Skip to content
AI-generated case briefs sourced from Kenya Law · Not legal advice
Caselaw
AI-generated case brief
Case Brief · caselaw.co.ke
ELCDismissedNot stated in the judgment· [2025] KEELC 7409 (KLR)

Odhiambo v Trustees, Full Gospel Church of Kenya & 2 others (Constitutional Petition E008 of 2023) [2025] KEELC 7409 (KLR)

Environment and Land Court
27 October 2025
JOJ. M Onyango
1,142 words in judgment
View original judgmentRead on Kenya Law Watch case
AI-assisted case brief
·~5 min to read original · ~4 min brief

The bottom line

#

Kenya's Environment and Land Court confirmed that incorporated trustees must be sued in their corporate name, dismissing a church's attempt to escape a land petition on a technicality.

What this practically means

#

Executive summary

#
This Environment and Land Court ruling at Thika, delivered virtually on 27th October 2025 by J. M Onyango J, determines the 1st Respondent's Notice of Preliminary Objection dated 4th April 2025. The 1st Respondent, named as the Trustees, Full Gospel Church of Kenya, contended that the Petition was incompetent and fatally defective because it was not a legal or juristic person capable of being sued in its own name, arguing under Section 3(3) of the Trustees (Perpetual Succession) Act, Cap 164 that only the registered trustees, not the church body, acquire corporate status and capacity to sue and be sued. Counsel relied on African Christian Church & Schools Registered Trustees v Macharia and the SUPKEM judicial review decision, submitting that a suit against a non-existent legal person is a nullity ab initio. The Petitioner countered that the pleadings had been amended with the court's leave to reflect the correct party, the Trustees of the Full Gospel Church of Kenya, and that the objection was a delaying tactic. The court framed a single issue: whether the Preliminary Objection should be upheld. Reproducing Section 3 of the Act, the court held that Section 3(3) does not envisage trustees suing or being sued in their individual names; 'Trustees, Full Gospel Church of Kenya' is the corporate name in which the incorporated trustees must be sued, following Registered Trustees if Maximum Miracle Centre v Andrew Mlewa Mkare. The Preliminary Objection was dismissed with costs to the Petitioner.

Key legal issues

#
01

Whether an unregistered-entity objection to the capacity of the Trustees, Full Gospel Church of Kenya to be sued is sustainable

Holding

No — the corporate name 'Trustees, Full Gospel Church of Kenya' is the proper name in which the incorporated trustees are sued; the Preliminary Objection fails

Reasoning

Section 3(3) of the Trustees (Perpetual Succession) Act provides that on incorporation the trustees become a body corporate with power to sue and be sued in their corporate name. A plain reading shows trustees need not be sued individually. Since the Petition names the trustees by their corporate name, the 1st Respondent is properly joined and the objection, a pure point of law on capacity, is dismissed with costs.

p. 3

Legal principles established

#
  • Under Section 3(3) of the Trustees (Perpetual Succession) Act, Cap 164, trustees upon incorporation become a body corporate with power to sue and be sued in their corporate name, not in their individual names
  • Where a body of registered trustees is described by its corporate name, that is the name under which it ought to be sued

Court orders

#
  1. 1.The 1st Respondent's Notice of Preliminary Objection dated 4th April 2025 is dismissed
  2. 2.Costs of the Preliminary Objection awarded to the Petitioner

Authorities

#

Legislation

  • Trustees (Perpetual Succession) Act, Cap 164Section 3(1), 3(2), 3(3)

Cases cited (3)

  • African Christian Church & Schools Registered Trustees v Macharia & 2 Others
    ELC Case No. 162 of 2017 [2023] KEELC 120 (KLR)
  • Supreme Counsel of Kenya Muslims (SUPKEM) & Another v Registrar of Societies; Omar & 2 Others (Interested Parties)
    Judicial Review E104 of 2023 [2024] KEHC 1320 (KLR)
  • Registered Trustees if Maximum Miracle Centre v Andrew Mlewa Mkare
    (2013) KEHC 2553 KLR
Jurisdiction invoked
Not expressly stated; petition proceedings before the Environment and Land Court

Key timeline

#

Practical implications

#

Frequently asked questions

#

Cite this brief

#

Cite this brief

Caselaw, "Odhiambo v Trustees, Full Gospel Church of Kenya & 2 others (Constitutional Petition E008 of 2023) [2025] KEELC 7409 (KLR)", Case Analysis (2025). Not stated in the judgment. Source: https://new.kenyalaw.org/akn/ke/judgment/keelc/2025/7409/eng@2025-10-27

Suggested citation format for research notes or client memos. Always verify the original judgment before relying on any point.