Kibanga & 72 others v Land Adjudication and Settlement Officer-Taveta & 2 others (Environment and Land Petition E006 of 2025) [2026] KEELC 53 (KLR)
The bottom line
#The Environment and Land Court dismissed residents' bid to force disclosure of the Kachero Settlement Scheme beneficiary list because they never first used the Access to Information Act process.
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 Petitioners have met the threshold for grant of the reliefs sought
- 2.Whether the reliefs sought can be granted and whether the Petitioners are entitled to costs (as framed by Petitioners)
- 3.Whether the Petitioners' request circumvents the Access to Information Act and violates the doctrine of exhaustion (as framed by Respondents)
- 4.Whether the application is a fishing expedition and an abuse of court process (as framed by Respondents)
Key legal issues
#Whether the Petitioners met the threshold for an order compelling disclosure of the list of beneficiaries
The application failed because the Petitioners did not demonstrate compliance with the Access to Information Act procedure.
Article 35(1)(b) guarantees access to information held by another where required to exercise or protect a right, but enforcement is through the Access to Information Act. Sections 5, 14 and 20–23 set out the request, review and appeal procedures. The Supreme Court has held the statutory procedure must be complied with. The Petitioners never invoked or complied with those provisions before filing the application, so the threshold for the reliefs sought was not met.
Legal principles established
#- A citizen seeking information under Article 35(1)(b) must show the information is held by the person from whom it is claimed and that it is required for the exercise or protection of another right.
- The procedure under the Access to Information Act must be complied with before resorting to the court for information.
Court orders
#- 1.The Petitioners' application dated 30th October 2025 is dismissed
- 2.Each party to bear own costs of the application
The bench
#One judgment of the whole court — no separate or dissenting opinions.
Wrote the judgment
- Jurisdiction invoked
- Original petition before the Environment and Land Court; application anchored on Article 35 of the Constitution and Sections 1A and 1B of the Civil Procedure Act
Relief refused
#Order directing the 1st Respondent to provide a certified copy of the list of beneficiaries from the sub-division of the Kachero Settlement Scheme on L.R No. 10287/7
Petitioners did not comply with the procedure under the Access to Information Act before invoking the court's power
Costs of the application granted to the Petitioners
Application dismissed; each party to bear own costs
Costs
Each party to bear own 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.
In conclusion, the Petitioners application dated 30th day of October 2025 fails in the circumstances. Each party to bear own costs of the same.
in order to enforce this right, a citizen claiming a right to access information must not only show that the information is held by the person from whom it is claimed; the citizen must go further and show that the information sought is required for the exercise or protection of another right.
the procedure available under the Access to Information Act must be complied with.
Issues in the judgment
#The judgment refers to the Access to Information Act as 'Cap 31 of 2016' and 'No. 31 of 2016' in different passages, an internal inconsistency in citation style.
Key timeline
#Practical implications
#Frequently asked questions
#Cite this brief
#Cite this brief
Caselaw, "Kibanga & 72 others v Land Adjudication and Settlement Officer-Taveta & 2 others (Environment and Land Petition E006 of 2025) [2026] KEELC 53 (KLR)", Case Analysis (2026). Not stated in judgment. Source: https://new.kenyalaw.org/akn/ke/judgment/keelc/2026/53/eng@2026-01-21
Suggested citation format for research notes or client memos. Always verify the original judgment before relying on any point.