Most schools have no title deeds, National Land Commission says

The National Land Commission (NLC) has asked the national and county governments to urgently secure public schools' land.

The commission says its research has established that a majority of public schools do not have title deeds.

NLC Director of Research Fibian Lukalo consequently urged the Lands and the Education ministries to share information on schools so as to document and verify learning institutions' land status.

"These are the latest findings of the school titling programme. It shows that 35 per cent of schools have been surveyed," Dr Lukalo said.

She commended Mombasa, Nakuru, Homa Bay and Makueni counties for applying for school land titles.

"By August 2015, applications from the four counties totalled to 7,500 and NLC has 4,100 reports from schools detailing land contestations, encroachment and grabbing by third parties. Another 5,000 have applied for technical assistance to determine school boundaries and surveying," the director said.

She said this while releasing the results of the research in Nyeri and Trans Nzoia counties.

"Out of the 335 public schools (52.7 per cent) surveyed in Trans Nzoia, 37.6 per cent have no land documentation, 23.3 per cent have title deeds, 17 per cent have allotment letters and 9.6 per cent have share certificates," Lukalo said.

In Nyeri, NLC said 48.7 per cent of public schools have no land documentation, 23.3 per cent have certificate of search, 8.3 per cent have titles and 7.7 per cent have certificates of registration.