An innovative solution has been developed by two students of Jomo Kenyatta University of Science and Technology in Kenya. The innovation would help in streamlining the processes of land registration and deed acquisition.
The two-man team is made up of Robert Ouko, a developer, and Jeniffer Mwai, a marketer. They are undergraduate students in the department of information technology at the East African foremost Ivory Tower.
The innovation is a biometric land registration system that was developed to forestall land ownership issues such as land grabbing which are prevalent in several African countries including Nigeria and Kenya.
Ouko said he developed the innovation due to the unique nature of land assets to Africans.
He said: “I came up with this idea to solve the rampant land ownership problems in Kenya because land is a resource that is of great concern to every human being and it is indeed closer to the heart.”
If the innovation is widely accepted, he said it would help in putting an end to the age-long disputes over land ownership.
He said: “The digital application captures a person’s land details using fingerprints thus making it impossible for one to “grab” another person’s land without their knowledge. The technology has the capacity to take and store a person’s image, fingerprints, eye details and details automatically.
“And with the availability of internet connectivity in many parts of the country for data transfer and processing, the biometric system will reduce the time taken to register for title deeds, conduct land searches, process land certificates and land transfer for people who do not have fingers or eyes.”