The government has enhanced the security features of title deeds to prevent fraud and combat the production of counterfeit documents.
On Wednesday, Lands Cabinet Secretary Alice Wahome confirmed that these new measures were implemented after 367 security documents, used to print title deeds, mysteriously disappeared from the government printer in September. The Ministry of Lands blamed the incident on land cartels.
“We have added security features to the titles, making it impossible for them to be printed elsewhere,” Wahome explained during a Senate plenary hearing.
While she did not specify the exact security enhancements, Wahome assured the public that the government would address any future cases of fake deeds.
She also emphasized the importance of the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) in uncovering fraud, including identifying forged signatures from both active and retired officers.
“Fraudsters will continue printing, that’s why the DCI is important in our work. They help us identify malpractices including forged signatures of our officers both living and dead, retired officers…they copy,” the CS said.
The CS further clarified it was the land security papers that went missing and not title deeds.
“The security papers can only become a title deed after they are handed over to the ministry and then filled with spatial and non-spatial attributes of information, signed by the registrar and sealed with the respective registry seals after all the processes have been followed,” CS Wahome stated.
