The title deeds for the land on which Harambee House, where President William Ruto's official office is located, and Nyayo House, that hosts the Immigration Department, are missing from the lands registry, Auditor-General Nancy Gathungu said, raising questions about the status of ownership.
The Auditor-General said that the cases of missing records make it difficult to protect the government assets, despite efforts to sell some of them.
“Parcels of land on which Nyayo House and Harambee House buildings stand could not be traced in the register,” Ms Gathungu said.
“In addition, the land register provided for audit was incomplete and most of the required information in the register was blank,” she added.
Harambee House, located on Nairobi’s Harambee Avenue, dates back to 1964 when it was converted into the Office of the President when the country became a republic. Before that, Harambee House was used as the Ministry of Works.
Ms Gathungu said that the State Department for Internal Security and National Administration owned 4,151 parcels of land in different parts of the country, but management had failed to provide ownership documents.
“Although management indicated that it was in the process of acquiring the ownership documents, no evidence was provided on the progress made and title deeds for the parcels of land were not provided for audit,” added Ms Gathungu.
In these circumstances, she said, the existence of an effective control system to safeguard the State Department’s land could not be confirmed.
Ms Gathungu also questions the ownership of the land on which the Permanent Presidential Music Commission sits along State House Road and the Kenya National Archives headquarters in the city centre.
“Review of documents revealed that the State Department owns two parcels of land, that is Permanent Presidential Music Commission (PPMC) grounds and Kenya National Archives and Documentation Department (KNADS) headquarters, whose values had not been determined for inclusion in the financial statements,” said Ms Gathungu.
“Further, the ownership documents were not provided for audit review… In the circumstances, the completeness, accuracy, and ownership of the land and buildings could not be confirmed.”
Ms Gathungu has also highlighted the lack of land ownership documents in other departments and agencies, including the National Police Service in 18 regional offices, various schools, the Port of Mombasa and the affordable housing projects.
Previous audits have shown that parcels of land occupied by other key public institutions, including Parliament and the Supreme Court, lack title deeds.
