The State Department for Lands and Physical Planning has blamed inadequate funding for slowing the nationwide rollout of the Ardhisasa digital land management system, telling the National Assembly Public Accounts Committee (PAC) that budget constraints have delayed plans to digitise all land registries despite steady progress in several counties.
Appearing before the committee in Tuesday during the review of the Auditor-General’s reports for the 2023/24 and 2024/25 financial years, Principal Secretary Generali Nixon Korir defended the implementation of the National Land Information Management System after the audit questioned the pace of its rollout.
The Auditor-General noted that although Ardhisasa was launched in April 2021 to modernise land administration, only Nairobi and Murang’a had fully migrated to the platform by the time of the audit despite Kenya having 83 land registries.
As a result, the audit found it could not confirm whether the system was achieving its intended efficiency.
Korir told MPs that implementation had progressed beyond the audit period, with additional counties now using the platform while others were at different stages of digitisation.
“The State Department, following the launch of Ardhisasa, has successfully rolled out the system in Nairobi, Murang’a, Mombasa Island, and Isiolo. Significant progress has also been made in Mombasa Mainland and Marsabit, where records have already been captured within the Electronic Document Management System (EDMS). Ongoing digitization activities are currently underway in Machakos, Kajiado, and Baringo Counties.”
He said the department had also rolled out digital services including ArdhiPay, which handles land-related payments, and the National Stamp Duty Module to support transactions across the country, including areas where Ardhisasa is yet to be fully implemented.
Korir maintained that inadequate financing remains the biggest obstacle to expanding the programme nationwide.
“A major challenge that has hindered the digitization process is inadequate budgetary allocation to support the extensive requirements of digitization activities. The initial implementation plan could not be fully realized due to financial constraints and limited resources (both human and equipment) necessary to undertake the proposed digitization exercise.”
The department gave a similar explanation in its response to unresolved audit matters for the 2024/25 financial year, saying implementation was continuing within available resources and with support from development partners.
The Principal Secretary also linked the digitisation programme to efforts aimed at improving records management after the Auditor-General raised concerns over inadequate storage space in registries in Kisumu, Kakamega, Bungoma, Eldoret, Nakuru, Naivasha, Kilifi, Kwale and Mombasa.
“To address the challenge, the Department continues to implement the National Land Information Management System (Ardhisasa) through the digitalization of land services. Mombasa Island has been fully digitized, while scanning and digitization of land records for Mombasa Mainland is ongoing. This initiative is expected to reduce reliance on physical storage, enhance records security, improve accessibility and strengthen disaster recovery.”
PS Korir also defended the transfer of Sh331.1 million to another government agency for digitisation-related operations, saying the arrangement was necessary while the department strengthened its internal capacity.
He told lawmakers that a dedicated Directorate of the National Lands Information Management System had already been established and would eventually assume full responsibility for implementing Ardhisasa.
The Public Accounts Committee is examining the Auditor-General’s findings alongside the State Department’s responses before making recommendations to Parliament on the management of public resources and the implementation of government programmes.