Muathe & others v Kenya Pipeline Company Limited & 5 others (Environment and Land Petition 15 of 2019) [2026] KEELC 1431 (KLR)
The bottom line
#What this practically means
#Executive summary
#Key legal issues
#Whether the notice of withdrawal dated 21st March, 2025 should be struck out and consequential documents expunged
The application is without merit and is dismissed
Rule 27(1)(a) of the Mutunga Rules allows a petitioner to withdraw on notice, and Rule 27(2) requires the court to hear the parties on the legal effect. The Respondent and 44 petitioners had withdrawn instructions from the Applicant and appointed new advocates. An advocate's remedy is taxation of fees, not striking out the withdrawal. Forgery allegations were unsubstantiated without forensic examination, and the civil court lacks jurisdiction over criminal matters.
Whether the Applicant law firm had locus to mount the application after withdrawal of instructions
The firm, having been discharged and having filed an advocate/client bill of costs, cannot move to strike out the notice of withdrawal
Section 58(1) of the Advocates Act permits a client to discharge an advocate at any time; authority emanates from client instructions and ceases on withdrawal. The firm's grievance is its unpaid fees, the remedy for which is taxation already pursued. Any individual petitioner denying their signature may pursue that personally, not through the discharged firm.
Whether the court could determine the alleged forgery and deaths of some petitioners
No; forgery requires forensic examination and belongs to investigative agencies
The court noted that petitioners 1 and 25 bear the same name with differing signatures, and petitioners 7 and 34 are alleged deceased. However, unsubstantiated affidavits without forensic evidence cannot ground a finding of forgery in a civil court, and deaths, if any, required the Applicant to seek substitution rather than attack the withdrawal.
Legal principles established
#- A litigant is at liberty to withdraw instructions from an advocate and cannot be forced to remain with an advocate he is unhappy with
- Once a client discharges an advocate, the advocate ceases to have authority over that client, and the advocate's remedy lies in taxation
- A civil court cannot make a finding of forgery in the absence of forensic examination of the alleged signatures
Court orders
#- 1.The Applicant's Notice of Motion dated 24th October, 2025 is dismissed with costs to the Respondent
- Jurisdiction invoked
- Constitution of Kenya (Protection of Rights and Fundamental Freedoms) Practice and Procedure Rules, 2013 (Mutunga Rules), including Rules 27(1)(a), 27(2), 3(8) and 32
Key timeline
#Practical implications
#Frequently asked questions
#Cite this brief
#Cite this brief
Caselaw, "Muathe & others v Kenya Pipeline Company Limited & 5 others (Environment and Land Petition 15 of 2019) [2026] KEELC 1431 (KLR)", Case Analysis (2026). Notice of Motion dated 24th October, 2025 in a Petition dated 2nd September, 2019 (amended 11th November, 2021). Source: https://new.kenyalaw.org/akn/ke/judgment/keelc/2026/1431/eng@2026-03-12
Suggested citation format for research notes or client memos. Always verify the original judgment before relying on any point.