Husssein Ali Dima & another v Land Registration (Kajiado Lands Office) & 2 others [2019] KEELC 1591 (KLR)
The bottom line
#A Kajiado court refused to force the Land Registrar to register a caution over disputed land, ruling the buyers used the wrong legal procedure.
What this practically means
#Executive summary
#Key legal issues
#Whether the Land Registrar Kajiado should be compelled to register the Applicants' caution over the suit land
The application was dismissed as premature because the Applicants did not annex the caution application purportedly rejected and an active case over the same land already existed
The court noted the absence of the caution application said to have been rejected and the existence of pending litigation over the same parcel. The Registrar enjoys statutory discretion under Section 71(4) to reject unnecessary cautions. Because registering a caution is administrative in nature, the proper remedy was judicial review or an injunction in the pending case, not the present application.
Whether the court should exercise its discretion to compel registration of the caution
The court declined, holding that Section 71(4) confers discretion on the Registrar and the Applicants had not demonstrated that refusal
The court applied Sections 71(3) and 71(4) of the Land Registration Act, which permit the Registrar to require a statutory declaration and to reject an unnecessary caution. No copy of the caution application was annexed, and the Registrar's discretion could not be displaced on the evidence. The Applicants' remedy lay elsewhere.
Legal principles established
#- The registration of a caution is an administrative act and a challenge to a Registrar's refusal to register one must be by judicial review, or by an injunction within pending litigation over the land
- Under Section 71(4) of the Land Registration Act the Registrar has discretion to accept or reject a caution that is unnecessary or whose purpose can be effected by registration of an instrument
Court orders
#- 1.The application dated 29th January 2019 disallowed as premature
- 2.Costs in the cause
- Jurisdiction invoked
- Environment and Land Court jurisdiction under the Land Registration Act (caution under Section 71); jurisdiction disputed by 3rd Respondent
Key timeline
#Practical implications
#Frequently asked questions
#Later judgments citing this (1)
#Judgments in the corpus that rely on this one. Where the Court said how it treated the authority, that is shown.
- Byegon v Agricultural Finance Corporation; Chelogoi (Proposed Interested Party) (Enviromental and Land Originating Summons E006 of 2023) [2025] KEELC 2868 (KLR)[2025] KEELC 2868 (KLR)27 Mar 2025applied
Cite this brief
#Cite this brief
Caselaw, "Husssein Ali Dima & another v Land Registration (Kajiado Lands Office) & 2 others [2019] KEELC 1591 (KLR)", Case Analysis (2019). Notice of Motion dated 29th January, 2019 (Kajiado Environment and Land Court). Source: https://new.kenyalaw.org/akn/ke/judgment/keelc/2019/1591/eng@2019-10-01
Suggested citation format for research notes or client memos. Always verify the original judgment before relying on any point.