Ronoh & 26 others v Mbugua & 7 others (Environment & Land Case E190 of 2022) [2024] KEELC 250 (KLR)

The court defined a cause of action as a combination of facts entitling a person to a remedy. Although the Plaint only mentions the County Government in describing the parties, the County's sole relevant action was approving the subdivision scheme. The court held it is important to hear the circumstances of that approval and whether a prior approved scheme gave rise to the plots the Plaintiffs bought. The objection therefore failed.

The court accepted that a suit against a dead person is a nullity, but held that proof of death (a death certificate) was required, which was not annexed, and the court cannot speculate. The alleged transfer to Mideast Plains Enterprise Limited was neither pleaded in the Replying Affidavit nor proved by any registration, and in any event is a matter of fact, not pure law, unfit for a preliminary objection. The ownership question is itself for determination in the suit.

Applying Giella v Cassman Brown and Mrao Ltd v First American Bank, the court examined the title entries and found the suit property traced to Githunguri Njiru Farm (1966) Limited, with no entry showing J.M. Mbugua ever held the property. No agreement evidenced the alleged sale from his Estate to the 5th Defendant, so the administrators prima facie had no transferable interest. With no nexus between the Plaintiffs and the registered owners, the first limb failed and, per Nguruman, the remaining limbs need not be considered.

Under Order 24 Rule 4 of the Civil Procedure Rules and the definition of legal representative in Section 2 of the Civil Procedure Act, a deceased Defendant's legal representative may be joined. The application was unopposed. Although the Limited Grant of Administration (Nairobi HC Succession Cause E466 of 2023) was said to have been annexed, it was not uploaded to the e-filing platform, so the court allowed substitution on condition the grant be availed before trial.