For many Kenyans, a title deed represents the ultimate proof of land ownership, a document that seems to guarantee security and legal protection.
But the courts have repeatedly claimed that this piece of paper is not as bulletproof as many would like to think.
In a recent case involving a piece of land in Mombasa that was originally set aside as a public road reserve, the court delivered a harsh lesson about the limits of title deeds.
The land had been surveyed, allocated to private individuals, and registered with proper title deeds, with owners building fences and taking possession as if everything was perfectly legal.
Years later, anti-corruption authorities challenged the ownership, arguing that the land had never stopped being public property and was never lawfully availed for private allocation.
The registered owners defended themselves with what should have been an unbeatable argument - they had valid title deeds.
But the court ruled that registration cannot legitimise something that was illegal from the very beginning.
If land was public property and was never properly degazetted, surrendered, or excised through lawful processes, then no government officer had the authority to allocate it in the first place.
Any title deed issued under such circumstances is void, regardless of how many innocent buyers the land passed through or how much money changed hands.
This means that even if you conducted a land search, paid all the fees, and built a home, you can still lose everything if the land was originally public property that was illegally allocated.
The courts made it clear that due diligence must go beyond simply checking the Lands Registry, and that the era of hiding behind a title deed is ending.
For Kenyans sitting on former road reserves, riparian land, or utility corridors, this judgment serves as a warning that reclamation can happen even decades after registration.
