Received:
2025-11-15 | Accepted:
2026-02-10 | Published:
2026-03-30
Title
Countering land fraud through digital conveyancing reforms: insights from Kenya’s Ardhisasa for Zimbabwe
Abstract
This study examines Zimbabwe’s Deeds Registries Regulations, Statutory Instrument 76 of 2025 as a legislative foundation for mitigating syndicated land fraud through strategic adoption of Kenya’s Ardhisasa digital governance model. Employing qualitative documentary analysis of Zimbabwean litigation trends (Zavazava, Mutumbuka, Chirimuta, Mariko) and regulatory frameworks within the e-governance paradigm, the research identifies Sections 40–44’s mandate for title validation and blockchain-backed securitised deeds as pivotal yet reveals critical gaps in biometric verification and automated compliance that perpetuate impersonation and document tampering risks. Consequently, the paper proposes institutional recalibration beyond digitisation: (1) integrating Kenya’s stakeholder-centric "phygital" hybrid systems during Zimbabwe’s 24-month validation phase; (2) embedding real-time identity cross-checks; and (3) implementing immutable audit trails to fulfil Section 90 of the Deeds Registries Act. These recommendations reconfigure the Deeds Registry as a guarantor of constitutional property rights guaranteed in Section 71(1) of the Constitution of Zimbabwe, 2013. The study contributes to debates on counteracting deed fraud in Africa.
Keywords
Syndicated deeds fraud, Zimbabwe, Kenya Ardhisasa, e-governance, securitised deeds, phygital systems, blockchain, geospatial technologies
JEL classifications
K11
URI
http://jssidoi.org/ird/article/246
DOI
Pages
189-201
Funding
The research leading to these results has received funding from the University of South Africa
This is an open access issue and all published articles are licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
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