Ogiek Independent Council of South West Mau Forest (Konoin-Bomet) v Mugumya (Civil Appeal E083 of 2023) [2025] KECA 552 (KLR)
The bottom line
#Kenya's Court of Appeal dismissed an Ogiek council's application because nobody showed up ready to argue it, without deciding the actual land dispute.
What this practically means
#Executive summary
#Questions the Court framed
#The issues the Court set itself to decide, in its own words.
- 1.Whether the application dated 5th December 2022 should be allowed given the absence of responses and written submissions
Key legal issues
#Want of prosecution of the application dated 5th December 2022
The application was dismissed for want of prosecution with no order as to costs.
The application was fixed for hearing on 27th March 2025. On the hearing date there was no response on record and the parties had not filed any written submissions. In the absence of prosecution of the application, the court dismissed it, sparing the parties an award of costs. No substantive ruling was made on the appeal.
Legal principles established
#- An application unprosecuted at a hearing for which it is properly fixed, with no response and no submissions filed, may be dismissed for want of prosecution.
Court orders
#- 1.The application dated 5th December 2022 dismissed for want of prosecution
- 2.No order as to costs
The bench
#One judgment of the whole court — no separate or dissenting opinions.
Wrote the judgment
- On appeal from
- Environment and Land Court of Kenya, Kericho
- Constitutional Petition No. 5 of 2017
- Jurisdiction invoked
- Not stated in the order; appeal before the Court of Appeal under its appellate jurisdiction
Relief refused
#The application dated 5th December 2022
Dismissed for want of prosecution as there was no response and no written submissions filed
Costs
No order as to costs
Quotable passages
#Verbatim from the judgment, each located to the page it appears on in the official PDF — so these can be cited and checked directly.
However, there was no response and the parties had not filed any written submissions.
Accordingly, the same is dismissed for want of prosecution but with no order as to costs.
Issues in the judgment
#The document is a short procedural order, not a substantive appellate judgment; the outcome of the underlying appeal and any issues for determination are not stated.
The certified-copy certification appears between the signature block and the judge's name, an anomaly in the document's layout.
Key timeline
#Practical implications
#Frequently asked questions
#Cite this brief
#Cite this brief
Caselaw, "Ogiek Independent Council of South West Mau Forest (Konoin-Bomet) v Mugumya (Civil Appeal E083 of 2023) [2025] KECA 552 (KLR)", Case Analysis (2025). Civil Appeal E083 of 2023. Source: https://new.kenyalaw.org/akn/ke/judgment/keca/2025/552/eng@2025-03-27
Suggested citation format for research notes or client memos. Always verify the original judgment before relying on any point.