Telposta Pension Scheme Registered Trustees v John Mbugua Kenda & others [2020] KEELC 3913 (KLR)
The bottom line
#Kenya's Environment and Land Court in Nakuru declared Telposta Pension Scheme the true owner of Gilgil land, cancelling dozens of competing titles.
What this practically means
#Executive summary
#Key legal issues
#Validity of County Council of Nakuru allotments
The allottees had no legitimate claim; the Council did not own the land, the allotment letters were unauthenticated, and there was no proof of payment of the required Kshs. 10,500/=
The court found no evidence that the County Council owned the land, so it lacked capacity to distribute it. The allotment letters were not authenticated and could have been written anywhere; even if genuine, allottees did not adhere to the payment terms. The suits of these claimants were dismissed with costs.
Priority and validity of Telposta's Block 4 titles versus the defendants' Block 9 titles
Telposta has good title; LR No. 1317/235 (compulsorily acquired land vested in KP&TC and transferred to Telposta) existed first in time and was converted to Block 4/7, later subdivided into Block 4/82 and 83; the Block 9 titles were superimposed on this land
The court traced the chain: compulsory acquisition of 265 acres of LR No. 9776 in 1977, registration as LR No. 1317/235, conversion to Gilgil Block 4/7, subdivision into Block 4/82 and 83 in 2005. The land buying companies purchased land but no evidence showed which portion they obtained; the disputed land fell within the compulsorily acquired portion, which they could not legally distribute.
Whether the land buying companies had any right to demarcate and allocate the disputed land
They did not; the sharing agreement did not disclose how the land was distributed among the companies, and no suit was filed contesting the Government's acquisition
Although the three companies purchased shares of Ol Begi Limited in 1986, the undated sharing agreement did not state from which parcel each company would take its share. No evidence was led on distribution, and no litigation was brought against the Government's claim under Gazette Notice No. 3435 of 2 December 1977. Their allocation of the land to members was therefore without legal basis.
Whether Block 4 was created in error over an existing Block 9
No; Block 4 arose by conversion of LR No. 1317/235 from the RTA to the RLA regime, and the defendants' Block 9 titles did not come first in time
The defendants argued that Block 9 already existed when Block 4 was created. The court held that Block 4 was created by conversion of a title that already existed and was vested in the Government when the Block 9 titles were being created, so the claim of error failed and the converse - superimposition of Block 9 onto LR No. 1317/235 - was the true position.
Legal principles established
#- Land compulsorily acquired by the Government cannot be claimed or distributed by any other person
- A non-owner such as a County Council cannot validly allot land it does not own
- A title created by conversion of an earlier subsisting RTA title predates and prevails over later overlapping titles
Court orders
#- 1.Declaration that the titles Gilgil/Township Block 4/82 and 83 are genuine titles owned by Telposta Pension Scheme Registered Trustees (land between the old Nairobi-Nakuru Road and the Railway)
- 2.Nullification of any other title or plot allocation falling within the land occupied by Gilgil/Township Block 4/82 and 83, including titles of the defendants in ELC No. 225 of 2012 and the plaintiffs in ELC Nos. 226 of 2012, 153 of 2014 and 75 of 2015
- 3.The Chief Land Registrar and the District Land Registrar, Nakuru ordered to nullify and cancel the defendants'/plaintiffs' titles specified in the decree and to Gazette that the said titles are null and void
- 4.The Director of Surveys ordered to nullify the Registry Index Map bearing the prefix Gilgil/Karunga Block 9 (Ol Burgel) so long as it falls within the land occupied by Gilgil/Township Block 4/82 and 83
- 5.The defendants in ELC No. 225 of 2012 and the plaintiffs in ELC Nos. 226 of 2012, 153 of 2014 and 75 of 2015 to forthwith vacate Gilgil Township Block 4/82 & 83 or be forcefully evicted, and are permanently restrained from the land
- 6.Costs of the consolidated suits awarded to Telposta Pension Scheme Registered Trustees
- Jurisdiction invoked
- Original jurisdiction of the Environment and Land Court over land disputes (four consolidated suits)
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.
Cite this brief
#Cite this brief
Caselaw, "Telposta Pension Scheme Registered Trustees v John Mbugua Kenda & others [2020] KEELC 3913 (KLR)", Case Analysis (2020). Nakuru ELC No. 225 of 2012 (consolidated with Nakuru HCCC No. 226 of 2012, Nakuru ELC No. 153 of 2014 and Nakuru ELC No. 75 of 2015). Source: https://new.kenyalaw.org/akn/ke/judgment/keelc/2020/3913/eng@2020-01-22
Suggested citation format for research notes or client memos. Always verify the original judgment before relying on any point.