The Ministry of Lands on Sunday announced that starting Monday, October 2, it will not be accepting any cash transactions.
In a statement signed by Head of Communications, Jibril Adan, the Ministry revealed that the move is part of the government’s plan to crack down on cartels who have perennially used the loophole to perpetrate graft and embezzlement.
Prior to arriving at the decision, the Ministry revealed that it had done a pilot test on 18 land offices in various parts of the country.
“The State Department is proud to announce the commencement of a nationwide initiative to roll out the Cashless Revenue Collection policy,” the minister said.
“This is a significant step towards eradicating cash transactions within Land offices, ultimately reducing embezzlement.”
The Ministry revealed that the pilot test it had conducted was successful, exuding confidence that the rollout of the new initiative would be successful.
According to the Ministry, the government noticed efficiency in the 18 land offices where the pilot test was conducted with plans underway to conduct it on a broader scale.
“The policy mandates the use of digital payment methods for all services, fostering accountability, precision, and timely reporting in revenue collection,” The Ministry explained.
It was further noted that in the 18 offices that had gone cashless in the trial phase, a remarkable improvement in revenue collection was recorded.
The State Department for Lands and Physical Planning is mandated to perform 13 key functions related to land use and ownership.
These include; National Lands Policy and Management, Physical Planning and Land Use and Land Transactions.
Other functions include; Survey and Mapping, Land Adjudication, Settlement Matters, and Land Registration.
The State Department is led by Principal Secretary Nixon Korir who is the immediate former Lang’ata Member of Parliament.