Oloo v Oloo & 2 others (Environment and Land Appeal 014 of 2023) [2025] KEELC 4773 (KLR)
The bottom line
#A Siaya court confirmed family customary trust over ancestral land but protected a buyer who purchased without knowing, allowing the sale of the developed portion to stand.
What this practically means
#Executive summary
#Questions the Court framed
#The issues the Court set itself to decide, in its own words.
- 1.Whether or not the Appeal is merited?
- 2.What orders ought to issue?
- 3.Who bears the costs of the Appeal and the lower court case.
Key legal issues
#Whether the trial court erred by failing to determine the issue of land trust which formed the crux of the dispute
Yes. Although there was no specific prayer for declaration of a trust, the pleadings and evidence raised the issue on a prima facie basis and the trial court erred in failing to address it.
The plaint pleaded ancestral family land registered in the name of the first-born son to hold in trust for family members. Relying on Odd Jobs v Mubia, a court may decide an unpleaded issue left for it at trial. The trial court itself recorded agreement that both plaintiff and 1st defendant were beneficiaries. The lack of a specific declaration prayer could not defeat an issue so clearly embedded in the pleadings and evidence.
Whether a customary trust was established over the suit property
Yes. Applying the criteria in Isack M'inanga Kiebia v Isaaya Theuri, the 1st defendant is a customary trustee holding the land for the family of John Oloo Owor.
The land before registration belonged to the family patriarch; the claimant is a sibling and beneficiary; the plaintiff would have been entitled to registration but the opportunity was given to the first-born; and the claim is directed against a registered proprietor who is a family member. The 1st defendant admitted the plaintiff's beneficial entitlement. The Supreme Court's criteria were largely satisfied, making the 1st defendant a trustee by operation of law.
Whether the 2nd defendant was a bona fide purchaser for value without notice, and whether the trust vitiated the sale
Yes, the 2nd defendant was a bona fide purchaser for value without notice, and the trust did not vitiate the sale agreement, which was voidable and enforceable as to the portion sold.
Applying Katende v Haridas, the 2nd defendant relied on official searches showing the vendor as owner; no fraud was pleaded or proved against the 1st defendant; the purchase was in good faith through the stepmother. The sale agreement complied with section 3(3) of the Law of Contract Act. Equity and Article 10(2)(b) favoured protecting the purchaser who developed the land without any injunction.
Legal principles established
#- A customary trust, once proved to subsist, is an overriding interest to which a first registered proprietor is subject and binds the land notwithstanding first registration.
- A court may base a decision on an unpleaded issue where it appears from the course followed at trial that the issue was left for the court's decision; a trust issue pleaded in substance cannot be wished away for lack of a specific prayer for declaration of trust.
- The existence of a customary trust in favour of family members does not of itself vitiate a sale by the trustee of a portion of the land to a bona fide purchaser for value without notice; such a sale agreement is voidable, not a nullity.
Court orders
#- 1.A declaration that the 1st defendant holds the title South Alego/Barding/1168 as trustee for the family of John Oloo Owor (deceased).
- 2.The District Land Surveyor Siaya and the Land Registrar Siaya shall within 60 days of the judgment visit the ground and, in the presence of the parties, survey the portion purchased and currently occupied by the developments of the 2nd defendant to establish the exact boundary of the portion under such occupation.
- 3.Costs of the survey shall be borne by the 2nd Defendant.
- 4.The 1st defendant shall facilitate the transfer of the excised portion in the name of the 2nd defendant within 30 days of conclusion of the survey exercise.
- 5.In default, the Deputy Registrar ELC shall execute the necessary documents including mutations to facilitate transfer into the names of the 2nd defendant and registration by the 3rd defendant at the cost of the 2nd defendant.
- 6.The caveat placed by the plaintiff be lifted by the 3rd defendant only for purposes of registering the surveyed portion and shall be registered against the remainder of the title in view of the declaration of trust until such time as the family shall resolve to remove the same.
- 7.The Plaintiff and his brother the 1st defendant shall allow peaceful occupation by the 2nd defendant.
- 8.Each Party shall bear its own costs of this appeal and the costs in the lower court.
The bench
#One judgment of the whole court — no separate or dissenting opinions.
Wrote the judgment
- On appeal from
- Siaya Principal Magistrate's Court
- ELC Case No. 98 of 2021
- Jurisdiction invoked
- First appeal under Section 78 of the Civil Procedure Act; Section 13(5) of the Environment and Land Court Act empowering the court to make any order and grant any relief as deemed fit and just
Relief refused
#Setting aside of the trial judgment in its entirety and allowing the plaintiff's suit as prayed in the plaint
The court found a customary trust existed but it did not vitiate the sale agreement; the 2nd defendant was upheld as a bona fide purchaser for value without notice as to the portion sold and developed
Costs
Each Party shall bear its own costs of this appeal and the costs in the lower court.
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.
Based on this courts analysis and findings it was pertinent that the first order of the day would be to make a declaration that the 1st defendant holds the suit property as trustee for the family of John Oloo Owor (deceased).
The appeal partly succeeds to the extent that the court has made a finding of the existence of a customary trust which binds the suit property.
Each Party shall bear its own costs of this appeal and the costs in the lower court.
The caveat placed by the plaintifi be lifted by 3rd defendant only for purposes of registering the portion in (2) and shall be registered against the remainder of the title in view of (1) above until such a time as the family shall resolve to remove the same.
It is trite that a customary trust need not be registered on the title. It is an overriding interest that subsists on the land.
Issues in the judgment
#Paragraph numbering is duplicated/disordered in the judgment (paragraph 49 appears twice; orders paragraph numbered '49' after an earlier '49').
The final orders refer to a 3rd defendant whose role is otherwise unexplained in the extracted judgment text.
Key timeline
#Practical implications
#Frequently asked questions
#Cite this brief
#Cite this brief
Caselaw, "Oloo v Oloo & 2 others (Environment and Land Appeal 014 of 2023) [2025] KEELC 4773 (KLR)", Case Analysis (2025). ELC Appeal (Siaya) - Memorandum of Appeal dated 25/04/2023. Source: https://new.kenyalaw.org/akn/ke/judgment/keelc/2025/4773/eng@2025-06-26
Suggested citation format for research notes or client memos. Always verify the original judgment before relying on any point.