State launches Ardhisasa system to combat land grabbing

The Ministry of Lands, Public Works, Housing, and Urban Development has introduced a new system to curb land grabbing in the country.

Ardhisasa is an innovative online platform that enables citizens and stakeholders to engage with land information and government processes.

Developed by the Ministry of Land and Physical Planning and the National Land Commission (NLC), in collaboration with key government partners, the platform facilitates applications for various services offered by the ministry and the commission.

The applications are handled through the platform and responses are presented through it.

*CS HON. ALICE WAHOME*

Today, the Ardhisasa system has gone live in Murang'a County in a significant move towards enhancing land security and efficiency.

Murang'a now joins Nairobi as the second county to fully operationalize the National Land Management Information System. The… pic.twitter.com/HAt0xgog0q

— Hon. Alice Wahome, EGH (@WahomeHon) July 8, 2024

On Monday, Lands Cabinet Secretary Alice Wahome launched the Ardhisasa system in Murang'a County where it became operational. Murang'a now follows Nairobi as the second region to fully implement the tool.

Wahome said one of the key features of the new system is the provision of real-time alerts to landowners when someone attempts to access their land records.

“Beginning today, those problems (of land grabbing) are matters of the past. No one will be able to fraudulently tamper with your land ownership records. The Ardhisasa system is designed to alert you by telephone and email, being a landowner, anytime there is an attempt to conduct a [fraudulent] transaction."

Landowners were urged to register their properties on the platform, as alerts will only be sent to those who have entered their details into the Ardhisasa database.

Wahome noted that the system is exclusively available to property owners in Nairobi and Murang'a counties, with plans for services in Isiolo, Marsabit, and Mombasa counties before a nationwide rollout.

“Our objective is to ensure the platform becomes accessible in all parts of the country within the shortest possible time frame,” she said and praised the system as a significant milestone in land governance that will address long-standing challenges in property management.

“The launch of Ardhisasa will strengthen the security of land tenure as it has been designed to remove human interference with land ownership records,” she added.