Ndoro & 191 others v National Land Commission & 3 others; World Bank Group, Kenya & another (Interested Parties) (Environment & Land Petition 8 of 2021) [2023] KEELC 243 (KLR)

Applying the purpose-and-effect test from Olum and Kenya Human Rights Commission, the court found the Act aims to standardize valuations and expedite acquisitions without removing compensation. Article 40(3) requires prompt payment but prescribes no timeline, leaving Parliament to define 'prompt' consistent with article 259(8). The one-year cap, varied forms of compensation, and the election of compensation form make each case fact-specific. The court suggested a mechanism for a first instalment before possession rather than invalidation.

Though the statutory tribunal was not operational, the court would not turn away a litigant; the ELC retains jurisdiction under article 162(2), and access would only be hampered by a refusal of jurisdiction. On the right to be heard, the petitioners had an option to decline the awards but accepted them and produced no evidence of documented complaints to the Commission or local leadership.

It was insufficient to impugn the valuation merely on the absence of the land value index. Petitioners were obliged to demonstrate, ideally with an expert report or independent valuation, how the absence of the index negatively affected the specific valuations and how the awards were unjust. No comparative material was exhibited, so the claim of undervaluation could not be authenticated.

The 3rd respondent showed the Bill, published 28th October 2022, seeks to repeal and replace the very tribunal the petitioners want constituted and to allow county-specific land value indices. Making orders on a tribunal proposed for removal would be futile, and the parliamentary process must be allowed to take its course.