Rift Valley Enterprises Limited v The Nakuru District Land Disputes Tribunal & 2 others

The court invoked its own settled decision in Ako v Special District Commissioner Kisumu, holding the prohibition statutory and absolute. It drew on English authority (Caswell, Furneaux) for the rationale: finality of public law decisions, protection of third-party reliance, and the discretionary character of certiorari. Over fifteen years had elapsed and registered titles had issued, a situation the limitation rule protects against.

The court accepted the Stephen Kibowen principle that a nullity amounting to nothingness is incapable of triggering a statutory bar. However, it found the question academic: even assuming the Tribunal acted without jurisdiction, the appellant could not obtain relief because of the independent adoption-judgment ground. The appeal therefore fails on a complete and independent ground.

Under Section 7 of the Land Disputes Tribunals Act, 1990, the magistrate's court's role was ministerial. The adopting judgment was a valid exercise of the court's own jurisdiction, never appealed, reviewed, varied or set aside, and remains the foundation of the respondent's registered titles. Following Florence Nyaboke Machani, Catherine C Kittony and Mathenge v Gatua, a parallel challenge to the award leaving the judgment intact cannot be countenanced.

The court held that all matters disposing of the appeal were apparent on the face of the record, so the ground required no further consideration.