Nduki & another v Registered Trustees, Jamia Mosque, Kagio & 2 others; Njeru & another (Interested Parties) (Environment and Land Case E016 of 2025) [2026] KEELC 4860 (KLR)
The bottom line
#A Kenyan land court ruled that each party must gather its own evidence and can't use the court to order surveys for them.
What this practically means
#Executive summary
#Key legal issues
#Whether the court should direct the County Surveyor to visit the suit property and file a report
The request was declined; evidence-gathering is each party's own responsibility and the deficiency in the defendant's report does not justify a court-ordered joint survey.
The court held that parties are bound by pleadings and each party must collect, collate, file and serve its evidence under Order 11. The plaintiffs were free to obtain their own surveyor's report; the fact that the defendant's report omitted the plot reference was not, on its own, a basis for ordering a joint survey. The court is constitutionally obliged to be impartial and may only direct filing of documents in exceptional cases.
Whether the plaint discloses a reasonable cause of action warranting striking out under Order 2 Rule 15
The oral application to strike out was rejected as misplaced since no notice of preliminary objection or formal application had been filed.
The defendant made only an oral application without filing a notice of preliminary objection or a formal application, and its statement of defence contained no averment amounting to a preliminary objection. The question whether the defendant occupied Plot No. 459 Kagio or the suit property could only be determined on evidence at the hearing.
The status of the interested parties who no longer wish to participate
Their names were struck out of the suit on their own indication through counsel.
Ms. Mokaya, counsel for the interested parties, informed the court that her clients no longer wished to participate in the suit. The court accordingly directed that their names be struck out, and this was incorporated into the final orders.
Legal principles established
#- Parties are bound by their pleadings and each party bears responsibility for collecting, collating, filing and serving its own evidence under Order 11 of the Civil Procedure Rules
- The court must remain impartial and shall not play a role in collecting documents for a party, save in exceptional cases
- An oral application to strike out a plaint must be preceded by a filed and served notice of preliminary objection or a pleading paragraph amounting to one
Court orders
#- 1.The plaintiffs' request for an order for a joint survey to be done by the County Surveyor is declined as without merit
- 2.The defendant's prayer for the plaint to be struck out for not disclosing a reasonable cause of action is rejected as devoid of merit
- 3.The interested parties' names are struck out of the suit as they no longer wish to participate in the proceedings
- 4.Any party yet to comply with Order 11 of the Civil Procedure Rules is granted a last opportunity to do so in thirty (30) days, with corresponding liberty to respond
- 5.The matter to be given a date for mention to fix a hearing date
- Jurisdiction invoked
- Original civil jurisdiction of the Environment and Land Court over ownership, occupation and trespass relating to land (Plot No. A311, formerly Mwerua/Kagio/2636)
Key timeline
#Practical implications
#Frequently asked questions
#Cite this brief
#Cite this brief
Caselaw, "Nduki & another v Registered Trustees, Jamia Mosque, Kagio & 2 others; Njeru & another (Interested Parties) (Environment and Land Case E016 of 2025) [2026] KEELC 4860 (KLR)", Case Analysis (2026). Kerugoya ELCLC No. EO16 of 2025. Source: https://new.kenyalaw.org/akn/ke/judgment/keelc/2026/4860/eng@2026-07-29
Suggested citation format for research notes or client memos. Always verify the original judgment before relying on any point.