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Government loses Shs40b annually to valuation fraud – Lands ministry
The State minister for Housing, Mr Chris Baryomunsi, said training land valuers helps deliver better services. FILE PHOTO
Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development has revealed that government loses about Shs40b annually due to land valuation fraud.
Mr Gilbert Kermundu, the chief government valuer, while addressing a two- day training for government land valuers in Kampala yesterday, said government loses millions due to negligence and lack of national valuation standards and guidelines.
The valuation department is responsible for providing technical guidance through land assessment to support land management and ensure value for money.
Mr Kermundu said negligence of land valuation leads to reduction in generation of taxable and non-taxable revenue to the national treasury.
“Delay in land acquisition for government projects due to speculative and exorbitant compensation claimed by project-affected persons also contribute to loss of government funds,” he said.
He said the valuation department has inherited a number of challenges due to the collapse of the government valuation function, that dates back to the 1970s when the training of valuers in Kenya ceased due to the collapse of East African Community.
“As a result, the function endured many years of neglect and critically low levels of resourcing in terms of technical staff equipment and funds. The department had largely not received adequate attention and yet its mandate has widened over the years,” he said.
Mr Kermundu said there is need to have more specialised trainings because there are inadequacies in the policy and legal framework to support valuation.
“In most cases, land owners complain about the compensation rates due to inadequate skilled staff to deliver on time, which delays the government programmes,” he added.
The State minister for Housing, Mr Chris Baryomunsi, said training land valuers helps deliver better services.
“We need this kind of training in all government entities to sharpen our skills and valuation. The profession is continuously becoming very critical as regards to acquisition of land and property,” he said.
He added that as population continues to grow, government plans to recruit more land valuers and surveyors.
