Macharia v Hunyu; Gichuki (As the Legal Representative of the Estate of Emilio Gichuki Kagoko) (Applicant) (Enviromental and Land Originating Summons 61 of 2023) [2026] KEELC 2498 (KLR)

The Applicant deponed that the Deceased was in continuous possession and use of L.R. Nyandarua/Uruku Block 2/1437 since 1994, had permitted his son Charles Macharia to occupy the land, and that the Ndaragwa Land Disputes Tribunal had awarded the suit land to the late Emilio. The Defendant opposed, contending the court was functus officio, the judgment was executed, and the application was an afterthought. The court reasoned that the Applicant lost the patriarch before the adverse possession suit was considered and the claim survives the deceased. The Plaintiff never responded to the application.

The Defendant argued in Grounds of Opposition that the court was functus officio and incapable of granting the orders sought, that the Applicant could not be joined in a concluded suit, and that the judgment was already executed with only costs pending. The court did not adopt these objections, instead holding that the Applicant ought to be allowed to ventilate the surviving adverse possession claim. No authority or statute was cited by any party in the ruling.