Kararei & 2 others (Suing on His own Behalf and on Behalf of 15 others) v Sayiaton & 17 others (Environment & Land Petition 18 of 2019) [2025] KEELC 804 (KLR)
The bottom line
#Kenya's Environment and Land Court cancelled trading centre titles held by individual officials but dismissed most claims because key parties were never joined to the case.
What this practically means
#Executive summary
#Key legal issues
#Whether illegal and unprocedural allocation of land was proved in Siana Group Ranch
Apart from the trading centre registrations, the petitioners failed to prove illegal allocation on a balance of probabilities; allegations against non-parties could not be sustained.
The court traced the amalgamation of Siana A and B, the adoption of the constitution, the dissolution resolution and the subdivision process. It found that allegations against persons such as Stanley Ntutu, churches, schools and new group ranches failed because those parties were never joined, and no person deponed or testified to being denied an allocation.
Registration of trading centres in the names of the 1st to 3rd respondents as trustees
The court found such registration inappropriate notwithstanding the claim that it was done on the advice of the DLASO, and cancelled the trading centre title deeds.
Although DW2 and DW3 testified that the officials held the facilities in trust on the advice of the DLASO, the special general meeting of 15th December 2010 confirmed that the land on which the facilities sit belonged to the group members; fairness required registration in the name of the Group Ranch pending consultation.
Whether the petitioners satisfied the constitutional pleading threshold and exhausted internal mechanisms
The court found the petitioners had not proved contravention of the cited constitutional provisions and should have engaged the Registrar of Group Representatives earlier.
The respondents argued the petition fell short of Anarita Karimi Njeru precision and that statutory mechanisms under the Land (Group Representatives) Act and the group constitution were available. The court agreed that the claims ought to have been raised with the Registrar at the earliest and found the constitutional claims unproved.
Legal principles established
#- Where land earmarked for trading centres within a dissolved group ranch is registered in the names of individual officials rather than the group, such registration is inappropriate and the titles should be cancelled and the land treated as public land.
Court orders
#- 1.That all the title deeds which include Cis-Mara/Siana/971, 1052, 1585, 1896, 2472, 3477, 3639, 3925 and 1714 in respect of all trading centres in Siana Group Ranch registered in the names of individuals are hereby cancelled.
- 2.The Community Land Registrar to give notice within 14 days from today's date of the said cancellation to the National Land Commission.
- 3.The National Land Commission to gazette the parcels of land in item (i) above as public land within 60 days on receipt of the notice in item (ii) above.
- 4.Each party shall bear its own costs.
- Jurisdiction invoked
- Constitutional petition under Articles 22, 40, 62 and 63 of the Constitution read with the Land (Group Representatives) Act, Cap 287 (repealed) and the Community Land Act
Key timeline
#Practical implications
#Frequently asked questions
#Later judgments citing this (1)
#Judgments in the corpus that rely on this one. Where the Court said how it treated the authority, that is shown.
Cite this brief
#Cite this brief
Caselaw, "Kararei & 2 others (Suing on His own Behalf and on Behalf of 15 others) v Sayiaton & 17 others (Environment & Land Petition 18 of 2019) [2025] KEELC 804 (KLR)", Case Analysis (2025). Petition dated 27th May, 2019 (ELC Petition). Source: https://new.kenyalaw.org/akn/ke/judgment/keelc/2025/804/eng@2025-02-25
Suggested citation format for research notes or client memos. Always verify the original judgment before relying on any point.