INSTITUTION OF SURVEYORS OF KENYA

LAND SURVEYORS CHAPTER

ROAD RESERVES TENURE SECURITY IN KENYA: A CASE STUDY OF LANET -

TIMBOROA ROAD (A8)

BY:
AMOS KIMUTAI NGENO
ISK NO. 3595

A Technical Paper submitted in partial fulfilment for the post graduate diploma of
Institution of Surveyors of Kenya

DECEMBER 2022

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Declaration

This is my original work and has not been submitted for any degree or diploma in any other Institution

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Name Date

This project has been submitted with my approval as the candidate’s principal

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Name Date

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Acknowledgement

I would like to express my special thanks of gratitude to my principal Mr. Ephraim Magana who gave
me the golden opportunity to undertake this project and gave immense guidance in the preparation of
the technical paper. I would also like to acknowledge the ISK secretariat and committees for providing
the crucial platform for career growth.

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Dedication

This work is dedicated to my family for the moral support. It is also dedicated to all the young surveyors
aspiring to scale the career ladder.

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Acronyms

EIA Environmental Impact Assessment

F/R No . Folio Registry Number
GIS Geographic Information Systems
GNSS Global Navigation Satellite System
GPS Global Positioning System
KeNHA Kenya National Highways Authority
KeRRA Kenya Rural Roads Authority
KURA Kenya Urban Roads Authority
LR No. Land Registry Number
NLC National Land Commission
PIDs Preliminary Index Diagrams
RIMs Registry Index Maps
RLA Registered Land Act
ROW Right of Way
RTA Registered Title Act
SOK Survey of Kenya
SRO Survey Records Office
UTM Universal Traverse Mercator

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Abstract

This paper investigated and analyzed the status of the road reserves in Kenya and it came up with a
methodology on the best approach to secure tenure and to store, disseminate and analyze cadastral data
for road reserves. The methodology is based on a successful title survey process for Lanet to Timboroa
road (A8) under KeNHA in Nakuru, Baringo and Uasin Gishu Counties.

Secure land tenure is central to the development of any nature. Road development is not only road
construction and maintenance alone but in the broader sense includes the management and protection
of road reserves. Road Management authorities in Kenya have initiated the processes of carrying out
title/cadastral surveys for major highways. However, this is being carried out at a slow pace coupled
with challenges emanating from contiguous surveys done differently for parcels of different sections
defining the road reserve.

The Institution of Surveyors of Kenya is at the forefront in empowering land surveying professionals
to tackle issues and challenges arising in the surveying field. Development and management of road
infrastructure comes with complexities. It is therefore imperative to streamline the processes of securing
the ownership of the reserves both in 2-Dimensions and 3-Dimensions.

This paper outlines the detailed process of securing tenure for right of ways, specifically; road reserves.
The National land policy and legislations largely focus on land tenure security for private ownership of
land. However, it is necessary to explicitly define the ownership of public land by a specific public
institution. The public institutions are autonomous thus their interests in public land have to be defined
solely.

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Table of Contents
Declaration .......................................................................................................................................... ii
Acknowledgement ............................................................................................................................. iii
Dedication .......................................................................................................................................... iv
Acronyms ............................................................................................................................................ v
Abstract .............................................................................................................................................. vi
Table of Contents .............................................................................................................................. vii
List of Figures .................................................................................................................................. viii
1.0 Introduction ................................................................................................................................. 1
1.1 Background ................................................................................................................................... 1
1.2 Problem Statement ........................................................................................................................ 2
1.3 Objectives ..................................................................................................................................... 2
1.4 Justification ................................................................................................................................... 3
Why Title Survey for the Roads? .................................................................................................... 3
1.5 Significance................................................................................................................................... 3
1.6 Scope ............................................................................................................................................. 4
Location .......................................................................................................................................... 4
Activities ......................................................................................................................................... 4
1.7 Organization of the paper.............................................................................................................. 5
2.0 Literature Review........................................................................................................................ 6
Policy And Legal Framework ............................................................................................................. 6
Policies ............................................................................................................................................ 6
Legislations ..................................................................................................................................... 6
Cadastre Concept ................................................................................................................................ 7
Land Administration Principle ........................................................................................................ 8
Road Reserve Acquisition Process ..................................................................................................... 9
3.0 Methodology ............................................................................................................................. 10
Overview ........................................................................................................................................... 10
Workflow .......................................................................................................................................... 10
Acquisition of Relevant Information ................................................................................................ 12
Confirmation Kenya Gazette Notices Issued ................................................................................ 12
Methodology of Vectorizing Cadastral Plans, RIMS and PIDS ....................................................... 13
Digitization of RIMS .................................................................................................................... 15
Mutation forms.............................................................................................................................. 15
Establishment of Controls ................................................................................................................. 16
Preparation of a Topocadastral Plan ................................................................................................. 16
Delineation of the road reserve ......................................................................................................... 16
Submission of Plans to the Director of Surveys ............................................................................... 16

