Republic v Chairman Rent Restriction Tribunal; Samuel Joel Kibe & another (Interested Parties) Ex-parte Charles Macharia Mugo [2019] KEELC 951 (KLR)
The bottom line
#Kenya's Rent Restriction Tribunal has no power over tenancies with rent above Kshs. 2,500 monthly, and orders it makes anyway are void.
What this practically means
#Executive summary
#Key legal issues
#Jurisdiction of the Rent Restriction Tribunal over premises whose standard rent exceeds Kshs. 2,500/= per month
The tribunal acted without jurisdiction in entertaining a dispute over premises where the applicant was paying a monthly rent of Kshs. 16,000/=.
Section 2(1)(c) of the Rent Restriction Act limits the Act to dwelling houses with a standard rent not exceeding Kshs. 2,500/= per month. Standard rent is defined in section 3(1). Since the applicant's agreed monthly rent was Kshs. 16,000/=, the premises were prima facie outside the tribunal's jurisdiction, and the tribunal had a duty to determine the standard rent, or assess it, before proceeding. It did not, and acted irregularly and unreasonably.
Duty of a tribunal to determine its own jurisdiction before entertaining a dispute
Once the issue of jurisdiction was raised, the tribunal was obliged to determine it first before issuing any orders.
The applicant raised a preliminary objection to jurisdiction at the first opportunity. The interested parties claimed the tribunal ruled on jurisdiction but placed no evidence of such a decision before the court. The court held that a tribunal must enquire into the standard rent, and if the premises were not let or erected as at 1st January, 1981, assess the standard rent before hearing the substantive claim. Proceeding otherwise was irregular and unreasonable.
Consequence of proceedings conducted without jurisdiction
The tribunal's proceedings and the orders of 21st August, 2017 were nullities and liable to be quashed.
Following Desai v. Warsama, where a court or tribunal assumes jurisdiction over a matter not within its jurisdiction, the proceedings and determination are nullities. The court found the tribunal had no jurisdiction, and therefore the proceedings and orders of 21st August, 2017 were nullities amenable to judicial review under section 13(7)(b) of the Environment and Land Court Act.
Legal principles established
#- Jurisdiction is everything; a tribunal without jurisdiction must decline to act, and proceedings and orders made without jurisdiction are nullities.
Court orders
#- 1.An order of certiorari removing to the court and quashing the proceedings of Nairobi Rent Restriction Tribunal Case No. 636 of 2016 (Samuel Joel Kibe and Antony Macharia vs. Charles Macharia Mugo).
- 2.An order of prohibition prohibiting the respondent from hearing and determining Rent Restriction Tribunal Case No. 636 of 2016.
- 3.The orders shall not release the applicant from his obligations as a tenant; the 1st interested party is at liberty to institute proceedings against the applicant in a court of competent jurisdiction.
- 4.Each party shall bear its own costs.
- Jurisdiction invoked
- Section 13(7)(b) of the Environment and Land Court Act, 2011
Key timeline
#Practical implications
#Frequently asked questions
#Cite this brief
#Cite this brief
Caselaw, "Republic v Chairman Rent Restriction Tribunal; Samuel Joel Kibe & another (Interested Parties) Ex-parte Charles Macharia Mugo [2019] KEELC 951 (KLR)", Case Analysis (2019). Judicial Review application arising from Notice of Motion dated 24th October, 2017. Source: https://new.kenyalaw.org/akn/ke/judgment/keelc/2019/951/eng@2019-11-07
Suggested citation format for research notes or client memos. Always verify the original judgment before relying on any point.