Kilifi county unveils digital property registry

Kilifi Governor Amason Kingi at a past function in Mtwapa, Kilifi County early this year. [Kelvin Karani, Standard]

The Kilifi County government has unveiled a digital property registry to speed up service delivery and minimise corruption.

Governor Amason Kingi launched the Kilifi Electronic Development Application and Management Systems (Ke-DAMS), which replaces the manual processing of development permits and other services that applicants used to spend more than one month seeking approvals.

“We shall continue to enhance seamless service delivery and creating of an investor-friendly environment so that we can attract more investors as well as create jobs for our population,” said Mr Kingi.

The online platform will enable the county collect at least Sh2 billion in land and property rates.

“People would waste a lot of time chasing something that would otherwise be concluded within minutes and the many interaction with people in offices made money change hands to buy time hence promoting corruption,” he added.

The programme is funded by the county in partnership with the World Bank and the International Finance Corporation.

It has been praised as a measure to control the spread of the coronavirus since there will be little or no physical interaction.

World Bank Group Kenya Competitiveness Enhancement Programme Manager Sarah Ochieng said the platform will require continuous update of the hardware and software for it to be successful.