Lands ministry sees the future through an opaque side mirror

By Peter Kimani

Kenya: The Ministry of Lands is reportedly seeking the supply of typewriters and duplicators, which got tongues wagging as to their intentions, considering such equipment is obsolete in this digital era, with a digital Government in charge.

I think people are missing the point. The Ministry of Lands is demonstrating remarkable transparency and should be applauded. The bigwigs there have no intentions of computerising the Lands registry and they do not hide that fact.

After all, computers would render the whole Government bureaucracy untenable. There would be no files to hide, and the clerks and messengers who thrive in the business of making some files go missing at convenient intervals would have no unofficial assignments to take up.

Officially, there would be pretty little to do as well, not to mention computerisation would mean taking services to mashinani (grassroots) by linking all regional registries to the national pool.

Retaining title deeds and other land documentation in typed forms makes a lot of sense, and if it’s not too late, I will make a bid to supply one IBM typewriter that’s about 20 years old, but it’s still in very working condition.

I will donate it to the ministry for their brutal honesty that corruption is here to stay.