Raghbir Singh Sidhu v Kipkemboi Arap Koskei & 5 others [2018] KEELC 290 (KLR)

The plaintiff applied for extension of the lease and obtained approvals from the town planner, physical planning officer, district surveyor and the Municipal Council of Eldoret, which were forwarded to the Commissioner of Lands. Instead of deciding the application, the Commissioner allocated the land to the 1st defendant. The court held the doctrine of legitimate expectation has procedural and substantive aspects, and the public body's conduct committed it to consider the application. Failure to notify the applicant of the refusal breached natural justice and Article 47(1).

There was a pending application for extension of lease and no notice was issued to the plaintiff of the intention to allocate the land to another person. The Land Registrar did not conduct a ground report. The court found the allocation unprocedural and moulded the remedy as rectification of the register with the plaintiff re-entered as proprietor as at expiry of the lease, subject to the 5th defendant reconsidering the extension application.

Although the plaintiff pleaded detailed particulars of fraud against all defendants, the court's findings were framed in terms of unprocedural allocation, breach of natural justice, legitimate expectation and Article 47(1), rather than a positive finding of fraud. The 2nd defendant's own submissions conceded the court ought to determine whether title was obtained lawfully, which the court did on the basis of procedural irregularity.