The Jubilee Administration Issued 3 Million Fake Title Deeds

When the Jubilee administration came to power, one of their priorities was to ensure that all Kenyans who did not have land and those who had but lacked proper documentations either got a place to put a roof on their heads or got the necessary documents.

To do this, the Jubilee administration embarked on a massive issuance of title deeds across the country starting from the coastal region of Kenya. Many Kenyans, especially the squatters were happy and they knew that at long last, the Black Messiah in the name of President Uhuru Kenyatta had come to their rescue.

Some politicians from the opposition criticized the title deeds issuance expedition and even said that they seemed to be fake but the diehard fans of the current regime came out, guns blazing and with lashing tongues terming the opposition leaders as the enemies of the people.

All the gymnastics that the government involved in during the issuance of the title deeds have now come to a shameful halt after the High Court ruled that three million of the title deeds issued by President Uhuru Kenyatta since 2013 are fake.

According to the ruling made by the Hight Court Judge Joseph Onguto, the government embarked on the issuance of the title deeds without involving the National Land Commission as required by the law. The suit had been filed by lawyer Anthony Otiende who in his submission said that the Ministry of Lands processed the title deeds without taking into considerations the regulations to guide the process as per the requirements of the Land Registration Act.

According to the judge, Parliament partially delegated its law-making role to the 3rd Respondent via Section 110 (1) of the Land Registration Act. The Section deals with delegated legislation and provides as follows:

110 (1) The Cabinet Secretary shall make regulations prescribing anything which may be prescribed under this act (Land Registration Act) generally and for the better carrying into effect the purpose and provisions of this Act without prejudice to generally of the foregoing such regulations may prescribe:

1. The forms to be used in connection with this Act
2. The manner and form of the registries of land, the procedures to be followed by registries and hours they are to be open for business.
3. Procedures for the transfer of land from one category to another.
4. Particulars and format to be contained in a register or other document required to be kept under this Act and
5. Any other for the better carrying into effect of the provisions of this Act.

(2) In making the regulations, rules or prescribing any matters required under this Act, the Cabinet Secretary shall take into account the advice of the Commission as required under the constitution and such regulations or rules shall be tabled before Parliament for approval.

Professor Jacob Kaimenyi, the Cabinet Secretary for land, however, has dismissed the court’s ruling saying that the title deeds were genuine and that due procedures were followed.

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