People in need of services including land subdivision, merging, area correction, and registration or splitting of condominiums can now access them through Irembo – the e-government services platform. A communiqué issued by the National Land Authority (NLA) on August 28 showed that applications for such services will no longer be made through paperwork but online. The new development takes the number of land services offered through Irembo to nine. Previously, the platform offered services including loan agreement authentication, change of land use, title details update, sporadic registration, and title transfer. ITANGAZO pic.twitter.com/amWrOpkYSK — National Land Authority (@Lands_Rwanda) August 28, 2024 NLA’s communique indicated that the move is in line with improving the provision of land services in the country. How the services will be accessed The applicant will be required to select a land surveyor who, after measuring a plot of land, will submit the file to the Land Administration Information System on behalf of the applicant. After the applicant’s file is processed and approved by a land titles’ registrar, they will receive a message via phone or email, informing them that the service they requested for has been provided. After that, they will proceed to download an electronic land title. ALSO READ: Electronic land certificates will curb frauds - NLA Ensuring efficiency and speed in service delivery Marie-Grace Nishimwe, NLA’s Director General told The New Times that by doing away with the paper-based applications, people’s time and resources like transport fees will be saved, as they will not be required to travel to make their applications. She pointed out that the land surveyor will have to visit the plot in question (this has to be field-based work), mark its physical boundaries, and make a related file. After that, the surveyor will send the file to the Land Administration Information System through Irembo. Then, the district land officers will get the application and process it. “What we have removed is the time a land surveyor was spending to submit the application file to the sector, and the time the sector would spent to take it to the district,” she Nishimwe said. Despite the fact that the client service charter stated that land services should be offered within 30 days, residents always found themselves waiting longer because of the involved lengthy journeys, the paperwork and limited number of staff. Nishimwe pointed out that sometimes it would take two to three months before applicants got the services they wanted. As a result, residents would complain about delays in accessing services including land subdivision, merging or boundary rectification. With the new development, she says the 30 days’ period provided for under the service charter will be met.
