Lombo v Chiro (Sued as Administrator of the Estate of Jacob Adero Obiero) (Environment and Land Miscellaneous Application E062 of 2024) [2025] KEELC 3992 (KLR)

Judgment was delivered on 13th August, 2024 and the application filed on 17th December, 2024, a delay of about 3 months. The Applicant explained the delay by ongoing post-judgment negotiations aimed at amicable settlement. The Respondent did not deny the existence of these negotiations, only contending that no guarantee had been given that time for appeal would not run. The court accepted this explanation and, noting the Applicant's willingness to sub-divide the land and the trial court's finding that he had bought part of it, held it in the interest of justice to allow the appeal.

The Respondent argued that the current Advocates had not filed a Notice of Change of Advocate under Order 9 Rule 9 Civil Procedure Rules and thus had no audience. The court examined the record and found the application was actually filed by the firm of Ben Aduol Nyanga Advocates, whom the Respondent itself acknowledged as the Advocates on record. The objection therefore fell away, and the court did not need to determine the applicability of Order 9 Rule 9 to the facts.

The Applicant submitted that the judgment of the trial court recognized that he bought land from the deceased when still alive, and that he was willing to have the land sub-divided and receive his share. The Respondent countered that only a portion of the suit land was bought yet the Applicant had the entire land registered in his name, and that the proposed appeal had no chances of success. The court nonetheless found it in the interest of justice to allow the Applicant to exercise his right of appeal.