Sigh of relief as residents of Kajiado set to get title deeds

For over 40 years, most Kajiado residents who own plots in the county's urban areas have been living without valid land ownership documents.

In some areas, land disputes have been the order of the day, following the double allocation that was done by the then Olkejuado County Council.

In Ongata Rongai and Kitengela, residents fought each other over land ownership as each laid claim to the piece.

Councillors could give one person a plot but when they leave office the incoming councillor also issued the same plot to another person.

But now, residents can breathe a sigh of relief as the county government has already carried out the validation process.

The county government in conjunction with the National Land Commission (NLC) has now embarked on a process to issue the residents with a title deed to clear the mess.

In an interview with The Standard, Lands Executive Hamilton Parseina said his department has hired three consultancy firms to carry out the exercise.

Parseina said Gatome and Associates, Geoflex Consultants Consulting and Surveying and Mapping Services have been tasked to complete the process.

Parseina said the county government doesn't have a budget for the titling process and that's why they engaged the consultants through a memorandum of understanding (MoU).

"The County Government of Kajiado is overseeing all three consultants and any issue should be brought to the attention of the County including any complaint against any consultant. This is the reason why we can't allow the Consultants' fee to be deposited in their account as it will bring about audit queries," said Parseina.

He said that during the validation exercise, County collected details of the residents, size of the property, phone contacts, identification card numbers, and issued allotment letters.

"In conjunction with the National Land Commission, we are now doing a verification exercise to ensure the information we have in the office is similar to the situation on the ground," said Parseina.

He said before the introduction of new letters of allotment, 8,000 old allotment letters were issued against 3,000 plot owners in Kitengela and Noonkopir area, Kajiado East Sub-county.

The official said the county government has invested millions of shillings to clear the mess by issuing new-generation allotment letters.

According to Parseina, each landowner will need to pay Sh55,000 as the total cost in order to get the certificate of the lease.

He said a valuation roll has been done for all properties in the county and the amount to be paid as rates depend on the value of one's property.

"If the county government was to go by the valuation roll, the rates would have been higher than what is being charged now. The county government considered the current situation in the country and the effects of Covid-19 that left many people in poverty," said Parseina.

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