Why are Title Deeds being converted?
In Kenya, the reason for migrating title deeds from the old land laws to the new land laws is to create a unified and streamlined system of land administration, management and registration.
The 2010 Constitution called for consolidation of land statutes and regulations. Pursuant to this, the land laws were revised by the repeal of the Registered Land Act (Cap 300), Land titles Act (Cap 282), Government Lands Act (Cap 280), Registered titles Act (Cap 281) and the Indian Transfer of Property Act, 1882.
The new land laws, which include the Land Registration Act 2012, the Land Act 2012, and the National Land Commission Act 2012, were enacted to replace the old land laws which were fragmented, outdated and lacked transparency.
The Conversion Process
The migration process involves converting the title deeds under the old laws and registers to land titles under the new laws. The Land Registration (Units) General Order 2017 sets out the process of converting old titles and registers to new titles and registers under the Land Registration Act. This is done through a process where the requisite forms together with the old title deeds are surrendered to the Land Registrar who then verifies the ownership details and issues a new land title.
The Ministry of Lands started this process as noted in a series of Gazzette Notices. A conversion manual dated April 2021 was also published by the Ministry to guide the conversion process, but this is no longer fully applicable following a decision to implement the conversion process through the Ardhisasa platform.
Benefits of Conversion
At the conclusion of the process of conversion, it is expected that the land administration, management and registration system will benefit from:-
- One title registration system under the Land registration Act, 2012;
- The new register kept in electronic form as well as manual;
- New Generation Title; and
- The use of Registry Index Maps (RIMS) as registration instruments replacing deed plans.
Property owners are encouraged to migrate their title deeds to the new system as it comes with various benefits such as reduced fraud, ease of access to land information, and improved land administration.
Next Steps
It is important to note that the migration of title deeds is a gradual process that is being implemented in phases across the country. Property owners should check the status of their property through the Kenya Gazzette notices and should they discover that their property has already been listed therein, convert their Title Deeds as soon as possible.
