Private notaries will soon be allowed to oversee the land transactions in the country, a development aimed at making the process more accessible to many. Rwanda Land Management and Use Authority (RLMUA) this week announced that private notaries had been invited to apply to start rendering the services, if they meet certain requirements set by the institution. The development comes to address challenges related to the delays that citizens faced in transaction processes. Land transaction services were being exclusively rendered by public notaries at the sector level, but the process was characterized by delays with a section of citizens complaining that the process was too slow. For instance, the number of transactions were often too high some times and would end up overwhelming the notaries. In addition, there were some districts where the notaries were not working, or had been given extra responsibilities, and this also affected how they would deliver services. The new plans set out minimum required standards for private notaries such as at least a 3-years’ experience in notarial work, have an office equipped with fast internet, a scanner and a printer, and good storage for documents. They are also required to have mechanisms for verifying the authenticity of the information brought to them by the people seeking the services. The development should serve as a replicable lesson for multiple agencies that directly serve members of the public. In this, the lesson is finding avenues to reduce bureaucracy and multiple unending processes and procedures. As had been demonstrated by Rwanda Land Management and Use Authority, there is an opportunity in identifying existing stakeholders to review processes and procedures that would have otherwise been time consuming and unending for service recipients. The authority has also demonstrated that wide held fears delegating and sharing responsibilities will lead to incompetence are unjustified by setting up standards of the service providers. More entities should follow suit.
