Will title certificates in Konza city be a geo-referenced for its location?

By Collins Kowuor

For your information, most land parcels in towns, whether freehold or leasehold, are geo-referenced because they are surveyed to standards

This week saw the launch of another city, Konza Techno-City by President Kibaki.

It reminded me about the optimism with which the Permanent Secretary, Bitange Ndemo discussed about the city when he graced the launch of a research on “Land Information Management Systems,” by Institution of Surveyors of Kenya last year.

Several factors will play roles in making this city to spur economic growth in the country. One of these factors is the real estate ownership structure that is usually captured in the title document. The land on which the city will sit is public land on which structures will be constructed by master developers then leased to investors.

The Constitution of Kenya 2010 defines public land and states which public land shall vest in National Government and which ones shall vest in County Government.

But this can be subject of another day. The question we need to answer today is whether the title certificates to be issued for the developed structures will be geo-referenced.

What is geo-referencing? I have been asked this question a number of times by members of the public and several professionals including lawyers. This term as defined in Land Registration Act means referring to an object using a specific location either on, above or below the earth’s surface. In geo-referencing a location is defined using a defined coordinate system of the country. Note that the Act also provides that the Registrar shall register long term leases and issue certificates of leases over apartments, flats, maisonettes, townhouses or offices having the effect of conferring ownership, if the property comprised is geo-referenced and approved by the statutory body responsible for the survey of land.

For your information, most land parcels in towns, whether freehold or leasehold, are geo-referenced already because they are surveyed to fixed standards and their registrations are supported by maps based on precise survey.

However, most of the sectional properties, mentioned earlier such as apartments and office suites are not geo-referenced and you can’t locate where they are using maps. It is only the location plan under sectional properties that are geo-referenced but not the floor plans. This has sometimes led to registration of non-existent properties.

They will now be geo-referenced using X, Y, Z (3D) coordinate system before registration and issuance of title documents thereby reducing ambiguity. Land parcels are geo-referenced using X, Y (2D) coordinate system. Most rural and suburban land parcels are not geo-referenced and are on general boundaries with some at accuracy level of meters. Not good for investments of huge capital outlay.

The general boundaries generally emanate from Preliminary Index Diagrams, which are not geo-referenced and have resulted in many boundary disputes in areas with general boundaries.  It is envisaged that different land uses such as industrial, residential, agricultural, commercial among others will have unique accuracy measures with specific standards according to the Director of Survey. Geo-referencing is about accurate spatial information that is critical in decision making on real estate investment. It will be the cornerstone of the National Spatial Data Infrastructure, an informational infrastructure to provide a platform for economic development and growth by facilitating data sharing hence optimal use of natural and built resources.

In his book, The World Is Flat, Thomas Friedman clearly expounded the globalisation effect creating a global village where Kenya belongs. Geo-referencing must therefore, not be ignored or mutilated regardless of time and cost implications because of the long-term benefits associated with it.

The writer is chair of Institution of Surveyors of Kenya