Kenya Case Law

Naikuni v Chairman Board of Trustee Purko Development Trust Seleila Ole Mwanik & 3 others

Naikuni v Chairman Board of Trustee Purko Development Trust Seleila Ole Mwanik & 3 others (Environment and Land Petition E013 of 2025) [2026] KEELC 5167 (KLR) (6 August 2026) (Judgment)

Court

Environment and Land Court

Case number

Environment and Land Petition E013 of 2025

Judge

["LN Gacheru"]

The Petitioner failed to prove, on a balance of probabilities and with the required constitutional precision, that the Board of Trustees lacked authority under the Purko Development Trust Deed, that the lease process violated public participation, access to information, fair administrative action, procurement law, the Crops Act or environmental law, or that the suit property had been shown to be unlawfully dealt with as community land. Because no constitutional or statutory violation was established, the requested declarations, cancellation, injunction and damages could not issue.

Source excerpt

• Community land under article 63
• Purko development trust authority
• Public participation
• Fair administrative action
• Access to information
• Procurement legality

Gitari (Suing as the Legal Representative of the Estate of Timothy Gitari Mucheke - Deceased) v Mucheke & 3 others

Gitari (Suing as the Legal Representative of the Estate of Timothy Gitari Mucheke - Deceased) v Mucheke & 3 others (Environment and Land Case E012 of 2025) [2026] KEELC 4768 (KLR) (22 July 2026) (Judgment)

Court

Environment and Land Court

Case number

Environment and Land Case E012 of 2025

Judge

["JO Mboya"]

The Plaintiff failed to prove any trust over the suit properties. The evidence showed that Timothy Gitari Mucheke knew of the transfers to the 1st Defendant and never challenged them during his lifetime, which undermined the representative claim. Without credible proof of trust, the declaratory, injunctive, revocation, and discharge prayers all collapsed, and the suit was dismissed.

Source excerpt

• Customary/ancestral trust
• Proof of trust
• Gift inter vivos
• Land transfer and registration
• Charge over land
• Permanent injunction

Bett & 3 others v Rutto

Bett & 3 others v Rutto (Environment and Land Appeal E002 of 2025) [2026] KEELC 4773 (KLR) (22 July 2026) (Judgment)

Court

Environment and Land Court

Case number

Environment and Land Appeal E002 of 2025

Judge

["GMA Ongondo"]

The appeal succeeded only on jurisdiction. The appellate court held that the magistrate lacked jurisdiction to determine the adverse possession component of the counterclaim, because adverse possession must be properly brought under Order 37 and magistrates’ courts do not have jurisdiction over such claims. That part of the judgment was void and the orders tied to adverse possession were set aside. However, the court upheld the trial court’s findings on the valid 3 August 2013 sale agreement for 1 acre, the resulting constructive trust/specific performance order, and the spousal consent findi…

Source excerpt

• Adverse possession
• Jurisdiction of magistrates’ courts
• Sale of land agreement
• Specific performance
• Constructive trust
• Spousal consent

Samuel v Nyaga

Samuel v Nyaga (Civil Appeal E094 of 2023) [2026] KEHC 10238 (KLR) (13 July 2026) (Judgment)

Court

High Court

Case number

Civil Appeal E094 of 2023

Judge

["SM Githinji"]

The court held that the parties had cohabited for a long period, which justified a presumption of marriage; the respondent produced evidence of contribution to the development of Ithima/Ntunene/3273 and of funding the purchase of Amwathi/Maua/15361; the appellant failed to rebut the trust claim or prove exclusive beneficial ownership. Accordingly, the suit properties were properly treated as held in trust for the respondent and the children despite being registered in the appellant’s name, and the appeal failed.

Source excerpt

• Presumption of marriage
• Matrimonial property
• Resulting/constructive trust
• Contribution to acquisition and development of land
• First appeal re-evaluation of evidence
• Indefeasibility of title versus overriding equitable interests

Ndung'u & 3 others v Ncba Investment Bank Limited

Ndung'u & 3 others v Ncba Investment Bank Limited (Civil Suit E009 of 2024) [2026] KEHC 10380 (KLR) (9 July 2026) (Ruling)

Court

High Court

Case number

Civil Suit E009 of 2024

Judge

["E Ominde"]

The dispute emanated from the Unit Trust Scheme Trust Deed and was therefore subject to Clause 63, which mandated referral of disputes to the Capital Markets Tribunal. Because the parties had contractually chosen that forum and had not exhausted it, the suit before the High Court was premature and the objection succeeded.

