Lands, Public Works, Housing and Urban Development CS Alice Wahome met staff at the Kiambu Lands office to address plans to modernise operations to optimise provision of services.
Wahome underscored the need to digitise records at the office in the long run but pledged to procure containers for storage of manual records that had consumed most of the space at the facility on a short-term basis. "We need to be able to make it as smooth as possible for people to be able to easily access services, in my capacity, the ministry of lands will do what it takes to digitise all records and do away with manual record-keeping," she said.
However, the CS stressed the need for accountability in the generation of revenue and land acquisition processes, valuation and registration to avert loopholes through which the staff found ways of engaging in malpractices. "People will have to take personal responsibility for the loss of revenue, so we will need an overhaul of how we monitor and make sure there is serious accountability when these issues occur in order to deliver efficient services for the sake of the citizens," she said.
On the physical condition of the registry, Wahome said there was a need for improvements and that the ministry would work with the lands office to revamp the exterior and interior, which are in dilapidated conditions. "The citizens coming here should feel as though they are coming into a government office; we need to work on the presentation so that the overall opinion of the public is one of confidence in the services they are going to receive," she added.