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 Mutation Forms ............................................................................................................................. 16
Cadastral Files ............................................................................................................................... 16
Registration Process ...................................................................................................................... 17
Standards and Accuracies Adopted................................................................................................... 17
Preparation of GIS Database ............................................................................................................. 19
4.0 Results and Discussion ............................................................................................................. 20
Road reserve Widths ......................................................................................................................... 20
Acquisitions for Road Reserve ......................................................................................................... 21
Right of Way Clearance analysis ...................................................................................................... 21
Challenges in developing a road cadaster. ........................................................................................ 23
Conflict between Road Reserves and other Right of Ways .......................................................... 23
Differences between Areas Obtained from Ground and Acquired Land Given in Gazette Notices.
...................................................................................................................................................... 24
Titling of Parcels with different Registration Systems. ................................................................ 26
5.0 Conclusions and Recommendations ......................................................................................... 27
Areas for further Research ................................................................................................................ 27
References ............................................................................................................................................. 28
Annexes ................................................................................................................................................ 29
ROW Analysis images ...................................................................................................................... 29

List of Figures
Figure 1: Location Map .......................................................................................................................... 4
Figure 2: cadastral Surveying ................................................................................................................. 8
Figure 3: Land Acquisition Process ........................................................................................................ 9
Figure 4: Road Title Survey Workflow ................................................................................................ 11
Figure 5: Vectorizing Procedure ........................................................................................................... 14
Figure 6 : AutoCAD file showing the Keyed in Survey Maps as plotted ............................................. 15
Figure 7: Registration Process .............................................................................................................. 17
Figure 8: ROW Analysis ....................................................................................................................... 22
Figure 9: RIM showing a case of shared reserve .................................................................................. 23
Figure 10: CAD Snippet showing shared reserve ................................................................................. 24
Figure 11: Comparison Between Registered Area and Ground Area ................................................... 25
Figure 12: Plot Configuration in General Boundary Sections .............................................................. 26

List of Tables
Table 1: Data Sources ........................................................................................................................... 12
Table 2: Gazette Notices ....................................................................................................................... 12
Table 3: Standards and Accuracies ....................................................................................................... 17
Table 4: Feature classes ........................................................................................................................ 19
Table 5:Resultant Road Widths ............................................................................................................ 20

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 1.0 Introduction

1.1 Background
A road reserve is a Right of Way (ROW). It can be defined as limits of certain easements and public
property, typically owned or controlled by an entity or an agency. In Kenya, as stipulated in The Roads Act,
2007; Kenya National Highways Authority, Kenya Urban Roads Authority and Kenya Rural Roads
Authority were established to control and manage the road reserves in their respective jurisdictions. Minor
Roads have been left to the management of the County Governments.
During surveys of private property, main roads and access roads are abutting to these properties. The plats
and plans prepared indicate the width and areas surrendered for the road in some cases. It is the general
understanding that these reserves are public property. However, the ownership is not expressly defined.
The reserves are categorized as public land in the Lands Act, 2012. This is ambiguous and does not indicate
the public institution to which this interest is assigned. Most of the road reserves in Kenya have not been
surveyed. Surveying in this aspect is the determination of the boundaries of a property and preparation of
plans and documents to effect land registration.
The Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA) is mandated to manage, develop, rehabilitate and
maintain national roads, (Classes A, B and C). The goal is to enhance socio-economic growth and
prosperity. The determination of road reserve boundaries is an authorized survey and as such should be
carried out in accordance to the regulations.
Cadastral survey for fixed boundaries and mutation surveying for general boundaries ensures secure land
tenure and this contributes to economic sustainability, environmental sustainability, food security among
other benefits. Information about spatial locations and identities of individual land units or parcels is
important for execution of any development.
The Survey Act, Cap 299 of the Laws of Kenya sets out clearly that these surveys should be conducted
under the direction and control of the Director of Surveys who is empowered to approve all surveys. Survey
marks are easily re-established if lost or damaged.

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1.2 Problem Statement
There has been massive encroachment on Right of Ways (ROW). In the year 2021, demolitions were carried
out by Kenya Railways in several parts of the country. Other Agencies have also carried out demolitions.
There are many reasons why the reserves are encroached. The most evident reason is that the reserves are
not secured. The agencies in many cases do not know the exact boundary of their linear property, hence the
adjacent land owners take advantage of this gap to extend their activities beyond their legal property line.
This has resulted in immense losses both to the government and to the citizens. The major issue faced by
the government is incomplete ROW inventory and deficient management and monitoring of ROW
activities.

Orina (2004) identified in his study that the increasing rate of urbanization and the problem of road reserve
encroachment mean that there is no space for road expansion and sometimes for maintenance and road
furniture, these and other problems have exposed the problem of road reserve encroachment. People often
tend to construct building extensions on road reserves. This is due to the fact that they lack clear knowledge
on boundary position of their parcels and adjoining roads.

During construction of roads, land is usually acquired but despite being paid for, most of it has never been
registered neither is surveying carried out to excise the part of the road reserve acquired. Road development
is not only road construction and maintenance alone but in the broader sense includes the management and
protection of road reserves. In order to achieve this, road reserve boundaries need to be determined, and
boundaries between the road reserve and abutting land parcels be accurately determined.

