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Hydro Brightshine Developers Limited v Mugweru (Deceased) & 2 others (As Administrators of the Estate of Maaka Mukuti Mugweru) (Environment and Land Case E362 of 2024) [2026] KEELC 10 (KLR)

Environment and Land Court
15 January 2026
COCHRISTINE OCHIENG
1,518 words in judgment
View original judgmentRead on Kenya Law Watch case
AI-assisted case brief
·~6 min to read original · ~4 min brief

The bottom line

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A Nairobi court froze a disputed property sale to protect a buyer's Kshs. 245 million transaction until arbitration decides the dispute.

What this practically means

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Executive summary

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This is a ruling of the Environment and Land Court at Nairobi (Christine Ochieng J) on a Notice of Motion dated 30th August 2024 in which the Plaintiff, Mohamed Tahir, sought a temporary injunction restraining the Respondents from selling, transferring or dealing with property known as Land Reference No. 13041/2 pending referral of the dispute to arbitration under Clause U of a Sale Agreement dated 9th September 2020 for the sale of the property at a purchase price of Kshs. 245,700,000. The Plaintiff paid a deposit of Kshs. 100,000,000 and an advance of Kshs. 74,530,000. He alleged the Respondents had entered into a sale agreement with a third party, purported to cancel his transaction and demanded a refund. The Respondents opposed, contending that the sale was void for want of a confirmed grant in respect of the deceased's estate, amounted to intermeddling, that monies were paid to their advocate, and that the Applicant was free to collect his monies. The court identified a single issue: whether an interlocutory injunction should issue. Applying Giella v Cassman Brown, section 7 of the Arbitration Act and the criteria in Safaricom v Ocean View Beach Hotel and Itabuild Imports v AIC Kijabe Hospital, the court found the arbitration clause and payments uncontroverted, noted the Respondents had not denied an intention to dispose of the property, and held the injunction necessary to preserve the subject matter pending arbitration. The application was allowed with costs in the cause.

Questions the Court framed

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The issues the Court set itself to decide, in its own words.

  1. 1.Whether an order of interlocutory injunction should issue restraining the Respondents or their agents or any persons acting on their behalf from selling, transferring, or in any other manner dealing with the property known as Land Reference No. 13041/2

Key legal issues

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01

Whether interlocutory injunction should issue pending arbitration under section 7 of the Arbitration Act

Holding

The application was allowed and a temporary injunction issued restraining the Respondents from dealing with the suit property pending arbitration

Reasoning

The court applied the Giella v Cassman Brown principles together with section 7 of the Arbitration Act and the Safaricom v Ocean View criteria. It found the existence of the Sale Agreement, the arbitration clause and substantial payments made to the Respondents' lawyer uncontroverted. The Respondents did not deny an intention to dispose of the property to a third party, so the subject matter of the arbitration was under threat and an injunction was necessary to preserve the status quo.

p. 4

Legal principles established

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  • Where a valid arbitration agreement exists, a party may invoke it and the court may grant interim measures of protection under section 7 of the Arbitration Act pending arbitration

Court orders

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  1. 1.Pending the referral of the dispute to arbitration and its determination in accordance with the arbitration provisions in Clause U of the Sale Agreement dated 9th September 2020, a temporary order of injunction issued restraining the Respondents, their agents, servants or any other person acting on their behalf from selling, transferring or in any other manner dealing with the property known as Land Reference No. 13041/2
  2. 2.Costs in the cause

The bench

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One judgment of the whole court — no separate or dissenting opinions.

CO
majority

Wrote the judgment

Jurisdiction invoked
Section 7 of the Arbitration Act (interim measures by court) read with the arbitration clause (Clause U) of the Sale Agreement dated 9th September 2020

Quotable passages

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Verbatim from the judgment, each located to the page it appears on in the official PDF — so these can be cited and checked directly.

That pending the referral of the dispute herein to arbitration and its determination thereof in accordance with the Arbitration provisions in Clause U of the Sale Agreement dated 9th September 2020, a temporary order of injunction be and is hereby issued restraining the Respondents, their agents, servants, or any other person acting on their behalf from selling, transferring, or in any other manner dealing with the property known as Land Reference No. 13041/2.
p. 4final orders - temporary injunction pending arbitration
Since there is Clause U in the Sale Agreement which provided for arbitration, in my view the Applicant has a right to invoke it.
p. 4right to invoke arbitration clause
The Respondents have not denied that they intend to dispose of the subject property to a third party.
p. 4threat to subject matter of arbitration

Issues in the judgment

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minor

The judgment inconsistently refers to the suit property as LR No. 13401/2 and Land Reference No. 13041/2

minor

The ruling is captioned with a Plaintiff and Respondent, but the attendance list refers to a 3rd Defendant, and the judgment elsewhere refers to the Respondents in the plural while only one Respondent is defined

Key timeline

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Practical implications

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Frequently asked questions

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Cite this brief

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Cite this brief

Caselaw, "Hydro Brightshine Developers Limited v Mugweru (Deceased) & 2 others (As Administrators of the Estate of Maaka Mukuti Mugweru) (Environment and Land Case E362 of 2024) [2026] KEELC 10 (KLR)", Case Analysis (2026). Not stated in the judgment. Source: https://new.kenyalaw.org/akn/ke/judgment/keelc/2026/10/eng@2026-01-15

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