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ELCAllowedELCLOS/E091/2024 (to be consolidated with ELCLCMISC/E011/2024)· [2025] KEELC 4137 (KLR)
Marete & 2 others v Githere & 2 others (Environment & Land Case E091 of 2024) [2025] KEELC 4137 (KLR)
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·~4 min to read original · ~4 min briefThe bottom line
#Kenya's Environment and Land Court at Kajiado merged two lawsuits over the same Konza land, so the adverse possession and eviction claims will now be heard together as one case.
What this practically means
#Executive summary
#This first-instance decision of the Environment and Land Court at Kajiado, delivered by M.D. Mwangi, Judge, on 22nd May 2025, determined an application for consolidation of two pending matters concerning the same land. ELCLOS/E091/2024 was an Originating Summons dated 19th September 2024 in which the Applicants sought declarations that they were entitled to L.R. Numbers KJD/Elangata/Wuas 3223, 3224 and 3225 by adverse possession and prescriptive rights, having occupied the land since before 1978, developed it and buried their kin there. ELCLCMISC/E011/2024 was a notice of motion dated 12th March 2024 by the estate of John Richard Githere seeking eviction of Paul Nkanana Marete from Kjd/Elangata-Wuas/3224, a subdivision of the original Kjd/Elangata-Wuas/5. Counsel for the Applicants urged consolidation to save costs, time and effort; counsel for the Estate of Githere opposed it. Applying the test from Prem Lala Nahata v Chandi Prasad Sikaria (Supreme Court of India) and the Supreme Court of Kenya's decision in Law Society of Kenya v Center for Human Rights and Democracy, the court found common questions of fact and law and the same subject matter and essentially the same parties. It consolidated the matters, designated ELCLOS/E091/2024 as the lead file, renamed the parties Plaintiffs and Defendants, directed conversion of the Originating Summons into a plaint to permit a counter-claim, and set a 21-day timetable for pleadings before case management. No costs order was made.
Key legal issues
#01
Whether the two matters should be consolidated
Holding
Consolidation granted; both matters concern the same land and essentially the same parties
Reasoning
The suit (ELCLOS/E091/2024) is an adverse possession claim over L.R. Nos. KJD/Elangata/Wuas 3223, 3224 and 3225, while the motion (ELCLCMISC/E011/2024) seeks eviction from Kjd/Elangata-Wuas/3224. Both arise from the subdivision of Kjd/Elangata-Wuas/5 and involve essentially the same parties. Consolidation serves convenience, avoids multiplicity of suits, promotes expedition and the overriding objective.
p. 3
Legal principles established
#- Consolidation is justified where two or more matters pending in court raise common questions of law or fact, or where the rights or reliefs claimed arise out of the same transaction or series of transactions, or where it is otherwise desirable
- Consolidation exists to facilitate efficient and expeditious disposal of disputes and fair dispensation of justice, not to advantage the party seeking it or disadvantage the party opposing it
Court orders
#- 1.The two matters, ELCLOS/E091/2024 and ELCLCMISC/E011/2024, are consolidated and shall be heard as one
- 2.ELCLOS/E091/2024 shall be the lead file since ELCLCMISC/E011/2024 is an application
- 3.The Applicants in ELCLOS/E091/2024 shall be the Plaintiffs and the Respondents the Defendants
- 4.The Originating Summons in ELCLOS/E091/2024 be converted into a plaint to allow the Respondents (now Defendants) to lodge a counter-claim
- 5.Plaintiffs to file a plaint and serve the Defendants' advocates within 21 days
- 6.Defendants to file their statement of defence and counter-claim within 21 days after service
- 7.Matter to be listed for case management conference and appropriate directions
- Jurisdiction invoked
- Inherent powers and overriding objective of the Environment and Land Court to order consolidation of suits involving the same subject matter and parties
Key timeline
#Practical implications
#Frequently asked questions
#Cite this brief
#Cite this brief
Caselaw, "Marete & 2 others v Githere & 2 others (Environment & Land Case E091 of 2024) [2025] KEELC 4137 (KLR)", Case Analysis (2025). ELCLOS/E091/2024 (to be consolidated with ELCLCMISC/E011/2024). Source: https://new.kenyalaw.org/akn/ke/judgment/keelc/2025/4137/eng@2025-05-22
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