Mavoko Municipal Council?

A number of reasons could explain this scenario. First of all, the affected individuals might have overlooked important processes in the acquisition of the land. Before rushing to secure a piece of land in a lucrative deal, it is important to do a search at the Ministry of Lands or the local lands office, in this case the Mavoko Municipal Council. However expensive it may seem, it is important to involve a lawyer at this point because they can check all the aspects of the ownership of the land and the legality of the various transfers from one owner to another. It is likely that some land buyers in Syokimau overlooked this important step.

Since the land in contention is within the Mavoko Municipal Council, it is expected that the council has maps showing the ownership and boundaries of all the land within its jurisdiction, including that of the Kenya Airports Authority (KAA). One wonders why then the same council would allocate KAA’s land to individuals.

Some owners, however, claim they got the ownership documents from the Ministry of Lands. Could it be that the data in the ministry’s custody is different from that in the Mavoko Municipal Council?

Another explanation could be that some corrupt individuals who are well connected in Government may have acquired the land illegally and rushed to dispose it. And because their status quo has the protection of the Government and the local municipality, it was only until the property was safely out of their hands and into the new owners that the Government ordered the demolitions.

One cannot also rule out the collaboration of the KAA, given that it is under the same Government. This is so because if indeed the authority knew the property was theirs, why did they have to wait until the individuals invested colossal amounts instead of halting the developments at the beginning?

I also assume that some of these investors used their title deeds to secure loans to construct their homes. Most financiers cannot approve any loans without scrutinising the legality of the title deeds. One wonders then how some of them financed the individuals if indeed the title deeds were illegal.

As the owners head to the courts to seek to recover their lost fortune, the Ministry of Lands should hasten the process of harmonising spatial data and sharing it with all the relevant institutions.

It is commendable that the ministry has introduced the National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI), but its implementation is wanting. In developed countries, one can easily access uniform land information from the Internet in any part of the country. This will be the case if the NSDI is fully implemented.

The writer is a geographic information systems consultant and a lecturer at Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology.