Legislation proposed in Parliament seeks to regulate and license land-buying and selling companies in a bid to protect Kenyans from counting huge losses in various scams.
According to the proposed law tabled in Parliament by Kirinyaga Central Member of Parliament Joseph Gachoki, all companies involved in purchasing or selling land will be required to register with a regulator.
In addition, the companies will be required to deposit Ksh500 million as license fees to act as collateral in case a deal goes sour. This clause aims to protect Kenyans from all deposits made during transactions.
An additional fine of Ksh5 million will be imposed on all companies that do not comply with the stipulated law.
Reports indicated that the lawmakers urged the National Assembly Committee to look into the petition to enable affected Kenyans to get back their investments should the stipulated companies renege on the deal.
“The principal object of this Bill is to regulate the registration and licensing of land buying companies and to protect interests of persons who purchase land from a land buying company,” read part of the proposed law.
Kenyans are advised to always carry out due diligence before opting to purchase a parcel of land.
This involves scrutinising the proposed land, carrying out a survey, conducting a search at the Lands Registry as well as authenticating the documents.
Government Pledge
After taking over power, President William Ruto promised to construct 250,000 houses every year for low income-earners.
He added that the programme targeted over 6.5 Million Kenyans living in slums and informal settlements.
“This transformative Plan goes beyond the provision of affordable housing units to presenting opportunities for gainful employment and wealth creation to millions of Kenyans struggling to put food on the table," Ruto stated in December 2022.
