Langat v Director of Land Adjudication and Settlement & 3 others; Sabuni & 180 others (Interested Party) (Environment & Land Case 26 of 2014) [2024] KEELC 3694 (KLR)

Environment and Land Court

8 May 2024

FNFRED NYAGAKA

1,849 words in judgment

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The bottom line

The Environment and Land Court in Kitale dismissed interested parties' bid to review a 2019 land judgment, ruling their four-year unexplained delay and post-judgment loan payments could not justify review.

What this practically means

Executive summary

By a Notice of Motion dated 10/03/2023, persons enjoined as Interested Parties sought review of a judgment delivered by Hon. Justice Mwangi on 31/01/2019, a declaration that they had fully paid the Plaintiff's loan with the Settlement Fund Trustees, discharge of plot No. 2 Mutambo Scheme, and an order compelling the 1st and 2nd Defendants to finalize issuance of titles to them. They relied on sale agreements under which they purchased portions of SFT Mutambo Farm Plot No. 23 from the Plaintiff, and on a repayment acknowledgment dated 11/10/2022. The Plaintiff opposed, arguing inordinate delay, lack of privity, and that the claim was a separate cause of action. The court framed two issues: whether the application met the threshold for review under Section 80 of the Civil Procedure Act and Order 45 Rule 1, and costs. It found that the 4-year and 2-month delay had not been explained; the applicants' self-directed post-judgment pooling of funds was not sufficient reason. The post-judgment payments raised new issues incapable of review and determinable only in a separate suit; interested party status did not entitle them to such prayers. The application was dismissed in its entirety with costs to the respondents.

Key legal issues

Whether the application met the threshold for review under Section 80 CPA and Order 45 Rule 1

Holding

It did not; the delay of 4 years and 2 months was unexplained and post-judgment payments do not disclose error apparent on the face of the record or new matter.

Reasoning

The court restated the three grounds for review plus the requirement of no undue delay. The applicants' pooling of resources to repay the SFT loan after judgment was a self-directed act on their own volition; the court had not directed it and cannot wait for parties to act at their own pace. The delay was therefore unexplained. Further, payments arising after judgment raise new issues that cannot go to the merits of the judgment and must be litigated in a separate suit.

p. 4

Whether the interest of the applicants could be enforced in the concluded suit

Holding

No; being enjoined as interested parties did not entitle them to make the prayers sought, and their claims lie in a separate suit.

Reasoning

The court doubted whether the applicants understood what they wished to obtain, from whom, and how it related to the suit. The impugned judgment had properly found the plaintiff owed the defendants sums of money after trial on evidence. The applicants' post-judgment payments created new issues determinable only in a different suit or claim, and so review could not lie.

p. 4

Legal principles established

Delay in bringing an application for review, however small, must be explained to the satisfaction of the court
'Any other sufficient reason' under Order 45 Rule 1 must be analogous to the grounds stated in the provision
Matters arising after the delivery of a judgment cannot found a review of that judgment and must be pursued in a fresh suit

Court orders

1.The application dated 10/03/2023 is dismissed
2.Costs of the application to the respondents

Authorities

Legislation

Civil Procedure ActSections 1A, 1B, 3, 3A, 34, 80
Civil Procedure RulesOrder 45 Rule 1; Order 50 Rule 1

Jurisdiction invoked: Sections 1A, 1B, 3, 3A, 34 and 80 of the Civil Procedure Act and Order 45 Rule 1, Order 50 Rule 1 of the Civil Procedure Rules

Key timeline

Practical implications

Frequently asked questions

Cite this brief

Caselaw, "Langat v Director of Land Adjudication and Settlement & 3 others; Sabuni & 180 others (Interested Party) (Environment & Land Case 26 of 2014) [2024] KEELC 3694 (KLR)", Case Analysis (2024). Notice of Motion dated 10/03/2023. Source: https://new.kenyalaw.org/akn/ke/judgment/keelc/2024/3694/eng@2024-05-08

Suggested citation format for research notes or client memos. Always verify the original judgment before relying on any point.