Kirinyaga County rolls out digital land mapping to curb disputes, improve urban planning

The Kirinyaga County Government has launched a comprehensive digital land mapping and geo-referencing exercise aimed at restoring order in urban centres and resolving long-standing land allocation disputes.

Governor Anne Waiguru said the initiative, now in its second week in Kutus and Kagio towns, is being implemented in phases to strengthen urban planning, enhance land management, and improve local revenue systems.

Waiguru emphasised that protecting public land is central to sustainable development, noting that the exercise will ensure every parcel is properly identified, documented, and safeguarded from irregular allocation.

“Safeguarding public land from being grabbed is important because such land is meant to serve the collective good, not private interests,” she said, adding that proper land management supports infrastructure development, housing, industrial growth, and environmental conservation.

The mapping programme will also extend to Wang’uru, Kianyaga, Kerugoya, Baricho, and Sagana towns.

County Executive Committee Member (CECM) for Lands, Physical Planning and Urban Development, Rev. Samuel Kanjobe, said the exercise is anchored in existing legal and planning frameworks to ensure compliance and transparency.

He explained that the process is guided by key documents such as the County Spatial Plan and zonal plans, while the Kerugoya–Kutus municipality mapping is being implemented using the area’s Urban Economic Plan.

The ongoing pre-mapping phase involves capturing precise geographical coordinates for each plot.

“As we map the plots, we are picking their exact coordinates so that wherever you are in the world, you can identify where a specific plot is located and who the owner is,” Kanjobe said.

According to the county, this level of accuracy will ease plot identification, strengthen development control, and enhance revenue collection.

Officials noted that the initiative is also designed to correct historical ownership irregularities inherited from defunct local authorities.

Kanjobe said land acquired decades ago for town expansion was compensated, often through alternative allocations in Mwea, but title surrender and registration updates were not consistently finalised, leaving some parcels under outdated ownership records.

In some cases, individuals hold only minutes from former councils instead of valid title documentation.

“As the successor to the defunct local authorities, we bear both the assets and liabilities. We must regularise these parcels to protect genuine landowners and safeguard public interest,” he said.

The exercise is also resolving cases of double allocation, where single plots have multiple allottees—some paying rates and others not—creating confusion and disputes.

County officials said the mapping will verify the actual number of plots on the ground, correcting discrepancies in existing registers that list more than 23,000 plots.

The validation phase in Kutus and Kagio is nearing completion, after which the programme will be rolled out across other towns.

The digital mapping complements earlier county efforts to reclaim grabbed public land. In recent years, the administration repossessed more than 800 acres valued at about KSh1 billion that had been reserved for public utilities such as hospitals, markets, schools, dams, and police stations.

Local leaders in Kutus have welcomed the initiative, describing it as transparent and long overdue.

Community elder Mugo Murage said residents were sensitised before the exercise began to ensure public understanding.

“It is meant to help in urban planning and ensure that everyone retains their rightfully owned land,” he said, assuring residents that legitimate landowners would not lose their property.

Another elder, Johnston Gitau Njoroge, noted that the exercise is already generating critical data for infrastructure development, including planning for sewerage systems.

George Ng’ang’a added that local leaders have accompanied county teams during fieldwork to build trust and improve cooperation.

“We have walked with the county teams on the ground, explaining the importance of this exercise to residents. It has been very successful and we look forward to the development that will follow,” he said.