The State Department for Lands and Physical Planning has attributed more than Sh12.5 billion in unpaid legal obligations and delays in key land reforms to years of inadequate funding, telling Members of Parliament that budget constraints continue to undermine its operations.
Appearing before the National Assembly Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on Tuesday, Principal Secretary Nixon Korir and senior ministry officials responded to issues raised in the Auditor-General’s reports for the 2023/24 and 2024/25 financial years.
The committee questioned the department over pending legal claims, delayed land registry projects, staffing shortages, payroll concerns and the pace of the Ardhisasa digital land management programme.
At the centre of the session was Sh12.55 billion in trade and other payables captured in the department’s 2024/25 financial statements. According to the Auditor-General, nearly all the amount relates to long-outstanding legal claims whose delayed settlement could expose the government to even higher costs.
The department told the committee that the liabilities are largely historical and have remained unpaid because of insufficient budget allocations.
“The issue of long outstanding liabilities has been recurring in the audit observation but due to insufficient budgetary allocation the State Department has not been able to settle the bills.”
Officials said the claims have already been forwarded to the National Treasury for consideration under a planned framework for verifying and settling court awards.
“Treasury Circular No.6/2025 of March 06, 2026 recommended that the National Treasury in consultation with the Attorney General sets up a comprehensive framework for verification and settlement of Court awards before February, 2027. It is therefore our expectation that the long outstanding pending bills will be considered for funding within the provided timelines.”
The committee also sought answers over stalled construction of regional land registries. The ministry said funding cuts during the 2024/25 financial year forced contractors to suspend work on several projects.
“The delays were primarily occasioned by budget constraints arising from the FY 2024/2025 Supplementary I Budget, which resulted in a 100 percent budget cut for the Construction of Land Offices Project.”
Despite the setbacks, the department said the Nanyuki Land Registry has been completed and handed over, while construction at the Maralal and Naivasha registries has resumed after fresh procurement processes.
The ministry further acknowledged that staff shortages continue to affect service delivery, revealing that it has been operating with far fewer officers than its approved establishment.
“It’s true the State Department had an inpost of Two Thousand Six Hundred and Fifty-One (2,651) against Four Thousand Five Hundred and Ninety (4,590) employees. It is also true that this could affect the operations of the State Department.”
It told MPs that the workforce has since increased to 2,922 officers, with plans to recruit another 97 employees during the 2026/27 financial year, subject to funding.
The department also defended repeated breaches of the one-third salary rule, saying payroll challenges linked to the Human Resource Information System had since been addressed.
“The HRIS system has been facing challenges on a third rule on basic salary violation which has been addressed and currently it ensures full compliance.”
On the delayed expansion of the Ardhisasa digital land management system, the ministry maintained that limited funding has slowed digitisation beyond the counties where the platform is already operational.
“The implementation of digitization has encountered significant challenges that have impeded scaling to additional counties. Chief among these is the inadequacy of budgetary allocations to support the extensive requirements of digitization activities.”
Officials said Ardhisasa is currently operational in Nairobi, Murang’a, Mombasa Island and Isiolo, with digitisation continuing in other counties as resources allow. They also defended the transfer of Sh331.1 million to another government agency to support the National Land Information Management System, saying the arrangement is temporary and that the responsibility will eventually shift fully to the department once it is adequately staffed.
The State Department maintained that most of the issues flagged by the Auditor-General stem from financial constraints rather than poor management, assuring the Public Accounts Committee that measures are being implemented to address the audit findings and improve service delivery.