Kennedy Ellam Wekesa (As the representative of Estate of George Ellam Wekesa v Abdulla Taib (As the representative of Estate of Sheihk Ali Taib [2020] KEELC 1771 (KLR)
The bottom line
#The Environment and Land Court in Mombasa struck out a landowner's suit because it cannot review or overturn judgments of the High Court or Court of Appeal.
What this practically means
#Executive summary
#Key legal issues
#Whether the ELC can determine a cause of action emanating from a decision of the High Court or Court of Appeal
No - the court lacks jurisdiction to interpret, revise, set aside or supervise judgments or decrees of another superior court
Article 165(6) confers supervisory jurisdiction on the High Court over subordinate courts, not over superior courts. The ELC, though of equal status with the High Court, cannot supervise judges of the High Court or Court of Appeal. Hearing the suit would amount to reviewing orders of a court of equal status and a higher court, which the law does not permit. The Supreme Court's decision in Republic v Karisa Chengo confirms equal-ranking courts cannot supervise each other.
The nature and scope of a preliminary objection
A preliminary objection raises a pure point of law on assumed pleaded facts, per Mukisa Biscuit
The court adopted the classic definition in Mukisa Biscuit Manufacturing Co Ltd v West End Distributors Ltd. Since the objection was raised by the defendant, it had to be argued on the assumption that all facts pleaded by the plaintiff were correct, including the existence of prior suits. On those pleaded facts, the jurisdictional objection could be determined as a pure point of law and was upheld.
Legal principles established
#- Courts of equal status cannot supervise, review or sit in judgment over the decisions of each other; that function belongs to higher courts in the hierarchy
- A preliminary objection raises a pure point of law argued on the assumption that all facts pleaded by the other side are correct
Court orders
#- 1.The defendant's preliminary objection dated 20th March 2019 is upheld
- 2.The suit and the Notice of Motion dated 7th November 2018 are struck out for want of jurisdiction
- 3.Costs of the suit to the defendant
- Jurisdiction invoked
- Article 162(2)(b) of the Constitution and Section 13 of the Environment and Land Court Act No. 19 of 2011
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.
- County Government of Kilifi &another; v Registrar of Titles & Others [2021] KEELC 2810 (KLR)[2021] KEELC 2810 (KLR)10 Jun 2021
Cite this brief
#Cite this brief
Caselaw, "Kennedy Ellam Wekesa (As the representative of Estate of George Ellam Wekesa v Abdulla Taib (As the representative of Estate of Sheihk Ali Taib [2020] KEELC 1771 (KLR)", Case Analysis (2020). Mombasa ELC (number not stated in judgment). Source: https://new.kenyalaw.org/akn/ke/judgment/keelc/2020/1771/eng@2020-07-09
Suggested citation format for research notes or client memos. Always verify the original judgment before relying on any point.