Kenya Armed Forces Old Comrades Association Registered Trustees v City Council of Nairobi & 7 others (Environment and Land Case Civil Suit 503 of 2012 & Civil Case 1627 of 2001 (Consolidated)) [2022] KEELC 3857 (KLR)
The bottom line
#Kenya's Environment and Land Court dismissed KAFOCA's bid to block a public access road through its Nairobi land, holding the survey plan had wrongly omitted a road reserved since 1977.
What this practically means
#Executive summary
#Key legal issues
#Whether an access road passes through LR No 209/11911
Yes - the access road was provided for in PDP No 242 of 1977 and PDP No 382 of 1994 but omitted from the plaintiff's initial survey plan; the Director of Surveys lawfully cancelled the initial survey plan and directed a re-survey.
The court traced the legal framework: PDPs are integral to land use planning; planning precedes allotment and survey. Since the suit land was planned by way of PDPs, its survey plan must have accorded with them. Evidence and correspondence showed the 1977 PDP's road of access was excluded from the plaintiff's survey, so the Director of Surveys acted lawfully in cancelling the plan and ordering re-survey under FR 311/13, resulting in LR 209/15381.
Whether the plaintiff is entitled to injunctive relief and damages
No. The access road is a public road planned in the PDPs, and the plaintiff did not prove its case to the required standard; both suits were dismissed with costs.
Having found that the road of access existed in the original PDPs, the Commissioner of Lands was within his mandate to seek re-survey to re-establish the road. The landlocked-ness question became moot since the public, including the 2nd defendant, may use the road. The plaintiff's claim, including damages for the demolished wall, was not proved to the required standard.
Legal principles established
#- The planning of unalienated government land precedes allotment and survey; a survey plan must accord with the approved part development plan, and a survey plan drawn without according with an approved PDP is subject to cancellation by the Director of Surveys.
- Where an access road was planned in the PDPs, the public, including adjoining owners, have the right to use and access it.
Court orders
#- 1.HCCC No 1627 of 2001 and ELC No 503 of 2012 be and are hereby dismissed with costs
- Jurisdiction invoked
- Original civil jurisdiction of the Environment and Land Court over land within Nairobi
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, "Kenya Armed Forces Old Comrades Association Registered Trustees v City Council of Nairobi & 7 others (Environment and Land Case Civil Suit 503 of 2012 & Civil Case 1627 of 2001 (Consolidated)) [2022] KEELC 3857 (KLR)", Case Analysis (2022). HCCC No 1627 of 2001 consolidated with ELC No 503 of 2012 (ELC No 503 of 2012 being the lead file). Source: https://new.kenyalaw.org/akn/ke/judgment/keelc/2022/3857/eng@2022-06-16
Suggested citation format for research notes or client memos. Always verify the original judgment before relying on any point.