UNDERSTANDING CONVERSION TO A NEW CADASTRAL SYSTEM: A BRIEF PREVIEW

By VICTOR O. OLONDE & WALTER OGOLLA ODUOR

The conceptual background

Cadastral system has been playing a pivotal role in supporting the land registration process in Kenya. A cadastral system is mainly concerned with ownership of land and its spatial boundary. As such the cadastral structure and land registration system are mutually interlinked. For a long time, the Kenyan cadastral system has been characterized with different types of maps, the most common being the survey plans and Registry Index Maps (RIM) which are normally produced during the initial land registration but reviewed with subsequent subdivisions. While the survey plans are used for fixed boundary parcels of land where deed plans show accurate dimensions and are produced for individual land parcel the RIM is the main map produced for the initial land registration during adjudication activity and displays the layout of all distinctive parcels within a region using general boundaries.

The general boundaries do not represent the fixed location of the land parcels and are assumed to be represented by physical features e.g., bridges, rivers, streams, coastlines or a feature that may be suitable to represent a boundary. The adoption of the general boundaries was necessitated by need to speed up land registration of land for the natives who had no ownership documents since 1903 when the first cadastral system was established in Kenya (GOK, 1966). The general boundaries surveys give rise to Registry Index Maps (RIM) which are compiled from the survey plans. The now repealed Registered Land Act (RLA) Section 21 and 22 gave the Chief Land Registrar the authority to cause a general boundary to be fixed by surveying to the level of fixed survey. The conversion from general boundaries to fixed boundaries would then be adopted where an applicant was a company or cooperative firm whose members had opted for a fixed boundary as well as group ranches where there were general boundaries but members had opted for fixed surveying.

Similarly, as with the cadastral system, the land registration regime has also been characterized with numerous statutes distinctly aligned to different cadastral structures. The different cadastral and registration structures have however complicated both the land information and registration system  subsequently complicating land management in the country and this was the primary reason necessitating the need for conversion.

The Constitution of Kenya 2010 under Article 68 required Parliament to revise, consolidate and rationalize existing land laws and this they did leading to the enactment of the Land Act No. 6 of 2012 and the Land Registration Act No. 3 of 2012 and collectively they are referred to as the Land Acts. The Land Acts aim at ensuring sustainable administration and management of land-based resources and giving effect to the principles and objects of the devolved government in land registration.

Following the enactment of the Land Acts all the previous Acts were collapsed and consolidated into a single system and they repealed a variety of Acts related to land including: The Wayleave Act, Cap. 292; the Land Acquisition Act, Cap. 295; the Indian Transfer of Property Act of 1882; The Government Lands Act (Cap. 280); The Registration of Titles Act (Cap. 281); The Land Titles Act (Cap 282) and the Registered Land Act (Cap. 300) inter alia. The Land Registration Act 2012 consolidates the provisions of the five legislations into one with the aim of creating and facilitating a transparent and easy to use cadastral system. In the past the existence of separate laws for different categories of land meant that depending on the category of land, the land ownership documents, registration procedures and cadastral systems were different. The conversion therefore aims at consolidating the registration procedures, the creation of complete cadasters and ensuring uniformity in the ownership documents.

Conversion to New Title System

The conversion of title deeds was effected through Legal Notice No. 277 on the Land Registration (Registration Units) Order of 2017. From its provisions, the Cabinet Secretary in Charge of Land established registration units and mandated the offices responsible for land survey to commence activities that would ensure that the new cadastral system conforms to the requirements of section 6 of the Land Registration Act No. 3 of 2012. The registration units are established at the County Level and are divided into registration sections which can be by distinctive numbers or letters or a combination of numbers and letters, the parcels in each section of block shall be a number and this is considered to be sufficient reference for a parcel. During the conversion process the survey office may cause registration on sections to be considered or divided or cause the boundaries to be varied but the survey office must inform the registrars of the changes immediately. The conversion units will implement the use of Registry Index Maps (RIM) as registration instruments.

As per the press statement dated 12 January 2021 from the Ministry of Lands and Physical Planning, the Land Registration (Registration Units) Order 2017 outlines the conversion process as follows: –

  • Preparation of cadastral maps together with a conversion list indicating new and old members for parcels of land within a registration unit of registration section/block and corresponding sizes.
  • Regulation 4(4) of the Land Registration (Registration Units) Order 2017 requires publication of the cadastral maps together with a conversion list in the Kenya Gazette and circulation in two daily newspapers. The notice shall specify a date when the register shall be open to the public for transformations.
  • Any person with interest in land in the registration unit shall lodge a complaint to the registrar who shall resolve the same within 90 days of receipt.
  • At the commencement date, all registers shall be closed and all transactions carried out in the new register. All closed registers and supporting documents shall be maintained in the new registration unit.
  • A notice shall be published in at least two newspapers of nationwide circulation and announced in Radio Stations of nationwide coverage inviting registered owners to make application for replacement of title documents from the school registers. The publication shall be accompanied by the original title and the owners identification documents. The registrar will replace title deeds with new ones.
  • The registrar shall retain the old title documents for record and safe custody.

Conclusion

The conversion does not only do away with the complicated old land registration regimes but also displays a simpler version of cadaster that is in sync with the land registers and hence simplifies the land registration process. The implementation of the new system is dependent on a reliable cadastral data management system that is aimed at improving confidence on the users of the system and the general public. The land administration system together with the cadastral system will ease the land conveyancing processes, improve land based taxation and ensure legal protection for land tenure as there will be complete electronic and physical data for all parcels before the titles are converted.

 

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Victor O. Olonde

B.A Land Econs (Hon) Nbi; Msc Real Estate (Glasgow) UK;

Registered Valuer; MISK;

Member, Institute of Chartered Housing Specialists (CIHM) (UK)

PhD Candidate and Doctoral Researcher (UCT)

 

Walter Ogolla Oduor,

Graduate Assistant,

Department of Real Estate and Property Management,

Technical University of Kenya