This paper brings out the challenges that arise from leaving the road reserves unsurveyed. It also gives a
concise methodology and standard procedure for carrying out road reserve surveys including any
acquisitions by the government and the ultimate output of securing the road reserves by obtaining the
vesting documents.

1.3 Objectives
The overall objective is to investigate the road reserve tenure security in Kenya with reference to Lanet –
Timboroa road reserve. Specifically:
i To develop a workflow for carrying out title surveys for road reserves in Kenya
ii To identify and examine the challenges in developing a road cadaster.

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1.4 Justification
Why Title Survey for the Roads?

Road title is useful in gaining information on property boundaries for it can be used to secure the road
reserve from encroachment since the boundaries are well defined by mathematical values. The title deed
also issues KeNHA accountability for its assets which acts as a proof of the authority’s ownership.

Before the vesting document is issued, road delineation is done which is important since it preserves the
road reserve which allows for proper road designs for cost-effective measures to make roads safer. Good
designs have been shown to reduce head-on and run-off road crashes, helps drivers to maintain a safe and
consistent lateral vehicle position within the lane, reduction in nighttime and low-visibility crashes and
reduction in pavement deterioration due to vehicles driving onto the shoulder.

The title survey of a road reserve culminates into deed plans. The challenge is therefore in surveying of a
linear parcel that runs along several parcels that were surveyed differently with different scenarios. Some
parcels are under the fixed boundary system while some are under the General boundary system with
different accuracies and in some cases varying coordinate systems

1.5 Significance
Cadastral survey and record of rights is that together they give a true and exact description of the legal
situation of rights in land at any moment.
The cadastral surveys also give the fundamental information for land registration as required by law,
facilitate conveyancing and ease proper planning and facilitate management of land as a scarce resource.
Road reserve survey aims at the creation of a cadastre. This is significant towards securing the road reserve
and a proper road inventory and asset management system since the spatial properties of the ROW are
clearly defined and enforced legally by the availability of the title.

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1.6 Scope
Location
The study comprised approximately 97Km length of class A road (A8), including interchanges along the
road section. It traverses Nakuru County, starting at Lanet through Njoro Turnoff (Junction B21), through
Salgaa, up to Timboroa.

Figure 1: Location Map

Activities
The scope of works was limited to the desired goal of developing a road cadastre and the efforts towards
the security of tenure. The following are the detailed activities that were carried out during the study:
Acquisition of the Relevant Information
This includes Kenya gazette Notices, RIMs, Survey Plans and preliminary index diagrams.
Establishment of Controls
This involved the establishment of horizontal controls connected to the national grid for ensuring the
accuracy of the survey work.

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 Road Reserve and Quarry/Material Sites Survey and Delineation of the Road Reserve
It involved the analysis of road design drawings, as built drawings, land acquisition drawings, land
acquisition information/gazette notices, and survey plans. Necessary investigations and survey
computations were also carried out. Subsequently the delineation of the final road reserve edge of the road
section was done after integration of road design/as built drawings, cadastral plans, road data ground survey
and land acquisition information.

Title Survey of the Delineated Road Reserve

Survey of the delineated road reserve and acquired lorry park sites were done and submitted to the Director
of Surveys for authentication and deed plans preparations.
Creation of a GIS Database
It is important to develop a digital cadastre, therefore the foundation of the cadastre was laid by vectorizing
the maps and digitizing the road reserve and parcel attributes in a GIS database.

1.7 Organization of the paper

The Paper is organized as follows: First, the overview of the exercise, scope and justifications followed by
a critical study of literature that consequently informed on the methodology based on the statutes and
legislations.
Results and analysis from the methodology is then discussed followed by the conclusions and
recommendations. Annexures of images from the fieldwork data collection have also been attached.

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 2.0 Literature Review

This literature review seeks to identify the legal framework and policy framework that guide the process of
securing the rights of interest for a road reserve. It analyzes various statutes and acts to develop the
workflow for cadastral survey of a road reserve.
Cadastral surveying is any activity that utilizes or generates cadastral evidence to produce an outcome with
the primary purpose of boundary determination. The cadastral system is the basis used for the protection of
the property by means of title registration and cadastral plans. Each parcel and its owners are registered and
all the spatial structures consisting of location, boundaries and contents are described in a cadastral map.

