Keekonyoike Community Trust (Suing through the Duly Appointed Trustees) v Chief Land Registrar & another (Environment and Land Miscellaneous Application E008 of 2025) [2025] KEELC 4710 (KLR)
The bottom line
#A Kenyan court ruled that defying orders to hand over a land title means the title is 'lost' and can be replaced with a provisional certificate.
What this practically means
#Executive summary
#Key legal issues
#Res judicata
The application was not res judicata: the judgment in ELC 410 of 2017 determined only the identity of validly elected trustees and did not determine custody of the original title
Applying the Supreme Court's test in IEBC v Maina Kiai, the court found the issue directly and substantially determined in the former suit was which faction was validly elected as trustees. The court in the former suit did not pronounce on what would happen to the custody of the original title after the fresh elections it directed. Therefore the issue of title custody was not previously determined and Section 7 of the Civil Procedure Act was not offended.
Locus standi of Moses Monik
On the documentary record (Certificate of Incorporation, letter from Assistant Registrar of Companies, Gazette Notice No. 2417), Monik is a trustee and chairperson with locus to bring the claim
Whether Monik lacked locus was a question of fact discernible from the documents on record. Monik annexed the Certificate of Incorporation showing his appointment on 26th June 2024, a letter from the Assistant Registrar of Companies, and a Gazette Notice. Under Section 107(1) of the Evidence Act and Anne Wambui Ndiritu, the burden lay on the Parantai Group to prove the documents were forgeries or fraudulently obtained; mere assertion did not discharge that burden.
Defective suit / mode of institution
The Notice of Motion was not a defective suit because the orders sought were non-contentious and did not seek to enforce rights against another party
The word 'suit' connotes a civil action asserting one party's rights against another demanding redress. The February application merely sought an order directing the Chief Land Registrar to issue a provisional title; the orders were non-contentious, the 1st Respondent did not oppose, and Section 19 of the Civil Procedure Act contemplates non-contentious procedures. A miscellaneous application was therefore a permissible mode of commencement.
Whether the original title is lost and whether a provisional title should issue
The court found the title effectively lost on the basis of the trustees' persistent failure to comply with court orders to deposit it, and allowed the application conditionally
Justice Gacheru's order of 14th October 2016 required the title deed be deposited in court; it was not. Justice Ochieng's order of 25th June 2018 found Moses Parantai and others in contempt and again directed surrender of the title; Parantai admitted he did not deposit it. With no explanation beyond assertion of possession, the court concluded the title was lost. The court invoked its original jurisdiction under Section 13(2)(c) of the Environment and Land Court Act over land administration, and guarded the sanctity of its orders.
Legal principles established
#- Res judicata requires that the issue in the subsequent suit was directly and substantially in issue, between the same parties litigating under the same title, heard and finally determined by a competent court
- A matter that does not seek to enforce rights against another party and is not contentious need not be instituted by plaint or other originating process and may proceed by Notice of Motion
- The party alleging that a rival's appointment documents are forgeries or procured by fraud bears the burden of proving that allegation beyond mere assertion
- A party's unexplained failure and refusal to comply with court orders to produce a document may ground the conclusion that the document is lost
Court orders
#- 1.The Notice of Motion dated 11th March 2025 is dismissed
- 2.Moses Parantai Ole Shukuru is directed to surrender the Original Title to L.R No. Ngong/Ngong/12418 to the 1st Respondent within Seventy two (72) hours of the date of the Ruling
- 3.In default of surrender, the 1st Respondent do issue and register a Provisional Certificate of Title to L.R No. Ngong/Ngong/12418 in the names of Moses Masek Monik, Hannah Silapei Tuuko, Emmanuel Litei Shokore, Parsereti Ngomea Ngussur, John Kamnuye Kiok, Peris Katito George, and Sentero Ole Ntaingono (the duly elected Trustees of Keekonyokie Community Trust)
- 4.Each party to bear their own costs
- Jurisdiction invoked
- Section 13(2)(c) of the Environment and Land Court Act (original jurisdiction over land administration and management); applications brought under Articles 40 and 159 of the Constitution, Sections 1A, 3A, 63(e) of the Civil Procedure Act, Section 33 of the Land Registration Act and Order 2 Rule 15(d) of the Civil Procedure Rules
Key timeline
#Practical implications
#Frequently asked questions
#Cite this brief
#Cite this brief
Caselaw, "Keekonyoike Community Trust (Suing through the Duly Appointed Trustees) v Chief Land Registrar & another (Environment and Land Miscellaneous Application E008 of 2025) [2025] KEELC 4710 (KLR)", Case Analysis (2025). Not stated in judgment (Miscellaneous Application; Notice of Motion dated 12th February 2025 and Notice of Motion dated 11th March 2025). Source: https://new.kenyalaw.org/akn/ke/judgment/keelc/2025/4710/eng@2025-06-25
Suggested citation format for research notes or client memos. Always verify the original judgment before relying on any point.