Dahir v Lapsset Corridor Development Authority & 3 others (Environment & Land Petition E006 of 2022) [2024] KEELC 4877 (KLR)
The bottom line
#Kenya's Environment and Land Court ordered the government to compensate a Garissa landowner whose land was taken for the LAPSSET project without notice or payment.
What this practically means
#Executive summary
#Key legal issues
#Lawful ownership of land parcel PDP No. 326/2017/34
The Petitioner was the lawful and beneficial owner as allottee of the defunct Municipal Council of Garissa; the land was not community land
The court relied on the 2009 allocation letter from the Town Clerk, payment receipts, the gazetted development plan, and the 4th Respondent's 2019 letter recommending title processing. The 4th Respondent, which authored most documents, never challenged their authenticity. The land had been allocated and adjudicated before the Community Land Act, 2016 and had become private property requiring only formalization of title.
Whether due process was followed in compulsorily acquiring the suit land
No due process was followed; the Petitioner was neither served with the statutory preliminary notice nor involved, violating Articles 40 and 47
Article 40(3) and Sections 107 and 110 of the Land Act set out the compulsory acquisition process. The suit land was not among parcels gazetted for acquisition, yet construction traversed it. The court found the Petitioner was never served with the NLC preliminary notice under Section 107(5), a mandatory requirement, and thus was deprived of property without due process, entitling him to prompt and adequate compensation.
Whether the orders sought should issue
Declaration and compensation granted; permanent injunction and general damages refused
The permanent injunction could not issue because construction of the corridor through the land was already complete. The Petitioner was entitled to compensation for the appropriated portion rather than an injunction. General damages were also declined since compensation for the land value would be adequate. The court therefore allowed the petition in part and directed the NLC to pay just compensation within 120 days.
Legal principles established
#- Service of the preliminary notice under Section 107(5) of the Land Act is a mandatory requirement in the compulsory acquisition process; acquisition of an owner's land without notice and involvement violates Article 40
- An injunction will not issue to restrain an act that has already been completed
- An allotee who has fulfilled all pre-requisite conditions, whose PDP has been gazetted without objection, is the lawful/beneficial owner even before registration of title, and such land is not community land
Court orders
#- 1.An order and declaration that the Respondents acted in violation and breach of Articles 40 and 47 of the Constitution
- 2.The National Land Commission to process and make payment in full of just compensation to the Petitioner in respect of the portion of land parcel PDP No. 326/2017/34 situated in Garissa utilized for the construction of the LAPSSET Corridor Project
- 3.Compensation to be made within 120 days from the date of the Judgment
- 4.The Petitioner awarded the costs of the Petition
- Jurisdiction invoked
- Articles 40, 47 and 63 of the Constitution of Kenya, 2010 (original constitutional petition jurisdiction of the Environment and Land Court)
Key timeline
#Practical implications
#Frequently asked questions
#Cite this brief
#Cite this brief
Caselaw, "Dahir v Lapsset Corridor Development Authority & 3 others (Environment & Land Petition E006 of 2022) [2024] KEELC 4877 (KLR)", Case Analysis (2024). Petition dated 7th December 2022 (E005 of 2022, not expressly stated). Source: https://new.kenyalaw.org/akn/ke/judgment/keelc/2024/4877/eng@2024-06-20
Suggested citation format for research notes or client memos. Always verify the original judgment before relying on any point.