Policy And Legal Framework

Policies
National Land Policy
The National Land Policy (NLP) has a vision to guide the country towards a sustainable and equitable use
of land. The National Land Policy in particular contains a number of objectives on various themes which
are intended to ensure efficient, sustainable and equitable use of land for prosperity and posterity. With
regard to cadastral surveying and mapping, the policy recommends the stream-lining and strengthening of
surveying and mapping systems. As to the cadastre and land information management, the policy
recommends the establishment of computerized land information infrastructure at both national and local
levels which should be efficient, user-friendly, accessible and affordable. In addition, the cadastre and other
land information should be computerized and made available in a form and language that can be understood
by most citizens. It is on this fundamental basis that the GIS database is part of this assignment.
Legislations
Survey Act Cap 299
The Survey Act makes provisions in relation to surveys and geographical names, the licensing of land
surveyors and for connected purposes. The act makes provision for the public control and organization of
the survey of land and for other related matters. The Survey Act, sets out that surveys should be conducted
under the direction and control of the Director of Surveys who is empowered to approve all surveys. The
Act also stipulates that all boundary marks should be shown on the plan. These include; every
trigonometrical station, fundamental benchmark and boundary beacon erected or placed for the purpose of
defining the boundaries of any holding or land. The Survey Act and its regulations will be strictly followed
in this assignment.
Land Act No.6 Of 2012
The Land Act gives effect to Article 68 of the Constitution that calls for revision, consolidation and
rationalization of land laws. These provisions aim at ensure sustainable administration and management of
land and land-based resources. The Act calls for equal recognition and enforcement of land rights arising
under all tenure systems and non-discrimination in ownership and access to land under all tenure systems.
The Act applies to all land declared as public land under Article 62 of the Constitution, private land under
Article 64 of the Constitution; and community land under Article 63 of the Constitution and any other
written law relating to community land.
Land Registration Act No. 3 Of 2012

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The Land Registration Act is an act of Parliament to revise, consolidate and rationalize the registration of
titles to land, to give effect to the principles and objects of devolved government in land registration, and
for connected purposes. Section 20 of the act on maintenance of boundaries stipulates that every proprietor
of land shall maintain in good order the fences, hedges, stones, pillars, beacons, walls and other features
that demarcate the boundaries, pursuant to the requirements of any written law.
The Act stipulates that the office or authority responsible for the survey of land has to prepare and thereafter
maintain a map or series of maps, to be known as the cadastral map, for every registration unit. The parcel
boundaries on such maps are to be geo- referenced and surveyed to such standards as to ensure compatibility
with other documents required under the Act or any other law. The office also has the Power to alter
boundary lines and to prepare new editions. All road sections under the general boundaries will be geo-
referenced and a cadastral map made in accordance to this Act.
Kenya Roads Act
The Kenya Roads Act is an act of Parliament to provide for the establishment of the Kenya National
Highways Authority, the Kenya Urban Roads Authority and the Kenya Rural Roads Authority, to provide
for the powers and functions of the authorities and for connected purposes. The Act gives the Kenya
National Highways Authority the power to control national roads and road reserves and access to roadside
developments. The assignment is one way of enabling the control and management of the road reserves.

Cadastre Concept
Land is seen as the basic unit of cadastral system where the cadastral system is the collective of the tools
used for the management of land. As such the cadastral system involves land use planning, environmental
planning and other land administration tools for property valuation, land allocation, registration.
The Cadastre is crucial in secure land tenure which provides information about spatial locations and
identities of individual land units or parcels. Cadastral surveying is the pillar of the Cadastral System which
determines and defines land ownership and boundaries. It entails measurements of land, subdivisions and
sectional Titles.
This study enhances the efforts towards having a fully mapped road network for the entire country. Securing
the ownership of the road reserve is akin to securing the development.

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Figure 2: cadastral Surveying

Land Administration Principle

Land administration is the process of determining, recording and disseminating information about the
tenure, value and use of land when implementing land management policies. In short, the overall aim of the
land administration system is to minimise conflicts regarding rights, restrictions and responsibilities over
land. Land administration may include: supporting land markets, providing access to land, providing
security of tenure, land valuation, resolving conflicts concerning ownership and use of land, gathering
revenues from the land through sales, leasing and taxation, regulating the use and conservation of land,
regulating land and property development. Each of these underpins the economic, environmental and social
aspects of sustainable development.
In Kenya Land administration is under the department of Land Administration mandated with the
establishment and management of land, processing and approval of development applications e.g. issuance
of consents to charge, lease or transfer, alienation of land for development to public institutions and
individuals. It also carries out processing of ownership documents such as titles/grants for both public and
community, setting apart land for public use, generation and collation of revenue and Appropriation-in- Aid
(A.I.A.), custody and maintenance of land records, recording and updating and recording of plot attributes
on files and cards, documentation of public land and preservation of fragile ecosystems, Historical
monument sites, public beaches, marine reserves, national parks, wet lands and water catchment areas for
purposes of conservation.
The current land administration trends highlight public and private rights, decentralization, zoning, role of
planners and integrated management. It is useful to examine planning and markets together because, they
do ultimately represent different philosophies of the balance between public and private rights and
responsibilities. The cadastre is one of the major forms of land administration.

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Road Reserve Acquisition Process
The acquisition is stipulated in the Land Act (2012) and can be broken down into pre-inquiry stage,
inquiry and payment stage. Section (107-133) details the following steps to be followed when undertaking
compulsory land acquisition.

