Samson Kalume Charo & another v Land Registrar Kilifi & 2 others [2016] KEELC 585 (KLR)
The bottom line
#Land Registrars in Kenya must register land transactions when no active court order blocks them, and courts can force them to act.
What this practically means
#Executive summary
#Key legal issues
#Whether a lapsed or vacated court order could justify refusal to register the subdivisions
It could not; once the inhibition order was vacated, the Respondents' statutory duty to register revived
The Land Registrar resisted registration on the basis of orders served on his office from Kilifi Civil Case No. 268 of 2011. However, the court found that the inhibition order was vacated on 17th November 2011, and the Registrar himself admitted no current order barred registration. The petitioners, as administrators ad litem, thus established entitlement to mandamus compelling registration and issuance of Title Deeds in the name of the deceased or his administrators for distribution.
Whether mandamus lies to compel the Land Registrar to perform the statutory duty of registration
Yes; the court issued mandamus compelling registration and release of Title Deeds
The deceased had caused the suit property to be subdivided by a licensed surveyor and the mutation forms were received by the District Land Registrar on 30th September 2008 for registration. The Respondents offered no valid reason for refusing registration once the inhibitory order had lapsed. The court held that in the absence of any subsisting court order, the Respondents are under a statutory duty to register the mutation and issue the Title Deeds, justifying the judicial review orders sought.
Legal principles established
#- In the absence of a subsisting court order inhibiting dealings with land, the land registry is under a statutory duty to register a lodged mutation and issue Title Deeds.
Court orders
#- 1.An order of Judicial Review by way of Mandamus compelling the 1st and 2nd Respondents to register the mutation for the subdivision of parcel of land number Ngumo Pasta Mazerus/1117 and to issue the Title Deeds in the name of the deceased or the Administrators of the Estate of the deceased for distribution
- 2.An order of Judicial Review by way of Mandamus compelling the 1st and 2nd Respondents to release all the Title Deeds arising out of the sub-divisions of parcel of land known as Ngumo Pasta Mazeras/1117 to the Petitioners
- 3.The Respondents to pay the costs of the Petition
- Jurisdiction invoked
- Constitutional petition seeking judicial review remedies (mandamus) before the Environment and Land Court
Key timeline
#Practical implications
#Frequently asked questions
#Cite this brief
#Cite this brief
Caselaw, "Samson Kalume Charo & another v Land Registrar Kilifi & 2 others [2016] KEELC 585 (KLR)", Case Analysis (2016). Petition dated 22nd May, 2015. Source: https://new.kenyalaw.org/akn/ke/judgment/keelc/2016/585/eng@2016-09-16
Suggested citation format for research notes or client memos. Always verify the original judgment before relying on any point.