An evaluation of the cadastral system in Kenya And a strategy for its modernization

Abstract

ABSTRACT - ': ,ladasfral system in Kenya was established in 1903 to support land alienation for the white .- ::s who had come into the country in the early part of the 20th Century. In the last hundred :--s. th€ system has remained more or less the same, where land records are kept in paper : .:r and majority of operations are carried out on a manual basis. The lack of a modern . .:-ral system has contributed to problems in land adminishation in the country. --= ,Jovernment has expressed the need to modernize the cadastral system in order to facilitate : . --r land administration, support the development of an integrated Land Information t:".:qement System and a National Spatial Data Infrastructure. However, one persistent : . - - ninator to these efforts has been the lack of strategies for such modernization. -" ! srudy set out to contribute to the solution of this problem through the following objectives; ; : -3tion of the current cadastral system in Kenya, identification and analysis of appropriate '--:,,.logies and strategies for modernization of the cadastral system in Keny4 and testing of ' = ; -:rability of the identified technologies and strategies in the cadastral system. ' : \lethods adopted included; administration of standard questionnaires to selected -. .:...lders, personal interviews, field observations and review of existing literature on cadastre" -' = rolder involvement in the study consisted of private and public sector Land Surveyors, - .3rs. Valuers, members of Co-operative organizations, and general users of cadastral ::-ation. ; :...lv also carried out field measurements with selected geospatial technologies in selected - s:res to assess their suitability in cadastral mapping and modelling. These technologies . - --l: Global Positioning System, high spatial resolution satellite imagery, and Geographical -,:tion System. Further work involved the development and testing a new cadastral model ' - : - n the Multi-Value Vector Maps approach and Smiths Normalization procedures. - ' : --lir results from the research are that; the administrative structure is bureaucratic, complex - - : . .:hly cenftalized; the cadastral processes are equally complex, duplicative and slow; and all : :Si€d technologies were found suitable for cadastral mapping and modelling, however, the : i ::;hrology lacks proper guidelines for application and calibration bases. :r:S of cadastral modelling, it was found that Smiths Normalization and Functional ;-r-r1c! Diagrams automatically produce fully Normalized Tables and successfully query . - .:iay of multi-parcel ownerships. The study also found out that a hyghbrid of Object- i: -' ,:.al database management system is better-suitable for the development of GlS-based , - - -,.::l databases than typical Relational or Object-Oriented models on their own. ' ': ::-Jy concludes that the main problem with the cadastral system in Kenya is lack of - - : --.-rtzation and decentralization, and therefore recommends for a complete decentralization -. :Jministrative system and implementation of a comprehensive computerization possibly - :he der.elopment of a Land Information System.