Mwangi v Raimbir (Environment and Land Appeal E013 of 2023) [2025] KEELC 5635 (KLR)
The bottom line
#Kenya's Environment and Land Court confirmed you cannot get a stay of execution of a judgment that simply dismissed your appeal — there is nothing to stay.
What this practically means
#Executive summary
#Questions the Court framed
#The issues the Court set itself to decide, in its own words.
- 1.Whether the appellant should be granted leave to effect a post-judgment change of advocates
- 2.Whether execution of the court's judgment of 9/5/2025 dismissing the appeal should be stayed
Key legal issues
#Whether a stay of execution can issue in respect of a judgment dismissing an appeal
No; only positive orders/decrees are capable of being stayed, and a negative order leaves nothing to stay
The court reasoned that the judgment of 9/5/2025 dismissed the appeal for lack of merit, so the order/decree the applicant sought to stay was negative. Because a negative order imposes no obligation capable of enforcement, there is nothing to stay, and established jurisprudence (represented by the Western College case) holds that such orders do not attract stay of execution.
Legal principles established
#- A negative order (a judgment dismissing a suit or appeal) does not attract an order of stay of execution
Court orders
#- 1.The plea for post-judgment change of advocates is granted
- 2.The plea for an order of stay of execution of the judgment rendered on 9/5/2025 is rejected and dismissed on the ground that what is in the said judgment is a negative order
- 3.The applicant shall bear costs of the application
The bench
#One judgment of the whole court — no separate or dissenting opinions.
Wrote the judgment
- Jurisdiction invoked
- Not expressly stated; the court was seised of an application within an appeal before it
Relief refused
#Stay of execution of the judgment of 9/5/2025
The judgment dismissed the appeal, hence the order sought to be stayed is a negative order; a negative order does not attract an order of stay of execution
Costs
The applicant shall bear costs of the application
Quotable passages
#Verbatim from the judgment, each located to the page it appears on in the official PDF — so these can be cited and checked directly.
The plea for an order of stay of execution of the judgment rendered on 9/5/2025 is rejected and dismissed on the ground that what is in the said judgment is a negative order.
There is nothing to be stayed in the said negative order. There abounds a litany of jurisprudence to the efiect that a negative order does not attract an order of stay of execution.
a. The plea for post-judgment change of advocates is granted.
Issues in the judgment
#Typographical error in the date of the application in the disposition (22/7/025 instead of 22/7/2025)
Key timeline
#Practical implications
#Frequently asked questions
#Cite this brief
#Cite this brief
Caselaw, "Mwangi v Raimbir (Environment and Land Appeal E013 of 2023) [2025] KEELC 5635 (KLR)", Case Analysis (2025). Not stated in the excerpt (application dated 22/7/2025 within a dismissed appeal, judgment of 9/5/2025). Source: https://new.kenyalaw.org/akn/ke/judgment/keelc/2025/5635/eng@2025-07-30
Suggested citation format for research notes or client memos. Always verify the original judgment before relying on any point.