Figure 3: Land Acquisition Process

National Lands Commision (2021)

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 3.0 Methodology

Overview
This section presents a detailed description of activities that were executed to ensure that the objectives of
the study were attained. The activities were organized in three phases;
Phase I: Data acquisition, scanning, digitizing, the extension of controls, detail picking, data overlay, and
analysis.
Phase II: Cadastral survey processes up to the amended RIMs/preparation of survey plans.
Phase III: Creation of the GIS database for the road reserve and abutting properties

Workflow
One of the objectives of the study was to prepare a logical workflow of the title survey process. The general
overview of how titling and survey processes were conducted is captured in the organogram shown in figure
4

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Figure 4: Road Title Survey Workflow

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Acquisition of Relevant Information
Data was obtained from Nakuru and Eldama Ravine survey offices and land registries. All RIMs have been
acquired. Some mutations were obtained and upon advice from the district surveyors that most of the parcels
of land in Timboroa, Mumberes and Maji Mazuri registration sections are as originally adjudicated, hence
no mutations are available. To solve this Land area information records were obtained from the district
registries. The records were obtained and the list was certified by the respective land registrars.
Table 1: Data Sources

Data Source Documents/Data Obtained

KeNHA - Kenya Gazette Notices

- Land Acquisition Drawings

- As-Built Road Design Drawings

Survey of Kenya - Survey Plans/FRs

- TRIG Cards for Survey Control Pillars

Eldama Survey Office - Mutations

Land Registry - Area List Searches

Nakuru Survey Office - RIMS

Land Registry - Area List Searches

Timboroa Forest Station - Forest Survey Plan

- Control Point Location

Confirmation Kenya Gazette Notices Issued

The gazette notices listed in table 2 were analyzed and found to contain information relevant to the land
acquisition of the road:
Table 2: Gazette Notices

Gazette Notice No. Date

1 NO. 65,66 11th January 2008
2 NO.248,249,250 14th Jan. 2011
3 NO.306 (pg 16) 22nd January 2016
4 NO.448 (pg 19-20) 23rd January 2015
5 NO.1421,1422 8th May 1981
6 NO.3278,3279,3280, 5805 (pg 10 to16) 1st April 2010
7 NO.3514 2nd May,2008
8 NO.5804, 5805(pg 15to16) 22nd August 2014
9 NO.7588 pg 18 9th October 2015

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 10 NO.9823 1st Dec,2006
11 11384,11385 28th Nov.2008
12 924 15th Feb 2008
13 445 18th Jan 2019
The Kenya Gazette notices were analyzed and it was identified that some plots had been degazetted while
others had corrigenda and addendums. Some parcels also had erroneous areas gazetted.

Methodology of Vectorizing Cadastral Plans, RIMS and PIDS

This section presents a unique approach to vectorizing boundary data. This is after consideration of the
differences in data available in the different plans and the unique challenges presented.

i. Cadastral Plans
The cadastral plans were procured in both analogue and digital formats (scanned). To maintain the
accuracies of the data in survey plans, the coordinates were metricated for plans in imperial system and
keyed in. To ensure consistency of data, coordinates of the plans were keyed in in Microsoft excel and
redrawn in Pythagoras CAD software which automatically generates the lengths and bearings of drawn
boundary lines. The outputs were counter checked against the original plans. In addition, an excel software
that computes areas, joins, polar data was also used to do consistency of the data.

ii. RIMs and PIDs

This involved the scanning and georeferencing of the maps followed by digitization and spatial
adjustments/cleaning of the Cadastre developed. The digitized parcels from the RIMs however had shifts,
warps and distortions due to RIM/ PID drawing errors and transformations from the native Cassini
coordinate system when overlaid with the satellite image (Digital Globe 2017). This necessitated further
cleaning of the data.
The process followed for vectorization was as shown in figure 6:

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 Collection &
Scanning of RIMs
& Survey Plans

Survey Plans RIMs/PIDs Field Pickings

Keying In Georeferencing

Digitization

Spatial
Adjustment

Investigations &
Corrections

Topocadastral

Figure 5: Vectorizing Procedure

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To ensure the accuracy during the extraction of the boundary data, all the existing boundaries abutting the
road reserve were surveyed and overlaid on the georeferenced RIMs/ PIDs. In the two types of maps
especially those based on general boundaries, the map is only approximate. Legally the evidence on the
ground takes precedence over the map hence the need to pick existing boundaries. Where there were
discrepancies between what existed on the ground and what is indicated on the map, those discrepancies
were flagged out and indicated on page four of the mutation.
Digitization of RIMS
All RIMS were scanned, digitized and georeferenced. and spatial adjustments/cleaning of the Cadastre
developed. The digitized parcels from the RIMs however had shifts, warps and distortions due to RIM/ PID
drawing errors and transformations from the native Cassini coordinate system when overlaid with the
satellite image (Digital Globe 2017). This necessitated further cleaning of the data. The actual boundaries
adjoining the road reserve were picked and compared with the data obtained from RIMs.

