The system will bring to an end ‘ukora’
The Mountain Journal
editor@themountainjournal.co.ke
County Government of Kirinyaga has established a Geographic Information System (GIS) lab to
improve service delivery in the county department of lands.
Governor Anne Waiguru, said that the lab, which is pivotal to digitization of lands records, will
enable the County Government to streamline operations and enhance customer service,
transparency and accuracy and will go a long way in eliminating fraud and grabbing of public
land.
“This will help to streamline operations and improve service delivery in our lands department,”
the Governor said.
The GIS lab that is located at the County Headquarters in Kutus has been established in
collaboration with the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) with the aim of modernizing
land governance processes and promotion of sustainable land development. Kirinyaga is
predominantly an agricultural county which heavily depends on natural resources with land
being a fundamental asset for economic growth.
The County Executive Committee Member (CECM) for lands, Samuel Kanjobe, said that the
system will strengthen the county’s ability to manage land governance effectively and enhance
planning and decision making on land matters.
He said that the lab has the requisite hardware which includes computers, workstations, a modern
plotter and software to enable the digitization process adding that the department is now moving
to data collection in plots and land in at least 135 market and trading centers in the county.
“The process will include picking geographic coordinates of our lands and create a database
which include ownership details, sizes and land use,” he said adding that the GIS will minimize
issues of double allocation, ownership disputes and will also enhance precision in revenue
collection.
The County Director, Physical Planning, Murage Muraguri, said that the department is in the
process of converting the analogue data to digital format that will be compatible with the GIS
noting that thereafter, customers will be linked to the system so as to enable them access some of
the services through their digital devices.
GIS is a technology that integrates hardware, software, and data that enables the storage,
management, analysis and modeling of geospatial data that enables decision making in matters
such as urban planning, disaster management, environmental conservation and commerce.
The County Government Act 2012 mandates County Governments to establish GIS-based
database systems and prepare GIS-based database County Spatial Plans.
