14/08/2025
BUYING LAND? SUPREME COURT GUIDES
Article By Dickson Jere
Are you buying land or real property? The Supreme Court has valuable advice to you as you undertake that decision.
The ruled thus;
“In purchasing real properties, parties are expected to approach such transactions with much more serious inquiries to establish whether or not the property in question has encumbrances. Buying real property is not as casual as buying household goods or other personal property,” the Judges said.
If you did not do your proper due diligence, you cannot rely on the defence of bonafide purchaser of land without notice in case the property is tainted.
Case citation - Nora Mwaanga Kayoba and Another v Eunice Ngulube - SCZ Appeal No.35 of 2001.
Lecture Notes;
1. You must first trace the route of the title. This is a process of tracing on how the title of the particular land has changed hands previously up until to the current owner or seller. By tracing the route, you will be on notice if there was something unusual that require further inquiries especially if you find that there was a reentry on the property from the previous owner at some point.
2. Do the physical inspection of the property and ask questions especially if you find someone on the property. Is he tenant or claiming an interest in the property? If there is a some developments, find out who built the structures to be sure it is not someone else.
3. Do the research at the lands registry at the Ministry of Lands to verify the ownership of the land. The printout will also give you the history of the land in terms of previous ownership and transactions such as mortgages or court decisions registered on it. It is also prudent to do the physical search on the actual file “green file” to be sure that what is on the computer printout matches with what is on physical file.
4. Verify the NRCs of the vendor especially if there are red flags. NRCs are being forged to match the names on a title and people have lost money through such transactions. Always meet the vendor in person even when using the agent. You must personally see the person selling.
5. Get the surveyor to verify the beacons and size of the plot. The measurements on the diagram attached to the title must match the measurements on the ground. Only the registered surveyor can do that for you and produce a detailed report. This is to make sure you are not buying land that encroaches on someone land or road reserve.
6. If you are buying land from the administrator or the estate of someone who died, always ask for the court order that allows that administrator to sell. F you buy without court order, just know that the entire process is illegal and invalid transactions.
7. Only pay after you have exhausted the due diligence or else you will will lose your money. Land is serious business and there is no rush to purchase without checking all the documentation.
8. It is advisable to use the Contract of Sale under the LAZ General Conditions 2018 as most of the details are already covered in that document even if you omit them in the main contract. However, you must have an idea as to what is contained in the LAZ General Condition before you can refer to it or adjust in the Special Conditions of the contract.
Finally, It is prudent to hire a lawyer for due diligence as this process is usually legal and require a legal mines especially when there are other documents involved such as Power of Attorney or proposed subdivisions that are not yet on title or indeed where they are many owners.
