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ELCDismissedChamber Summons application dated 8/12/2025· [2026] KEELC 2385 (KLR)

Mwangi & 2 others v Gateri (Environment and Land Miscellaneous Case E004 of 2026) [2026] KEELC 2385 (KLR)

High Court of Kenya
16 April 2026
MKMugo Kamau
656 words in judgment
View original judgmentRead on Kenya Law Watch case
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The bottom line

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Kenya's High Court ruled you cannot use judicial review to overturn a High Court land judgment, dismissing the landowners' challenge to an adverse possession decision.

What this practically means

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Executive summary

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The applicants, by chamber summons dated 8/12/2025, sought leave to apply for judicial review orders arising from the ex-parte judgment and decree of Justice YM Angima dated 11/7/2024 in Nyandarua ELC (OS) Case No. 30 of 2023, which declared Daniel Kamau Mwangi the proprietor of several Nyandarua/Mkungi parcel numbers under the Limitation of Actions Act on the basis of adverse possession. They sought leave for certiorari to quash that judgment and decree, prohibition to restrain the Land Registrar, Nyandarua County, from registering the titles in Daniel Kamau Mwangi's name, mandamus compelling the Registrar to cancel transfers already registered, mandamus directed at the OCS Ndunyu Njeru Police Station to enforce a ruling in Nakuru Civil Suit No. 455 of 2013 (OS), and that leave operate as stay of execution. The background was that an earlier adverse possession suit over the same land, being the estate of the late John Peter Kinuthia Gateri, had been dismissed in 2014, and a second suit was heard exparte without service on the respondents, who are administrators of the estate. Mugo Kamau J held that the relief sought in respect of prayer No. 6 lay in the earlier Nakuru suit, and that certiorari, prohibition and mandamus cannot be granted against an order of a superior court, being available only against subordinate courts, tribunals and quasi-judicial bodies; granting leave would be a waste of time. The application was disallowed with no order for costs, the respondents having not participated.

Key legal issues

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01

Whether judicial review prerogative orders may issue against a judgment of the ELC (High Court)

Holding

They may not; certiorari, prohibition and mandamus cannot be directed at a superior court's order, so granting leave would be futile

Reasoning

The applicants sought leave for certiorari against the ex-parte judgment and decree of the Nyahururu ELC Judge in Nyandarua ELC (OS) Case No. 30 of 2023, and prohibition/mandamus against the Land Registrar founded on that judgment. The court held that judicial review orders lie only against subordinate courts, tribunals and quasi-judicial bodies, not superior courts. The applicants were advised to seek redress in Nakuru High Court Suit No. 455 of 2013 (OS) regarding prayer No. 6. Granting leave would merely be a waste of time.

p. 2
02

Costs where respondents did not participate

Holding

No order for costs was made

Reasoning

Although the application was disallowed, the respondents did not take part in the application. The court therefore declined to make any order for costs, leaving each party to bear their own.

p. 2

Legal principles established

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  • Prerogative orders of judicial review (certiorari, prohibition, mandamus) cannot issue against orders of a superior court; they lie only against subordinate courts, tribunals and quasi-judicial bodies

Court orders

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  1. 1.The application dated 8/12/2025 is disallowed
  2. 2.No order for costs since the respondents did not participate in the application

Authorities

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Legislation

  • Limitation of Actions Actadverse possession provisions (as referenced)
Jurisdiction invoked
Judicial review jurisdiction under the Law Reform Act and Order 53 of the Civil Procedure Rules (prayer for leave to apply for prerogative orders)

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, "Mwangi & 2 others v Gateri (Environment and Land Miscellaneous Case E004 of 2026) [2026] KEELC 2385 (KLR)", Case Analysis (2026). Chamber Summons application dated 8/12/2025. Source: https://new.kenyalaw.org/akn/ke/judgment/keelc/2026/2385/eng@2026-04-16

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