National Valuation Mamagement System: Towards enhancing interconnectivity in land governance through digitized valuation data from origination, organization to transmission.
Monica A. Obongo, Victor O. Olonde, Nora A. Nyakora, Byron M. Onditi, Charles O. Ohawa
Valuation remains a fundamental component of land governance globally. Statutory valuations are conducted under the provisions of enabling legislation which sets out the procedures, requirements and purposes for undertaking the valuation. Statutory valuations are mostly applicable in revenue generation and safeguarding the public interest by applicable authorities. In Kenya, and by extension, most developing countries, valuation has been undertaken manually from field inspection, data management and transmission. The process is uncoordinated, laborious and time intensive. Conventional methods of data collection, reporting, and filing of land valuation records, maintenance attribute data for each parcel of land, makes property administration and management incomplete and inefficient. Even though the manual data collection cannot drastically erased from valuation process, automation of the process would significantly enhance data management and revenue collection. In the recent past, Kenya has experienced a dramatic upsurge in land transactions, and consequently, a high demand for valuation services especially for assessment of stamp duty. There is, therefore, a great need to conduct the valuations faster without compromise on proficiency and the data safeguarded for ease of reference. The National Valuation Management System has therefore been identified as a tool that is intended to organise and safeguard land information by ensuring that land values are well documented and are easily accessible in time of need. The system will minimise the time and cost of searching for information during land acquisition by the government, ensure transparency and accountability, enhance efficiency and help in fast-tracking the process. The system will, therefore, be formulated at the national level but cascaded to the counties, and finally to the entire country. The Valuation Management System will also offer quick access to the land information database to stakeholders including landowners, investors, government agencies and any other interested party. The general objective of this system development is to create and deploy a Land Information Management System for valuation purposes that will simplify property data gathering, storage and access for valuation processes in a centralised system in Kenya. The system will provide a user5 friendly platform that is simple to use but robust and scalable to manage valuation process that eliminates manual paperwork, difficult file tracing in land registries in Kenya and enhance productivity. It will also provide a liable historical background of any valued property, and any other related details submitted forehand that can be used by authorities when needed. Moreover, it will enhance efficiency in valuation reporting and enhance collaboration, and data sharing on valuation reporting. The current system of land valuation in the country is very complex and time-consuming. The National Valuation Management System aims at rectifying the shortcomings of this system to improve the ease of doing business index of the country. A responsive land reform is already taking place in the country thus creating a good platform for the migration to the automated system. The process will require sufficient training, and the overall political will be needed for introducing the new system. Despite the considerable installation and recurring cost of new technologies, once completely computerised, the same system could be utilized for many purposes such as implementation of the land value index, land use planning in urban, rural and regional level. For this purpose, demand driven step-by-step approach within a reasonable timeframe would bring the effective results for land valuation and management through the National Land Valuation Management.
Event: Land Governance in an Interconnected World_Annual World Bank Conference on Land and Poverty_2018
Only personal, non-commercial use of this document is allowed.