Figure 6 : AutoCAD file showing the Keyed in Survey Maps as plotted

This exercise involved acquisition of survey plans, RIMs, PIDs and Mutation forms not currently in the
custody of KeNHA from the Survey of Kenya that capture the parcels affected by the road reserve. A GIS
database was also created to contain all the mapping data collected during the assignment. Prior approvals
by statutory authorities as required by any act were also obtained.
Mutation forms
Some mutation forms were acquired from the District Survey offices; this was for the parcels that had
undergone subdivisions. Some mutations were not obtained and upon advice from the district surveyors
that most of the parcels of land in Timboroa, Mumberes and Maji Mazuri registration sections are as
originally adjudicated, hence no mutations were available, land information records from the district
registries were obtained.

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Establishment of Controls
Controls are the basis of accurate surveys. The controls were established in UTM projection ARC1960
coordinate system It was connected to the trigonometric points from Survey of Kenya connected to the
national grid. This were to be used as the basis for the preparation of the survey plans and mutations and
subsequently the delineation and title survey of the delineated road reserve.
It is important to note that the study area runs across different registration sections with various survey base
maps of different coordinate systems. Therefore, the established controls were also used as a conversion
tool to prepare a homogenous cadastre.
The conversion was done by critically analyzing the exisiting survey plans, identifying the boundary
beacons and traverse points and finally coordinating using the nearest established primary control points.
Preparation of a Topocadastral Plan
A topocadastral plan can be defined as a map that integrates and overlays the ground features with the legal
property lines. This plan was prepared by conducting a detailed topographic survey exercise of the study
area and overlaying the digitized RIM and survey plan data.
The resultant digital overlay gave a precise indication of the situation on the ground whether the road
reserve has been encroached. It was also used as the basis of delineating the road reserve by verifying the
road reserve widths on the ground in comparison with the survey plans. The road reserve width was
increased in cases where there was a Kenya gazette notice indicating an acquisition for the expansion of
the road reserve.
Delineation of the road reserve
This was an analytical process that involved the study of the existing datum plans, the Kenya Gazette notices
and the ground survey data. It involved the generation or adoption of boundary beacons to give the desired
areas of the road reserve. Beacons demarcating the road reserve were generated and placed on the ground
in accordance to the survey regulations and standards.
Submission of Plans to the Director of Surveys
Mutation Forms
Mutation forms were prepared and submitted to KeNHA for signing and subsequent submission to the
respective District survey offices. The mutations were prepared per registration block while considering the
legibility and scale.
Cadastral Files
Based on the above items, the final cadastral file contained and has not been limited to the following;
i. Surveyors report
ii. Index to computations
iii. Final coordinate list
iv. Theoretical layout diagram
v. Metrication of coordinates and datum joins
vi. Bearing sheet
vii. Preliminary traverse computation
viii. final traverse computation
ix. Demonstration of field placings and checks
x. Area computations
xi. Consistency checks
xii. Attachments (including the Kenya Gazettes, searches, beacon certificates etc.)

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Registration Process

Filing all
Receiving and Issuing
Issuing the
recording of Issuing an Folio Issuing
Computatio documents
computation LR No to Register No. Field Notes
n No. to the in the
file and survey the New (F/R NO) to No. to the
computatio Computatio
plans at the road the survey field notes.
n file n file into a
registry office plans
survey file

Figure 7: Registration Process

Standards and Accuracies Adopted

Road reserve surveys must attain the standards of surveys as set out in Survey Act, Cap 299. It was guided
by the standards from the statutes. The work was carried out diligently and after execution, the implemented
accuracies measured against the standard accuracies stated herein;
Table 3: Standards and Accuracies

Item Standards from Survey Act

Fieldwork
a. Coordinate system Section 24. (1) The figure of the earth and projection to be used in the
computation of co-ordinates of any survey shall be one of the following,
as the Director may specify, that is, either—
(a) the Universal Transverse Mercator Projection zones 36 or 37
using the Clarke 1880 (modified) figure having elements;
semi-diameter major: 6,378,249 international metres
ellipticity: 1/293.465; or
(b) the Cassini-Soldner Projection calculated from origins at the
intersections of odd-numbered-degree meridians with the equator
and extending over successive zones of two degrees of longitude,
using the Clarke 1858 figure having elements— semi-diameter-
major (6,378,351 metres) 20,926,348 imperial feet. ellipticity ...
... .. .. ... .. ... ... .. ... ... .. ... ... .. .. .. ... .. . .. .. ... .. ... .. ...1/294.26.

17
 Section 60. (1) (a) All main control traverses in built-up areas shall be
observed to third order standard. (b) All such lines shall be double-
b. Establishment of chained, and field operations shall be appropriate to a standard of accuracy
Controls and placing of not less than 1:20,000.
of beacons
(2) (a) All other control traverses shall be observed to fourth order
standard.
(b) Field operations for such surveys shall be appropriate to a standard of
accuracy of 1:10,000, but computational misclosures shall be allowed to
the same degree of accuracy as the datum supplied by the Director.
(c) A surveyor shall not use a loop traverse closing on his starting point if
it is practicable to traverse between two previously fixed stations.
Computations and Plan Section 82. Before any surveyor forwards any computations to the
Preparation Director for authentication he shall make in independent and complete
check of all his calculations, and such checks shall accompany the
a. Consistency computations and be demonstrated.
Checks

b. Area Section 84. Areas shall normally be calculated to the degree of accuracy
computations specified in the following table:
Plots not exceeding 1 hectare ……………………..0.0001
Plots over 1 hectare and up to 10 hectares ………..0.001
Plots over 10 hectares and up to 100 hectares …….0.01
Plots over 100 hectares …………………………….0.1
c. Plan Preparation

