More than 1,000 public primary and secondary schools in Homa Bay County are operating without title deeds, exposing them to land disputes and ownership claims from families that donated ancestral land for school construction.
County Commissioner Ronald Mwiwawi revealed that only 1,022 public schools in the county have title deeds, representing 73 per cent of all institutions, while 379 school parcels remain unregistered.
Speaking during a stakeholders’ meeting at Ogande Girls High School, Mwiwawi said several schools have reported boundary disputes and cases of encroachment by neighbouring communities, putting school land ownership at risk.
“We have received cases of land encroachment from nearby resident that have put our schools at risk because of undefined boundaries,” Mwiwawi said.
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He encouraged school heads to try as much as they can to facilitate the acquisition of title deeds to define school boundaries and secure possible boundary disputes that may rise from the community.
“Let all school headteachers put effort to secure land tittle for our schools in collaboration with the land registry,” he stated.
The administrator has set a target of at least 80% of public schools to secure land titles by December this Year through collaboration with the Ministry of Land.
The County Land Registry Edwad Bosire has accepted the claims that have been reported to his office about ancestral lands that were donated for school construction stating that no compensation will be processed without verification of stated conditions.
By Ochola Victor
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