Residents of Homa Bay County have been advised to avoid dealing with land brokers for their land transactions.
Homa Bay Sub-County Deputy County Commissioner Charles Mwayaya and County Lands Registrar Edward Bosire offered this caution while revealing that many residents had fallen victim to land fraud after transacting through brokers.
Bosire said some brokers were notorious for masquerading in different departments at the Ministry of Lands, including survey, adjudication and settlement, purporting to offer help to clients only for them to realise at the end of the transactions that they were dealing with con people.
The registrar regretted that some of the cases got to him when the damage was already done by brokers, making it difficult for him to help.
“All the complaints end at the land registry and it is sometimes hard to trace the origin or documents used in fraud,” he said.
Bosire said the region has many fraudsters who have mastered the art of conning innocent Kenyans and as a means of minimising the fraud cases and loss of money that goes with it, he wants buyers to exercise caution in all land transactions.
He also advised residents to always seek help from staff at the Ministry, as it was easy to trace the source of the problem whenever cases of corruption and fraud were detected.
Bosire also told residents to be on the lookout for fake title deeds, adding that his office could confirm the genuine title deeds.
“A lot of people have lost money when they buy land using fake title deeds. We are now working jointly with other stakeholders, including the Directorate of Criminal Investigations, to get rid of fraudsters,” he said.
Mwayaya said that the government was conducting public participation exercises in different parts of the county to enlighten the public on land issues.
He noted that besides fraud, cases of boundary disputes were on the rise in Homa Bay County, noting most of the victims of this vice are absentee landlords.
“Some people would stay in other towns for many years without leaving caretakers on their property. Such pieces of land are easily encroached upon by neighbours,” the administrator said, adding that when they visit the properties and find the encroaching neighbours, a case always starts.
By Davis Langat
