Kiringo (168) v Kenya Electricity Transmission Company Limited (KETRACO) & 3 others
The bottom line
#Kenya's Environment and Land Court struck out a 169-plaintiff land compensation suit, ruling energy disputes must first go to the Energy and Petroleum Tribunal.
What this practically means
#Executive summary
#Key legal issues
#Authority of one plaintiff to plead for others in a representative suit
The 3rd, 40th, 58th, 67th, 68th, 81st, 87th, 129th, 131st, 132nd, 136th, 154th, 158th and 159th plaintiffs may regularize; the 167th, 168th and 169th cannot because the school and mosques must sue through their boards or trustees
Order 1 rule 13 and Order 4 rule 1(3) require written authority filed in the case. The court has discretion to allow regularization of minor anomalies that do not go to the root of the case, exercised judiciously. But the school and religious institutions need more than authority to plead: they must sue through a Board of Management or registered trustees, and no such authority was demonstrated.
Jurisdiction of the ELC over a way-leave/compensation dispute under the Energy Act 2019
The court lacks jurisdiction; the dispute falls to the Energy and Petroleum Tribunal under Section 36 of the Energy Act
Section 36(3) of the Energy Act gives the Tribunal original civil jurisdiction over disputes between a licensee and a third party, and Section 36(5) empowers it to grant equitable reliefs including injunctions and damages. Following United Millers and Albert Chaurembo, the specialised forum must be given first opportunity. The plaintiffs' claim concerns installation of an electrical transmission line, an energy-sector dispute.
Legal principles established
#- Authority under Order 1 rule 13 to plead for co-plaintiffs must be in writing and filed in the case; it is mandatory
- A public school can only sue through its Board of Management, and a registered society or religious institution only through its officials or trustees
- Where a statute confers jurisdiction on a specialised tribunal, first opportunity must be given to that tribunal before resort to superior courts
Court orders
#- 1.The 2nd Defendant's Preliminary Objection on jurisdiction is upheld and the suit is struck out with costs to the 2nd Defendant
- 2.The Preliminary Objection succeeds in so far as the 167th, 168th and 169th plaintiffs are concerned and the suit is struck out against the Defendants
- 3.The other plaintiffs are granted 14 days to regularize if the Preliminary Objection by the 2nd Defendant is not upheld
- Jurisdiction invoked
- Environment and Land Court Act, Section 13(1) and (2) (disputed; court ultimately held it lacked jurisdiction over the energy dispute)
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.
- Nganga & another v Sangrajka & 10 others (Environment and Land Case 30 of 2017) [2025] KEELC 6644 (KLR)[2025] KEELC 6644 (KLR)2 Oct 2025applied
Cite this brief
#Cite this brief
Caselaw, "Kiringo (168) v Kenya Electricity Transmission Company Limited (KETRACO) & 3 others", Case Analysis (2022). Environment and Land Case Civil Suit 28 of 2021. Source: https://new.kenyalaw.org/akn/ke/judgment/keelc/2022/13765/eng@2022-10-28
Suggested citation format for research notes or client memos. Always verify the original judgment before relying on any point.