Siaya county says only 2pc land owners have titles

Only two per cent of land ownership in Siaya is registered with title deeds, the county government has said.

The Executive member (CEC) in charge of Lands Eng Adrian Ouma claimed land owners who only have allotment letters have stagnated growth in the county’s urban areas, since uptake of building loans is near 0.02 percent.

Eng Ouma said 18 per cent of land mass consisting of urban centres like Yala, Ugunja, Sega, Ukwala, Nyadorera, Siaya, Ngiya, Bondo, Akala, Ndori, Usenge, Aram and Madiany are registered as plots by the defunct local authorities.

He argued that urban renewal cannot proceed if investors only find original land owners have only papers that cannot be recognised beyond the county.

Speaking in his office, the CEC called upon residents with only allotment letters to come forward to be helped with the process of getting title deeds under the urban renewal programme.

“The urban renewal programme was started by Governor Cornel Rasanga in January. We have started a mass land registration exercise, which will end in November,” he said.

Eng Ouma argued that with title deeds, the residents in urban centres will be able to acquire loans to develop the properties to modern standards.

Ouma said the private sector has potential and can easily spur local economic growth. He said since development happens on land, getting ownership right is the first step towards developing the county.

“Lets purpose to get land ownership documents. Lack of title deeds reduces property value and makes it less attractive to investors,” he added.

The CEC noted that urban renewal and improvement of town aesthetics has already kicked off in Siaya with the launch of Sh46m rehabilitation of open spaces.