NAIROBI, Kenya, Jan 18 – Lawyers are on Friday set to hold peaceful protests across their eight branches in the country over delays and inefficiencies at the land registries.
According to the Law Society of Kenya (LSK), digitization of land records and transactions in 2018 has not been effective hence causing untold suffering to members of the public seeking land’s services.
The society said they resorted to holding the protests after two consultative meetings which they held with the Ministry aimed at exploring solutions to the challenges in June, July and August 2022 failed to yield any results.
“To date, the Ministry of Lands has failed to implement the very mutual recommendations arrived at by both institutions. Therefore members continue to experience delays, inefficiencies, and service collapse across the country’s registries,” stated LSK CEO Florence Muturi.
LSK’s Muturi said the planned Friday protest is not only to place a public outcry, but they will also be seeking to document the challenges being faced and present them to the Ministry even as they explore other legal means.
“The practice of conveyancing has nearly collapsed causing untold hardship to our members and the public at large,” she added.
The protest according to the program will be flagged off at the Supreme Court grounds at 10.00 am and members shall traverse through City Hall way, through Kenyatta Avenue and Milimani road to the Ministry of Lands offices at Ardi house.
“The procession at the Branches, other than Nairobi, shall be guided by the Branch Chairpersons. The Council reiterates its commitment to champion and pursue a better practice environment to our membership,” she stated.
The Ardhi sasa digital platform launched by President Uhuru Kenyatta was aimed at enhancing the security of land records, speed up transactions and curb fraud.
The system is designed in a way that users can lodge and track the progress of their transactions without having to visit ministry offices.
Most importantly, the platform objective is to address historical injustices and curb fraud, corruption and manipulation of land records.
The LSK has however been decrying the slow pace the Ministry has been taking to implement the system, hence derailing service delivery.
Subsequently, LSK submitted recommendations to the Lands Ministry documenting proposals to address the gaps that had become apparent.
