Due diligence on land is not just a search at the lands offices

This city is callous when it comes to land dealings. Land sellers have become crooked and can go to any length to outwit unsuspecting buyers. Regrettably they have constantly succeeded in their trickery mostly due to buyers’ ignorance but also to some extent our lackluster approach to serious issues. We always somehow resist to stretch our effort when making such important decisions. We are witnesses to harrowing experiences on what bad land deals can result to especially on construction projects.

But what does it take to do due diligence on a piece of land before buying? About four years ago I was involved, as a project manager, in a project in Kisauni, Mombasa County. The client, having just procured the land, tasked us to undertake boundary wall fencing before embarking on its development. While doing this, the county government came and dug a storm water channel across the land, breaking the boundary wall. On protest we were shown a county approved land subdivision scheme of the plot that had a road cutting through.