Key Parliament assets still lack legal ownership, MPs warn
One particularly difficult case is that of Protection House, which was given to PSC by the Office of the President, but remains listed under the National Treasury.
The National Assembly's Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has criticized Parliament’s top leadership for failing to resolve long-standing issues surrounding ownership of some of its most important properties, including the main Parliament buildings.
In a report released recently, the committee said it was concerned by the slow pace in processing title deeds for the assets, even after the matter was raised in an audit three years ago.
While some properties have since been registered, key assets remain without legal documents proving ownership.
The report pointed out that properties such as the mausoleum of founding President Jomo Kenyatta, the Juvenile Court building, and County Hall are still not properly registered under the Parliamentary Service Commission (PSC).
The Office of the Auditor General first brought up the issue in 2022, raising questions about whether PSC had full legal control over the properties it was managing, including Protection House.
Despite the PSC reaching out to relevant bodies, the committee noted there had been no meaningful progress.
"The committee recommends that the commission completes the acquisition of the title documents within six months of adoption of this (PAC) report," it stated.
PSC Secretary Jeremiah Nyegenye told the committee that although the commission has operational control of the assets, the title deeds are still in the name of the Commissioner of Lands.
Traditionally, government property was registered under the Commissioner of Lands.
However, recent legal changes now require each government agency to hold titles for the properties it manages.
This means PSC must now process fresh documents for buildings it has long controlled.
Nyegenye said the commission had written to the Ministry of Lands and the National Land Commission (NLC) several times asking for the title deeds, but had not received any clear response.
He added that the commission was following up on the issue with the concerned offices, but at the time the report was being compiled, there was still no reply.
Parliament’s leadership is also considering putting in place an asset management policy to clearly assign accounting responsibilities for each property.
Some of the properties still facing legal uncertainty include the Parliament stores and parking spaces, the residences of both the National Assembly and Senate Speakers, CPST new block, Imani House, Bunge Tower, Continental House, Red Cross Building, County House, and Protection House.
But the most crucial and symbolic of them all—the Parliament buildings and grounds—are still without proper legal registration.
One particularly difficult case is that of Protection House, which was given to PSC by the Office of the President, but remains listed under the National Treasury.
Treasury has asked PSC to buy the building at market value, but the commission wants to get it at a nominal fee. Talks are still ongoing, but Treasury’s stand has slowed down the process.
