Court suspends issuance of title deeds for 22,000 plots in Kajiado

Lands and physical planning Executive Mr Hamilton Parseina, shows one of the tittle deeds allegedly being given to members of Kiku A and B group ranches in Kajiado. [Peterson Githaiga, Standard]

Kajiado residents will have to wait longer for title deeds after the court suspended the titling of more than 22,000 plots.

Justice Maxwell Gicheru ordered that the process be halted, pending submission of the plan to the Kajiado County Assembly for public participation.

The court also ruled that monies paid to consultants by plot owners be refunded in less than 60 days.

Justice Gicheru also ordered that after approval by the county assembly, the county should carry out competitive pricing for the parcels.

"The county department of land and county attorney should take responsibility for the survey and titling process," ruled Justice Gicheru.

For over 40 years, most Kajiado residents have had no land ownership documents.

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

Councillors would give one person a plot but when they left office, the incoming councillor issued the same plot to another person.

In April this year, the county government in conjunction with the National Land Commission (NLC) embarked on issuing title deeds to clear the mess.

The Department of Land hired three consultancy firms to carry out the exercise. However, a section of landowners petitioned the process and urged the county government to stop the process.

Thursday, Lands Executive Hamilton Parseina said they would honour the ruling and go back to the drawing board.