The Kenyan government may eventually try to move its land deed registry onto a blockchain-based platform, but it recently encountered resistance as it attempted to take the intermediate step of moving those records onto a non-blockchain digital platform.
A team convened by the Kenyan government to explore potential applications of several emerging technologies will look into[1] the possibility of moving the country's land records onto a blockchain platform.
A Blockchain Land Registry for Kenya?
Joseph Mucheru, the country's information minister, has said that such a platform could offer "security, efficiency, and transparency" in recording land rights. The paper-based land deed registry currently in place has proven unreliable in terms of accuracy and security, and some land records officials have reportedly been complicit in illegal land grabs.
Squatters can also usurp – or at least attempt to usurp – land by simply building a structure (such as a house) on it and putting the structure to use (for instance, by moving family members into it). In 2015, the government encouraged members of the public to push back against this practice by fencing off land that they own and securing the deeds to their plots.
Led by former ICT Permanent Secretary[2] Bitange Ndemo, the team probing blockchain and other cutting-edge technology will report to the information minister. Other team members boast private sector experience with firms such as IBM, Safaricom (one of the companies behind[3] M-Pesa,) and Ushahidi.
Digitizing the Existing Registry
In related news, a Kenyan bar association called the Law Society of Kenya[4] (LSK), which counts "all practicing advocates" in the country as members, has filed a lawsuit[5] to halt a recent government order to move paper-based land title records onto a digital platform and
