The government has clarified that no title deed was stolen from the Government Printer as alluded to in a gazette notification dated September 26, 2024, issued by the State Printer.
The gazette notice informed the public that some 367 title deeds had been stolen and could not be traced.
The news went viral, with several Kenyans posting the update on their social media channels saying that 367 title deeds had gone missing, causing panic among thousands of Kenyans who began checking whether their land documents were among the listed title deeds that had been reported missing.
In a statement to the public, the Ministry of Lands, Public Works, Housing and Urban Development has clarified the issue and said that the documents stolen at the Government printer are the papers that are used for printing title deeds.
Also, one officer at the Government Printer has already been arrested by security agencies in relation to the theft of the papers.
These papers, the Ministry said, have security features that are usually used for the printing of the crucial land documents and are only found at the Government Printer.
“We would like to assure Kenyans that what was stolen at the Government Printer are not title deeds by the papers used for printing titles. The papers can only become title deeds after they are handed over to the Ministry of Lands, filled with ownership details and sealed with the stamp and signature of the Registrar after all due processes are followed,” the Ministry said.
For the Ministry, the only intention of those who stole the papers was the production of fake titles which they would use to con people out of their money.
“The Ministry of Lands has enhanced its mechanisms for fighting land fraud and is working closely with security agencies to defeat the mechanisms that cartels and corrupt officials have traditionally used to commit land fraud,” the Ministry said.
These anti-corruption tactics will continuously be applied by the government to ensure that none of the documents stolen become a threat to land ownership in the country.
