Banks to be linked to Deeds Office 

Source: Banks to be linked to Deeds Office – herald

Zvamaida Murwira-Senior Reporter

FINANCIAL institutions will be digitally linked to the Deeds Office to give them access to information about immovable property ownership changes as part of a broad strategy by Government to securitise and validate title deeds and protect property owners from fraudsters.

The access to the Deeds Office will also help in detecting fake title deed holders who might even apply for loans or mortgages to financial institutions using fraudulent documents.

This was said by Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ziyambi Ziyambi while addressing legislators during a question-and-answer session in the National Assembly recently.

Bulawayo North Member of Parliament, Ms Minenhle Gumede, had asked what the Government was doing to ensure the current validation and securitisation process of title deeds was accessible to low-income earners and vulnerable persons like pensioners and people living with disabilities.

In outlining the objective of the process, Minister Ziyambi said the programme was noble in that it safeguarded property owners through migration from paper title to digital.

“This is a very good programme that will put safeguards to ensure that we protect properties for all of us by migrating from a paper-based system of title deeds production to one which is computer-based, which is securitised. 

“We will even have links to banks whereby if somebody is selling a property and you go to a bank, the bank will have a user code that will access our system and be able to view and satisfy themselves that this is authentic,” said Minister Ziyambi.

He said the current manual system in place at the Deeds Office was susceptible to manipulation.

“Right now, you may visit the Deeds Office looking for a copy of your deed. You may not get it. This is a process that has not been clearly understood by the majority of the people. This is a people-driven process because of the outcries from those who have lost their properties.”

Minister Ziyambi said the Deeds Office was using a manual registration of title deeds, something that exposed the system to fraudsters colluding with officials to change ownership fraudulently leaving to the eviction of homeowners from their residences.

Minister Ziyambi gave a notable example of former Cabinet Minister, Dr Dzingai Mutumbuka, who almost lost his house in Highlands suburb to fraudsters working with officials in the Deeds Office, hence the decision to computerise and securitise the documents.

“Nonetheless, how do we then decide to go about it? We felt that everyone owning a property and a title deed must go to their conveyancer and that conveyancer, should anything happen, becomes the responsible person who will be held accountable so that we exclude those that may steal other people’s title deeds,” he said.

“We do not want a scenario where you walk in with your title deeds and then you do the verification alone. It may happen that after some time, someone will come and say that I never tendered my title deed. The whole thrust is that all the title deeds in the country must be securitised”.

The Minister said the new computerised system was watertight and would curb fraudulent activities.

“We want to remove this fraudulent activity and connivance that were happening where honest people have lost their properties. We decided to go the route of using a professional who would then do the verification and tender those documents. Being a professional registered by the Law Society of Zimbabwe, we then hold that individual accountable.”

Minister Ziyambi said all the homeowners were now being protected under the computerised system that will tell instantly who would have accessed or effected any transfer, should there be one.

He said Government intervention initiatives did not require holding public consultations as requested by Ms Gumede.

“These questions, even the public consultation, this is for the benefit of the public. There was a public outcry, which is well documented and there is no need to continue with a public consultation over a process that is protecting the very individuals, including all of us here. You may fall prey to somebody who can manipulate the system as it is currently,” said Minister Ziyambi.

“Even on the question of mechanisms to lodge complaints, we are saying, go to your conveyancer. I am not sure what complaint you are going to a lawyer about, or if you do not have one, the Government has a Legal Aid Directorate.

“We will do some tests to say that this programme is being done, but I am an indigent person. They will do a test to see whether you are unable to pay or not. I am appealing to Honourable Members that there has been so much misinformation about this.”

Government has embarked on securitised title deeds, inviting those with old title deeds to approach the Deeds Office for verification and be issued with digital deeds that are safe and secure.

The same system is being applied as farmers are being issued with title deeds on their land as part of securitising the land, as efforts are being pushed to enhance production and productivity through the provision of security of tenure.

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