Sections 86, 87,88,89, 90,91 and 92 outlines the guidelines to be followed

in the preparation of plans for submission to the Director of Surveys

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Preparation of GIS Database

All features vectorized were converted to the GIS Shapefile format. Appropriate feature classes were used
for vectorized features, including but not limited to land parcels, acquired land, road centerline and road
reserve edge. Attribute tables were created and populated for all the vectorized features.
The feature classes were imported from shapefiles extracted from Autocad. The following feature classes
were migrated into the geodatabase

Table 4: Feature classes

Feature Classes Data Type

Parcels Polygon
Beacons Point
Road Reserve Polyline
Railway Polyline
Road Shoulder Polyline
Powerline Polyline
Road Centreline Polyline

The database was designed to capture all important information components in terms of feature datasets,
feature classes, raster catalogs, tables and appropriate relationship classes as shown in the schemas and
tables below and as described in the data dictionary. The feature classes and tables were appropriately
attributed to capture important details.

19
 4.0 Results and Discussion

Road reserve Widths

The preliminary acquired data shows that the road reserve width varies from the least 37m in Nakuru
Township area to the highest 80m in Salgaa area of Nakuru County. The following were the road reserve
widths tabulated for each registration section

Table 5:Resultant Road Widths

REGISTRATION SECTION ROAD EXISTING ROAD WIDTH(GROUND)

WIDTH(PLAN)

Lembus/ Mumberes Block 1 60 M Approx Some sections have a width less than 60m

Maji Mazuri/Maji 40M Approx Road width on the ground approximately 60m
Mazuri(IGURE)

Kamara/Mau summit (Sinendet Less than 60m Road width on the ground approximately 60m
Kiboko) Block1

Miti Mirefu settlement scheme Less than 60m Road width on the ground approximately 60m
(Upper)

Kamara/Mau Summit Block 4 Less than 60m Road width on the ground approximately 60m

Molo/Mau summit block 2 Less than 60m Road width on the ground approximately 60m

Sachangwan settlement Less than 60m Road width on the ground approximately 60m
scheme(Miti mirefu lower)

Mau Summit/ sachangwan Less than 60m Road width on the ground approximately 60m
Block 2

Elburgon/Elburgon Block 4 Less than 60m Road width on the ground approximately 60m

Shawa/Rongai Block 3 Less than 60m Road width on the ground approximately 60m

Rongai/Rongai Block 2 Less than 60m Road width on the ground approximately 60m

Shawa/Gichea Block 2 Less than 60m Road width on the ground more than 60m

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 Shawa/Gichea Block 1 Less than 60m Ground road width approx. 60m

Shawa/Gichea Block 5 Less than 60m Ground road width approx. 60m

Shawa/Gichea Block 4 Less than 60m Ground road width approx. 60m

Njoro/Ngata Block 2 Less than 60m Ground road width approx. 60m

Njoro/Ngata Block 7 Less than 60m Ground road width approx. 60m

The variance between the ground width and map width is due to the acquisitions that had not been effected
on the maps. The completion of this exercise culminated in the amendments of the maps.

Acquisitions for Road Reserve

The Acquired historical data shows that there were several acquisitions made along this road from the year
1978 to the latest 2015. The acquisitions were done majorly for expansion of the road reserve and in some
cases for lorry park sites and interchanges. There were cases of errors between some of the acquired land
obtained from ground measurements and the acquired land given in gazette notices. However, Section 119
of the Land Act No. 6 of 2012 stipulates that whenever the survey discloses that the size of the land acquired
is greater or less than the size of the land in respect of which the award has been made, compensation shall
be paid for the excess size in accordance with the Act.

Right of Way Clearance analysis

This involved comparing the survey plans, RIMs and PIDs with ground survey data and High-resolution
satellite images to identify encroachment. The topocadastral plan prepared depicted rampant cases of road
reserve encroachment.

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Figure 8: ROW Analysis

22
Challenges in developing a road cadaster
Conflict between Road Reserves and other Right of Ways
There are sections that a pipeline reserve runs along the road reserve near Timboroa Area. The road reserve
was surveyed and tenure secured despite the conflicting interests from different Authorities. The two figures
below illustrate the areas adjoining railway reserve where the road is within the 30.48m (100 ft) railway
line.

