Govt hastening digitization of land registries, CS Wahome says » Capital News

NAIROBI, Kenya, Aug 7 – The government is expediting the digitization process of land registries across the country to reduce the bottlenecks in service delivery at the ministry.

Lands and Public Works Cabinet Secretary Alice Wahome, says Kenyans are grappling with delays in accessing services.

Wahome says the ministry requires efficiency as it rolls out affordable housing finance.

“Delays in title verification, land searches, increase the cost of credit and discourage investment and frustrate homeowners,” she said.

The CS says it remains the responsibility of the government to ensure seamless operations in the ministry.

Wahome says the acceleration of digitization will ensure Kenyans receive a secure, transparent and service oriented platform.

Already, the CS says the digitization has been rolled out in the counties of Nairobi and Muranga.

“We are also rolling out the platform in the counties of Mombasa, Isiolo, Marsabit and Machakos,” he said.

She announced that the national objective is to reach 10 other counties within a year, before it is fully rolled out to all the 47 counties.

Speaking in Kisumu during the opening of the 4^th Kenya Affordable Housing Conference 2025, organized by the Kenya Mortgage Refinance Company (KMRC), the CS says the end game is to establish a unified secured and modern land administration system in the country.

She noted that the reforms are necessary as part of confidence building among investors in the housing sector.

Wahome announced that the Ministry is engaging the World Bank and the national treasury for further funding to scale up the process of digitization.

“Within the next couple of years, we will be able to fully digitize our land records,” she said.

The CS went further to call upon investors in the sector to fully participate in developing affordable houses to bridge the deficit.

Wahome says the demand for institutional houses is very high and support from investors is the only surest way to deal with the upsurge.

“Even our learning institutions, universities, technical colleges and secondary schools have made requests to the President for affordable houses,” she said.

She says private developers like the KMRC must come on board to be able to deal with the 2.5 million housing deficit in the country.

KMRC, the host of the conference, is a Central Bank of Kenya-licensed non-deposit taking financial institution tasked with expanding access to long-term affordable mortgages through financing.

As a core pillar of the country’s Affordable Housing Programme, KMRC plays a catalytic role in uncloaking housing finance and enabling home ownership for underserved populations.

Kisumu Governor Anyang Nyong’o called for sensitization among the people not to think about affordable housing just within the cities.

Nyong’o says affordable housing is for the local fellows and it can come up in any environment.

“People should know more about affordable housing, let government officials come out strongly to create awareness over the programme,” he said.

KMRC CEO Johnston Oltetia says the idea of the conference is to bring a conversation among Kenyans on affordable housing.

“We are creating visibility, the information that people don’t have about this programme,” he said.