The new procedure of accessing land titles online has been widely welcomed by the public, with people saying that it was much-needed and reduces too much bureaucracy. On January 4, the National Land Authority (NLA) announced the introduction of an electronic certificate of land registration or land title, known as “e-Title” due to take effect on January 6. With the elimination of the use of hard copies of land title deeds and numerous trips of citizens to the sector’s office or the registrar’s office, it is expected that the e-Title will cut costs and be service-efficient. Fabrice Nsanzimana, a law and finance professional, took to Twitter to explain that the use of printed land titles was no longer relevant in this era because they were prone to forgeries, not trustworthy in the eyes of banks, and their credibility was doubtable to buyers by the time of land transfer. “If the buyers and banks cannot trust the printed title...what was the value of the printed land title?” he posed. “Moreover, if it gets destroyed, the holder bears the cost to have another one and if the country is printing day after day, week after week, a lot of billions are gone in printing the papers. It is better to shift to the paperless system with the use of UPI. A great move indeed!” The Rwanda Initiative for Sustainable Development (RISD), a local non-profit that aims to ensure equitable access to land for peace, justice and economic stability, said that this is a very important step in the process of land reform in the country. “This also addresses the issue of long-standing uncollected hard copies of land leases,” it noted. Francisca Mujawase, Deputy Director of the Dallaire Institute, also emphasized that this new approach is a response to different inefficiencies. As the e-Title feature is now fully implemented and deployed, the NLA said transactions that do not need to be processed by land notaries will fully be online, on Irembo – the Government’s online one-stop service portal. This progress also better serves Rwandans living abroad who will get their land titles without making any single visit or involving third parties, which would necessitate provision of the power of attorney for representation purposes.
