The Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC) has said the missing title deed is not for its South C headquarters or the prime real estate it owns along the Denis Pritt Road in Nairobi.
The clarification comes after the examination body published a notice on the latest edition of MyGov, disclosing that the grant title for the land parcel LR. No. 209/6900 had been lost and has yet to be recovered.
The council proceeded to make a call to the public, urging anyone who may have come across the title deed to submit it to their head office located in South C, off Mombasa Road in Nairobi.
''The public is hereby notified that the Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC) has lost the grant title for its plot LR. No. 209/6900. Anybody who may have come across this document is requested to drop it at the KNEC offices in South C, off Mombasa Road in Nairobi or at the nearest police station,'' read part of the notice.
In a subsequent statement on Wednesday, July 2, KNEC was forced to clarify that the missing title deed pertained to a parcel of land located in Kileleshwa in Nairobi, not its national headquarters in South C or the highly priced piece of property located along Dennis Pritt Road.
“This title is neither for KNEC headquarters in South C nor for the Dennis Pritt land,” the council stated. “It is an old case for a piece of land in Kileleshwa. The Ministry of Lands advised that they cannot replace the title without exhausting all avenues of search and recovery, including this gazette notice.”
The clarification came amid a wave of criticism directed at the council, as some Kenyans read malice into reports that a council of KNEC's magnitude could lose a grant title.
Kenyans were particularly critical of the fact that this was not the first time a state institution had misplaced a crucial document.
In September 2024, the government announced the loss of at least 366 title deeds and subsequently declined to take liability arising from any unauthorised transactions that led to the loss of the said documents.
A grant title is an official document issued by the government to confirm legal ownership of a specific parcel of land. In Kenya, it serves as proof that the person or institution named in the title legally owns the property and has the right to use, develop, or transfer it.
For public institutions like KNEC, holding a valid grant title is critical in safeguarding their property rights, as it helps prevent disputes, supports land development plans, and protects against fraudulent claims.
Without a grant title, KNEC faces the possibility of legal and administrative issues during attempts to assert ownership of land. Undertaking projects on land without the title can also pose a challenge.