Achiando v Registrar of Lands Migori & another (Environment and Land Miscellaneous Application 009 of 2025) [2026] KEELC 4283 (KLR)
The bottom line
#Kenya's Environment and Land Court confirmed that a land restriction placed without notice or cause cannot stay on a title indefinitely and must be removed.
What this practically means
#Executive summary
#Key legal issues
#Whether the restriction registered on 8th August 2016 over L.R. No. Kamagambo/Kabuoro/6387 should be removed
The restriction was removed because it lacked any demonstrated factual or legal basis, was placed without notice or hearing to the Applicant, and had subsisted indefinitely.
The Applicant proved registration and the subsisting restriction. Section 76 empowers the Registrar to place restrictions only for prevention of fraud or other sufficient cause, and Section 76(2) contemplates duration for a particular period or event. Neither Respondent could produce the complaint letter founding the restriction; the 1st Respondent did not respond at all, and the 2nd Respondent denied knowledge of the basis. The Applicant was never notified or heard, contrary to Section 77(1) and Article 50(1). Following Cheplaiti and other authorities, a restriction cannot endure indefinitely; Section 78(2) empowers the court to order removal.
Costs of the application
No order as to costs was made.
Although the Applicant prayed for costs, the court exercised discretion to make no order as to costs.
Legal principles established
#- A restriction on a land title cannot subsist indefinitely; the Land Registration Act does not envisage an indefinite restriction placed without reasonable cause, which would violate the proprietor's constitutional right to property.
- A registered proprietor must be notified and given a hearing before a restriction is registered; failure to do so is procedurally improper and offends natural justice.
Court orders
#- 1.An order that the restriction registered on 8th August 2016 on all that parcel of land known as L.R. No. Kamagambo/Kabuoro/6387 by the 1st Respondent be removed forthwith
- 2.An order directing the national government Land Registrar, Migori County to rectify the register accordingly
- 3.There shall be no order as to costs
- Jurisdiction invoked
- Section 78(2) of the Land Registration Act
Key timeline
#Practical implications
#Frequently asked questions
#Cite this brief
#Cite this brief
Caselaw, "Achiando v Registrar of Lands Migori & another (Environment and Land Miscellaneous Application 009 of 2025) [2026] KEELC 4283 (KLR)", Case Analysis (2026). Environment and Land Miscellaneous Application (Notice of Motion dated 24th July 2024). Source: https://new.kenyalaw.org/akn/ke/judgment/keelc/2026/4283/eng@2026-07-09
Suggested citation format for research notes or client memos. Always verify the original judgment before relying on any point.