The Jubilee administration has assured Kenyans that the grants, leases and certificates of title deeds it has issued in various parts of the country since it came into power are legitimate.
Lands Cabinet Secretary Jacob Kaimenyi trashed reports by a section of media that over three million title deeds issued since 2013 are illegal.
Kaimenyi clarified that the court ruling delivered on December 19 by High Court Judge Joseph Onguto declared the titles null and void but suspended the same directive to enable him adhere to the constitutional requirements.
Kaimenyi maintained that land ownership documents that had been promulgated by the then Cabinet Secretary Charity Ngilu still remains valid because Justice Onguto gave the ministry 12 months period to correct the anomalies.
“As rightly directed by the court in its judgment that the orders shall not operate retroactively, grants, leases and certificates of title that have been registered and issued by the Ministry since 2013 are legal, valid and legitimate,” said Kaimenyi.
Kaimenyi who was accompanied by National Lands Commission (NLC) chairman Muhammad Swazuri and executive director Tom Chavangi dismissed the reports which have generated heated debate in the country.
Kaimenyi said that he has already constituted and gazetted a taskforce meant to seek input from NLC, members of public and Parliament’s approval.
The CS said that the taskforce, which was formed on Monday last week, would “carry out the said exercise with strict instructions to complete the process within two months”.
He said that his ministry is committed to ensuring that the draft regulations are completed and submitted to Parliament for approval within the period granted by Justice Onguto.
The taskforce, he said, comprises of officials from the ministry, NLC, Kenya Law Reform Commission, State Law Office, Institution of Surveyors of Kenya, County Government of Nairobi and Law Society of Kenya.