Mbae v Nairobi City County Government; China National Electric Engineering Co (Interested Party) (Environment and Planning Petition 4 of 2023) [2025] KEELC 634 (KLR)
The bottom line
#Kenya's Environment and Land Court gave a Dandora waste plant challenger extra time to appeal and blocked construction for four months, but the signed contract stands.
What this practically means
#Executive summary
#Key legal issues
#Extension of time to lodge a notice of appeal out of time
A 47-day delay was held not to be inordinate; the applicant was given the benefit of doubt regarding lack of notice of the early delivery of judgment, and no prejudice was demonstrated.
Applying the Salat principles, the court weighed the explanation that the judgment was delivered on a date earlier than scheduled without direct notice to the parties. Although doubts existed about what the petitioner did on the due date and who at the registry was contacted, the court granted the benefit of doubt, holding 47 days not inordinate and noting no prejudice was deponed to by the Respondent or Interested Party if leave were granted.
Temporary injunction pending appeal
Injunction granted but on revised terms: limited to building, operating, maintaining and transferring the project, for four months only, since award and design/finance components were overtaken or harmless.
The court applied the Patricia Njeri principles and Giella v Cassman Brown. It held the application was not overtaken by events because the order sought would restrain implementation of the signed contract. Weighing hardship, it found building, operating and transferring the dumpsite would prejudice the appeal, while award, design and financing would not, and granted a time-limited injunction to allow the appeal to be prosecuted.
Whether the application was overtaken by events given the contract signed on 28th August 2024
Rejected; the order sought went beyond award and sought to restrain implementation of the signed contract.
The court read the proposed order as targeting not only the award but the whole project lifecycle - design, finance, build, operate, maintain and transfer - so the existence of the signed contract did not render the motion futile. It therefore proceeded to consider the injunction on its merits and granted modified, time-bound orders.
Legal principles established
#- The Environment and Land Court in its appellate jurisdiction has power to grant a temporary injunction pending appeal where the ends of justice demand and the procedure for instituting an appeal has been complied with.
- Extension of time is an equitable remedy available only to a deserving party at the discretion of the court, requiring a satisfactory explanation of the delay.
Court orders
#- 1.Time is extended for the Petitioner to file and serve a notice of appeal within 7 days of the date of this ruling
- 2.Temporary injunction restraining the Respondent and the Interested Party from Building, Operating, maintaining and Transferring a Waste To Energy Processing Plant At Dandora Dumpsite To M/s China National Electric Engineering Company (NCC/ENV/287/A./3882/2022-2023) for a period of Four (4) months from the date of delivery of the ruling
- Jurisdiction invoked
- Section 1A & 3A of the Civil Procedure Act; Orders 40, 42 and 21 of the Civil Procedure Rules; Article 159 of the Constitution
Key timeline
#Practical implications
#Frequently asked questions
#Cite this brief
#Cite this brief
Caselaw, "Mbae v Nairobi City County Government; China National Electric Engineering Co (Interested Party) (Environment and Planning Petition 4 of 2023) [2025] KEELC 634 (KLR)", Case Analysis (2025). Petition (Environment and Land Court, Nairobi) - notice of motion dated 11th June 2024; tender No. NCC/ENV/287/A./3882/2022-2023. Source: https://new.kenyalaw.org/akn/ke/judgment/keelc/2025/634/eng@2025-02-10
Suggested citation format for research notes or client memos. Always verify the original judgment before relying on any point.