Developing Land Information Management System (LIMS) for County Governments in Kenya. A Case Study Kirinyaga County. By Lizahmy Ntonjira Washington D.C, March 2016

Presentation outline Introduction Method adopted -Data collection -system development A critique of the challenges of developing LIMS Recommendation Conclusion

S.Sudan Introduction Ethiopia Uganda Kirinyaga county is located at Latitude 37.325472 and longitude -0.573174 and lies between 1,158 meters and 5,380 meters above sea level in the South and at the Peak of Mt. Kenya respectively. It is one of the 47 counties in Kenya, with an area of 1,478.1 square kilometers. Am a former student of the Technical University of Kenya (TUK). Somalia Tanzania

The Technical University of Kenya(TUK) got a consultancy to develop LIMS for Kirinyaga County a flagship project for the financial year 2015/2016 so as to fulfill the legal requirements and to provide an accurate basis for the development of the County for the next ten years. The County Governments Act of 2012 section 105 requires that a county planning unit be responsible for ensuring the collection, storage and updating of data and information suitable for the planning process and ensuring the establishment of a GIS based Database system. The spatial plans and the GIS Database system are a source of Land Information Management System (LIMS) which enables proper land planning and management. Based on the Act, TUK undertook the project on user need assessment, data collection, digitalization and system development and implementation toward development of a sustainable LIMS for Kirinyaga County Government.

Method Adopted The user need assessment involved getting views of different users and stakeholder on the data that they need and how they need it. The user needs assessment helped in having a common understanding with those who have any interest in the set-up of the system. A field reconnaissance to determine the extent of the area of study and identifying details within the area of study was done.

Data collection The data collection involved getting all the available spatial and attribute data that was paper based and digitizing them. The spatial data that was collected and digitized was all the available Part Development Plans (PDPs), Registry Index Maps (RIMs) and fixed survey maps while attribute data was all the available data about ownership and tenure details of the Land parcels. The attribute data collected was the name of the owners, acreage, parcel number, zoning details, type and years of land tenure, registration Act, encumbrances and the rights and restriction on the land parcel. The attribute data collection was done by direct keyboard data entry in customized MS excel spreadsheet from the files.

System development The RIMs were scanned into jpeg images, georeferenced in ArcGis using Arc 1960 Arc datum and the boundary lines traced. The analogue fixed survey plans are in Universal traverse Mercator (UTM Arc 1960 Datum) Projection. The plans are digitized in ArcGIS environment through Coordinate Geometry (COGO). The list of coordinate are fed in excel sheet and then exported to the Arc Map. These coordinates proved the controls that are used to construct the lines. COGO provides means of drawing parcels by feeding the bearing and distances. The collected attribute data was normalized and the examination of the suitable relationship that supports the data requirements between the attributes. The normalized attribute data was then linked with the spatial data in an operating system under the direction of the database management system.

A critique of the challenges of developing LIMS The several challenges that were encountered during the development process included; Lack of updated registry files mostly in change of ownership and extension of the leases. Which made the linking the spatial information to the attribute information in the files impossible. There was no uniform numbering system within the PDP. The numbering system used varies from one part of the PDP to another. Missing and incomplete records in some council files, these rendered the record inaccurate. There were less fixed cadastral survey plans. Most of the county allocation was based on the PDP and there were no follow ups were done to survey the plots. This resulted in the use of un-surveyed plots whose boundaries were not easily determined on the ground.

Recommendation There is a need to fly the area using Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) and get the orthorectified aerial images of the boundaries that will be the true boundaries of the land parcels. Spatial adjustment of the boundaries will be done and the accurate Registry Index Maps will be produced. Which will be used for making the spatial bit of the LIMS complete using up-to-date information. These will be an efficient and effective modern technique of developing a sustainable Kirinyaga County LIMS.

Conclusion The project of developing Kirinyaga county Land Information Management System is not yet complete because Some of the area do not have Registry Index Maps or fixed survey plans and only the Part Development Plans that was available. The PDPs were used as the base information since they contained the current information that was being used by the defunct municipal councils for planning. The PDPs are digitized and overlaid over the fixed survey plans and the RIMs. PDPs, RIM and the fixed survey plans were overlaid with the satellite images, these helps in showing the current developments on the ground that are not in line with the proposed planning. The boundaries in the Part Development Plans are not georeferenced and they don’t agree with the satellite images nor the developments on the ground, hence it cant be used create a spatial database since it does not provide spatial reference.

Thank you For your attention.