President Uhuru Kenyatta to distribute 800,000 new title deeds across the country

President Uhuru Kenyatta with Lands Cabinet Secretary Charity Ngilu and National Land Commission Chair Muhammad Swazuri at the opening of the National Titling Centre in Nairobi Wednesday. [PHOTO: GOVEDI ASUTSA/STANDARD]

NAIROBI: President Uhuru Kenyatta is expected to begin distributing at least 800,000 new title deeds across the country in the next few weeks.

The President announced Wednesday that the titles had already been processed by the Ministry of Lands, adding that the number of processed titles will have reached at least a million by next month.

"When we came to Government two years ago, we promised to distribute at least 3 million title deeds. Many people doubted our promise but we are on the way to reach our target," he said Wednesday as he officially opened the new National Titling Centre in Nairobi to process title deeds.

"We are not doing this for political reasons. We just want Kenyans to benefit and realise the full value of their land to improve their lives," he added.

The President said he would travel to various parts of the country to distribute the title deeds.

He said the new deeds would unlock economic activity around the country and increase investment as people felt more secure about the land they owned.

Cabinet Secretary for Lands Charity Ngilu said the new titling centre had been automated and would produce title deeds with extra security features to protect the documents from forgery and tampering.

REDUCE CONFLICTS

Ms Ngilu said the Jubilee government's plan to distribute title deeds to Kenyans across the country would help reduce the high incidence of conflicts in the land sector.

"We have been encountering a lot of resistance and interference from those opposed to having order in the land sector. Issuing the new deeds is a game changer for the economy," she said.

Ngilu promised to boost her working relationship with the National Land Commission to end the conflict over administration of land matters.