Figure 9: RIM showing a case of shared reserve

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Figure 10: CAD Snippet showing shared reserve

Differences between Areas Obtained from Ground and Acquired Land Given in Gazette Notices.
General Boundary Sections
Area comparison for general boundary areas was noted to be challenging. According to the Registered Land
Act, CAP 300, the map is subservient and indicates the approximate boundary/position only. Approximate
boundaries mean approximate areas. The method of survey of the original parcels of land also affects
accurate comparisons. Mutation surveys are done by taping to the nearest metre at times ignoring the slopes,
roughness of ground and other factors that ensure accurate measurements. As a result, the lengths, areas,
positions and orientations only indicate approximate positions only. In addition, the registered areas as
indicated in title deeds may not imply the sum total of acquired road area and the net reminder area.
From the foregoing, the main concern was to ensure that the road corridor is 60 metres and the adjoining
landowners agreed to the positions of beacons. However, for areas where the fence is still within the road
reserve, the ground areas within the road reserve (as gazetted) were computed and compared with the
gazetted acquired areas. Where the variance was found to be more than 5 %, the parcel numbers were
highlighted for further consultations.
However, for areas where the fences had been moved back to accommodate the road reserve, it was noted
that computing the acquired areas was problematic. This is considering that the registered land areas
differed to some extent with the ground areas due to survey map inaccuracies or boundary inconsistencies.
It was not therefore possible to accurately deduce the areas taken up by the road reserves by subtracting the
adjacent property areas from the registered areas since inconsistencies between ground area and registered
areas played out in calculating the areas acquired from the road. The resultant figures had some inherent
disagreements while in others the errors were minimal. Comparison of the areas in this sense, would be
inaccurate since the areas represented in mutations/PID/RIMs are only approximate.

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Figure 11: Comparison Between Registered Area and Ground Area

Comparisons between the registered areas and the ground areas for places where general boundaries were
used would result in some cases the computed areas being more than the acquired areas and in others less
than acquired areas. This would result in extending the road boundary to some parcels where the computed
areas are less than acquired or we would have more areas in excess of what was compensated resulting to
demands for further compensations. Yet, all these discrepancies are as a result of approximate
determinations of areas used in general boundaries.
The areas taken up by the road could also not be verified without actual physical boundaries on the ground.
We note that for the registered land Act, a physical boundary must be maintained. In this situation, there
are none as they were ‘dissolved’ within the road reserves during the acquisition process and therefore we
could only depend on the evidence of the road extent as it now exists or as narrated by the adjoining land
owners. This evidence clearly agreed with the physical extent of the road on the ground. In situations where
there is disagreement on the actual physical boundary, then we would have involved respective registrars
to resolve such disputes.

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Figure 12: Plot Configuration in General Boundary Sections

To deal with these discrepancies the parcels were checked against the 60-metre road reserve. It was
established that the road reserve is accurate where the reserve is 60 metres and the owners of the properties
are in agreement that the beacons truly represent their boundaries by willingly signing beacon certificates.
In this scenario we have ensured that the interest of KeNHA and those of the land owners are well taken
care of.
Where there has been no compensation, a list was compiled. In such areas, either the land owners were not
compensated which further verification with KeNHA finance department. There could also be cases where
compensation was done but the names did not appear in the Kenya gazette. This has to be interrogated also.

Fixed Boundary Sections

This was done by comparing the acquired gazetted areas against the measured area resulting from the road
reserve and old cadastral boundary. This resultant area can also be obtained by subtracting the plot area
after acquisition from the original plot area written on the survey plans. This exercise has been completed
and most of the areas analysed depicted acceptable tolerances.
Titling of Parcels with different Registration Systems.
It is a challenge to come up with one contiguous title for the entire road reserve alignment. After the
acquired properties were registered by the Director of Surveys and general boundaries fixed. This challenge
was mitigated by preparing as series of deed plans based on the registration sections and systems. The result
was therefore multiple deed plans and multiple titles based on the individual registration sections.

26
 5.0 Conclusions and Recommendations

Encroachment into the road reserve has been a major thing realized throughout the study. A similar project
should therefore, be carried out throughout the country to prevent economic losses occasioned by
demolition of structures on road reserves by unsuspecting developers.
The title survey for the road reserve involved establishment of boundary beacons. It thus marked the extent
of private property and the adjoining land owners were made aware of the consequences of encroaching.
This paper recommends the adopted methodology from this study in carrying out road reserve surveys
In conclusion securing the road reserve is a necessity. Government institutions mandated with managing
right of ways should ensure that their interest in their respective lands is registered legally. This shall reduce
the conflicts that arise from the institutions in the utilization of public land. There have been cases of public
institutions laying claim on the same piece of land.

Areas for further Research

Road cadastre has the potential to improve road management for both the construction and the maintenance.
Further research can be done on the implementation of 3D cadastre. 3D road cadastre can simulate the
landscape of a road and 3D structures views such as walkways and ramps, simplifying the communication
of complex situations; improving the planning, the construction and the maintenance of roads and bridges.
In addition, an increasing number of tunnels, underground and overhead networks and infrastructure. It is
important to define the ownership of the space occupied.

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References

Constitution of Kenya (2010), Survey Act, Cap 299 and Land Act, 2012.
National Land Commission & Kenya Land Alliance. (2021) Legal Framework for compulsory land
acquisition, A guide on public land acquisition
Orina Felix. (2004) Development of a digital cadastral database to analyse road encroachments case
study: part of Buruburu Estate, Nairobi

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 Annexes
ROW Analysis images

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