Republic v Waitaluk Land Disputes Tribunal Comprising of Mboto Kidai Ezekiel Kessio Paul Karop & 2 others Exparte Cheseret Arap Maina [2018] KEELC 204 (KLR)

Section 3(1) of the Land Disputes Tribunal Act limited Tribunals to disputes over division or boundaries of land, claims to occupy or work land, and trespass. A dispute over a sale agreement and enforcement of a contract falls outside these heads. The framers never intended Tribunals to deal with sale of land agreements or enforce contracts, so the Tribunal's ruling acknowledging one sale agreement and revoking another was ultra vires.

Order 53 rule 2 requires an application for leave to seek certiorari to be made not later than six months after the date of the proceedings. The decision was adopted as judgment of the court on 29th April 2003, and leave was sought on 11th June 2003, well within six months. The competency attack on the motion therefore failed.

The gazette notice of 4th February 1994 for Trans-Nzoia District listed Mboto Giddi, Paul Rop and Hezekiah Kesio, while the elders who sat were recorded as Mboto Kidai, Ezekiel Kessio and Paul Karop. The court found the names possibly referred to the same persons and expressly declined to base its decision on the mismatch.

The court perused the Tribunal proceedings and found the applicant was given a hearing. The claim that the Tribunal condemned the third-party buyer unheard could not be advanced by the applicant on behalf of that third party, who was not before the court, and there was no proof of an agreement between the applicant and Kusimba.