In order to eliminate cash transactions within land offices and hence lower embezzlement, the State Department for Lands and Physical Planning has started a statewide drive to implement the Cashless Revenue Collection policy.
Zachariah Njeru, Cabinet Secretary for Lands, Public Works, Housing, and Urban Development, stated this morning during the program’s flagging off that the Ardhipay system will not only make work more efficient but also simpler and quicker.
“We are doing this because we want to improve service delivery to our Citizens. The State Department for Lands and Physical Planning has really worked to see that Kenyans are served fast and efficiently,” said CS Njeru.
In his remarks, Principal Secretary for Lands and Physical Planning Generali Nixon Korir said the program will ensure that no cash is involved in land transactions.
“We want to go cashless in all our registries Nationwide in 14 days starting today. For the last three weeks we have rolled out cashless at Ardhi House and it is working well,”said PS Korir.
The State Department has created the Ardhipay system, which is connected to the E-citizen and will aid in the execution of the policy, PS Korir stated.
He pointed out that the policy requires all services to be paid for digitally (through MPESA or banks), encouraging accuracy, timeliness, and accountability in revenue collection. Significant gains in revenue collection have been seen after implementation in the 18 offices.
Wundanyi, Kiambu, Muranga, Ruiru, Thika, Ngong, Kajiado, Eldoret, Mombasa, Kisumu, Trans Nzoia, Machakos, Gatundu, Naivasha, Survey of Kenya, Ardhi House, Yatta, and Kisamis are among the 18 stations where the Cashless policy is already in place.
PS Korir added that the State Department would launch a comprehensive 14-day exercise to implement the policy in the final 76 Land offices to hasten this countrywide transformation.
As part of this plan, all Land offices will get computers and other necessary ICT equipment, putting them in a good position to execute the policy and accept future digitization of Lands services.
A seamless transition will be made possible by the dedicated field office workers receiving specialised training in cashless revenue collection.
Additionally, ads will be run to inform the public about how simple it is to make payments. The Ardhisasa platform will also be used to demonstrate how the general public may easily use it to make quick Land Rent payments.
