Nambiro & another v Mungoni & 3 others (Environment & Land Case 314 of 2014) [2025] KEELC 4084 (KLR)

Both parties derived their claims from letters of allotment dated 15th June 1995 over land traced to public/government land. No Part Development Plan was prepared or approved before the allotments or before the issuance of the First Defendant's title, as confirmed by the survey and physical planning witnesses and the parties themselves. The applicable Government Lands Act required planning through a PDP followed by surveying before allocation could be completed. Since the First Defendant processed the allotment up to issuance of title without a PDP, and his parcel overlapped land on which the Plaintiffs' building stood, he was held party to the fraud and his title invalid.

Although Section 24 and 26 of the Land Registration Act vest absolute ownership in a registered proprietor and make the certificate prima facie evidence of indefeasible ownership, title may be impeached on proof of fraud or illegal, unprocedural or corrupt acquisition. The failure to prepare an approved PDP rendered the allocation process unlawful, so the protection of the Act did not avail the First Defendant.

The Plaintiffs' own allotment letter conferred no better title since no PDP existed for their plot either, an allotment letter being merely an invitation to treat incapable of passing an interest in land. Both parcels therefore remain public land. Granting an injunction or ordering survey and issuance of a lease would amount to decreeing away public land without following the prescribed procedure. Interested parties must follow the appropriate procedure if and when the Government lawfully disposes of the land.