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ELCOtherELC Case No 238 of 2017· [2017] KEELC 132 (KLR)
Esther Njoki Kimathi & another v Kenya Women Microfinance Limited [2017] KEELC 132 (KLR)
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·~1 min to read original · ~4 min briefThe bottom line
#The Environment and Land Court ruled it had no power to hear this land-versus-microfinance dispute, sending it to the High Court instead.
What this practically means
#Executive summary
#This brief order of the Environment and Land Court at Meru, delivered by Hon. L.N. Mbugua, ELC Judge, on 11th October 2017, concerns a suit by Esther Njoki Kimathi and Eunice Wangeci Kimathi against Kenya Women Microfinance Limited, filed as ELC Case No 238 of 2017. On perusing the record, the court suo motu characterized the matter as a commercial dispute rather than a dispute concerning land or the environment, and thus outside the jurisdiction conferred on the Environment and Land Court. Rather than striking out the suit, the court transferred it to the Meru High Court for further directions and determination. The order was delivered in open court in the absence of both parties, with the court clerk Janet as the court assistant. No costs order was made, no authorities were cited, and no detailed reasoning was given beyond the single holding on jurisdiction. The order is significant only as an instance of a first-instance court exercising its case-management power to transfer a matter filed before it to a court of competent jurisdiction on the basis of subject-matter jurisdiction. No reliefs were adjudicated and no decision below was reviewed.
Key legal issues
#01
Jurisdiction of the Environment and Land Court over commercial disputes
Holding
The court lacked jurisdiction to determine the commercial dispute and transferred it to the High Court.
Reasoning
On its own perusal of the record, the court characterized the dispute between the plaintiffs and the microfinance company as commercial rather than a land/environment matter, meaning it fell outside the ELC's mandate, and elected to transfer the file rather than strike it out.
p. 2
Legal principles established
#- Commercial disputes do not fall within the jurisdiction of the Environment and Land Court and must be transferred to the High Court.
Court orders
#- 1.Transfer of the matter to the Meru High Court for further directions and determination
- Jurisdiction invoked
- Jurisdiction of the Environment and Land Court under Article 162(2)(b) of the Constitution (implied by transfer for want of jurisdiction; the judgment itself invokes no express provision)
Key timeline
#Practical implications
#Frequently asked questions
#Cite this brief
#Cite this brief
Caselaw, "Esther Njoki Kimathi & another v Kenya Women Microfinance Limited [2017] KEELC 132 (KLR)", Case Analysis (2017). ELC Case No 238 of 2017. Source: https://new.kenyalaw.org/akn/ke/judgment/keelc/2017/132/eng@2017-10-11
Suggested citation format for research notes or client memos. Always verify the original judgment before relying on any point.