Source excerpt

• Jurisdiction
• Exhaustion of contractual dispute resolution clause
• Forum selection clause
• Capital markets tribunal
• Strike out of suit
• Ripeness

Ondieki v Nyabengi

Ondieki v Nyabengi (Environment and Land Appeal E010 of 2025) [2026] KEELC 4534 (KLR) (9 July 2026) (Judgment)

Court

Environment and Land Court

Case number

Environment and Land Appeal E010 of 2025

Judge

["AA Omollo"]

The appeal failed on the title point because the appellant’s own pleadings showed he acquired and held the land as part of family succession arrangements, not as an absolute owner. On jurisdiction, the court held that following Sugawara v Kiruti, magistrates’ courts lack jurisdiction to determine adverse possession claims, so the trial court’s adverse possession order could not stand. However, the record also disclosed a family-land arrangement supporting a customary trust in favour of the respondent, and the appellant was not entitled to eject her. The appeal was therefore dismissed, but the…

Source excerpt

• Jurisdiction of magistrates’ courts over adverse possession claims
• First appellate review
• Registered title versus customary trust
• Constructive/customary trust
• Costs on appeal

Ikere & another (Suing as Administrators of the Estate of Miriam Edwin Mbugua) v Mbugua

Ikere & another (Suing as Administrators of the Estate of Miriam Edwin Mbugua) v Mbugua (Environment and Land Case Civil Suit 24 of 2021) [2026] KEELC 3721 (KLR) (15 June 2026) (Judgment)

Court

Environment and Land Court

Case number

Environment and Land Case Civil Suit 24 of 2021

Judge

["JA Mogeni"]

The Court found that the Applicants proved a trust on a balance of probabilities. The evidence of bank correspondence, receipts linked to the mother’s repayment efforts, the Bank witness’s concessions, and the Applicants’ long, uninterrupted occupation and development of the land displaced the Respondent’s claim to absolute beneficial ownership. The Respondent’s registered title therefore remained subject to the family trust and was liable to rectification.

Source excerpt

• Constructive trust
• Resulting trust
• Indefeasibility of title
• Rectification of register
• Permanent injunction
• Family land dispute

Mbeche (Suing on Behalf of the Estate of Jeconiah Mbeche Obongo – Deceased) & 2 others v Otuoma (Enviromental and Land Originating Summons E034 of 2024)

Mbeche (Suing on Behalf of the Estate of Jeconiah Mbeche Obongo – Deceased) & 2 others v Otuoma (Enviromental and Land Originating Summons E034 of 2024) [2026] KEELC 3324 (KLR) (20 May 2026) (Judgment)

Court

Environment and Land Court

Case number

Enviromental and Land Originating Summons E034 of 2024

Judge

["FO Nyagaka"]

The court found that LR No. Suna East/Manyatta/173 was the same land litigated in Kisii HCC No. 113 of 1988, where the defendant was declared to hold the land in trust for the family members settled there by Alexius Abuto. The defendant remained a trustee, but he breached the trust by failing to distribute the land in line with that judgment and by allocating disproportionate portions to his own family. The claim was not time-barred because it concerned enforcement and termination of a trust, not a simple recovery action, and section 20 of the Limitation of Actions Act preserved the beneficia…

Source excerpt

• Customary trust over registered land
• Dissolution of trust
• Subdivision and transmission of trust land
• Breach of trustee duties
• Res judicata
• Locus standi

Pembere (As a Substitute of Rajab Boy Pembere) v Buluma

Pembere (As a Substitute of Rajab Boy Pembere) v Buluma (Environment and Land Appeal E011 of 2024) [2026] KEELC 3137 (KLR) (19 May 2026) (Judgment)

Court

Environment and Land Court

Case number

Environment and Land Appeal E011 of 2024

Judge

["AK Bor"]

The appellate court found that the documentary record showed Rajab Boy Pembere had purchased the land from Kiberenge Muresia Saboni before Kiberenge’s death, and later continued dealing with the respondent over other portions. The trial court wrongly relied on a 2004 agreement concerning parcel 5730, not the suit land parcel 5731, and therefore erred in concluding that the transfer and title to parcel 5731 were fraudulent. The appellant proved her case on a balance of probabilities.

Source excerpt

• Appeal from magistrate’s court
• Burden of proof
• Proof of fraud
• Validity of title deed
• Sale agreements and land transfer
• Trespass injunction

Kulungu & another v Kivila & 3 others

Kulungu & another v Kivila & 3 others (Environment and Land Appeal E025 of 2025) [2026] KEELC 2496 (KLR) (30 April 2026) (Judgment)

Court

Environment and Land Court

Case number

Environment and Land Appeal E025 of 2025

The Environment and Land Court dismissed an appeal over alleged trust ownership of co-operative society land, finding the Appellants failed to prove a trust.

• Trust property
• Beneficiaries
• Shareholding in co-operative societies
• Succession law
• Appeals procedure
• Costs