The government has enhanced the security features of title deeds to safeguard them and prevent fraudsters from producing counterfeit documents.
Speaking during a plenary hearing at the Senate on Wednesday, Lands Cabinet Secretary Alice Wahome disclosed that the additional security features were introduced following reports of 366 title deeds being lost.
"We have put additional security features on the titles and thus it is not possible to have them printed elsewhere," the CS told the senate.
She, however, did not point out the exact additional features but assured Kenyans that cases of fake deeds would be handled going forward.
"Fraudsters will continue printing, that's why the DCI is important in our work. They help us identify malpractices including forged signatures of our officers both living and dead, retired officers...they copy," the CS said.
She was responding to Senator Hamdi Kibwana who queried the measures the ministry has put in place to ensure that the lost land documents are not illegitimately used.
Clarifying the issue of the lost title deeds, the CS explained that no title deeds were lost. Instead, what went missing were land security papers.
"The security papers can only become a title deed after they are handed over to the ministry and then filled with spatial and non-spatial attributes of information, signed by the registrar and sealed with the respective registry seals after all the processes have been followed," Wahome clarified.
This came after the government on Friday, September 27, 2024, in an official notice announced that up to 366 title deeds were missing.
"It is notified for the general information of the public that Title Deeds bearing serial numbers listed herein are reported lost (5253001—5253367)" read part of the gazette notice.
Two days later, the Ministry explained that the papers were components in the titling process, not title deeds.
CS Wahome revealed that the Ministry has enhanced its mechanism for fighting land fraud and is working closely with security agencies to ensure safety of important documents.
