Most advice to Kenyans buying land from abroad stops at one instruction: do a search. It is good advice, and you should follow it. But two cases the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) made public this year show where a search stops protecting you.
Case 1: a buyer in Denmark, a plot in Mwihoko
In April 2026 the DCI reported that a woman living in Denmark had asked her sister in Kenya to help her buy land in Mwihoko. The deal looked legitimate and she paid KSh 2.4 million. The problem only surfaced when the parties went to Ardhi House to complete the transfer. The land was registered to someone else.
The DCI's Land Fraud Investigation Unit traced the money to a couple in Ruiru, both secondary school teachers. The ODPP approved charges of obtaining money by false pretences. (Dawan Africa, 23 April 2026)
The register was checked at the end of the deal, after the money had moved. A search on day one would have shown a different owner while the KSh 2.4 million was still in her hands.
Case 2: the buyer did the search and still lost
The second case is harder to read. In September 2026 the DCI arrested a man over a plot along the Nairobi to Mombasa highway in Machakos. According to the DCI, the buyer did search the land at the Machakos Land Registry before paying. The search came back showing the land registered to the name on the seller's documents. The buyer signed a sale agreement in front of a lawyer and paid KSh 2.4 million.
The seller then stopped answering calls. Detectives found he had been using another man's identity, with a forged title deed and a fake national ID card in the real owner's name. He was arrested at Mtito Andei. (Kenyans.co.ke, 6 September 2026)
The search was accurate. The land really was registered to that name. What the buyer did not confirm was that the man holding the papers was the person on the register.
The DCI's own advice after this case was to go beyond the registry record and confirm the identity of the person presenting the documents before any payment.
What a land search does and does not tell you
An official search, done online through Ardhisasa for land on its system or at the county land registry for land that is not yet online, tells you:
- who the land is registered to
- the size and parcel details on the register
- encumbrances such as a bank charge, a caveat or a court order
It does not tell you:
- that the person selling to you is the registered owner
- that the title deed in your hand is genuine
- that the plot you were shown on the ground is the plot on the title
- that the money you send will reach the owner
Each of those gaps needs its own check.
Five checks to run before any money leaves your account
1. Search first, then search again. Run your own search before you agree a price, not one the seller hands you. Run a second search close to completion, because the register can change in between.
2. Verify the person, not just the paper. Ask for the seller's national ID and KRA PIN and have your advocate confirm they match the registered owner. A video call where the seller holds up their ID next to their face is not proof on its own, but a seller who refuses one is telling you something. If a relative or agent is selling on the owner's behalf, ask for a registered power of attorney and verify it.
3. Match the ground to the map. Have a licensed surveyor confirm the beacons and check the plot against the registry index map. Some disputes start with a buyer being shown one plot and sold a different one.
4. Use your own advocate. Not the seller's, not one the agent recommends. Your advocate should handle the search, the sale agreement and the transfer, and can hold the purchase money until the transfer is registered.
5. Pay accounts, not people. Money should go to your advocate's client account or the registered owner's bank account after the checks pass. Never to an agent's personal number, never in cash, and never because a "deadline" makes you rush.
When family is the go-between
Both cases above involve a buyer who was not in the room. In the Mwihoko case, a sister handled the deal for a buyer abroad. That is how many diaspora purchases work, and it is where pressure builds: family wants to help, the seller wants a quick answer, and the buyer is several time zones away.
Give whoever is helping you a written list of the five checks above and ask for the documents, not a summary. It protects them as much as it protects you. If something goes wrong, nobody in the family has to carry the blame for a step that was skipped.
Where Karibu fits
Karibu checks title records, agent licences and asking prices so buyers abroad can make these decisions with evidence in front of them. You can ask bRRAIn, our property research assistant, what a fair asking price looks like in an area, browse listings, or book a call with the team before you commit to a deal.
If you are mid-deal right now and one of these checks has not happened, pause the payment until it has.
Sources: DCI case reporting via Dawan Africa (23 April 2026) and Kenyans.co.ke (6 September 2026). Search procedure: Ardhisasa, Ministry of Lands and Physical Planning. This article is general information, not legal advice. Speak to an advocate about your specific transaction.