Mutuku v Deputy County Commissioner Kilungu & 2 others; Mutuku (Interested Party) (Environment and Land Judicial Review Case E020 of 2022) [2025] KEELC 5277 (KLR)
The bottom line
#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 Applicant has met the threshold for grant of judicial review in the manner sought
Key legal issues
#Whether the Minister's decision was tainted with illegality, irrationality or procedural impropriety
No. The adjudication process followed the Land Adjudication Act; the committee decision, the Adjudication Officer's decision and the Minister's decision were all made by bodies with jurisdiction and in accordance with the law. Complaints about merits (plot sizes, afterthought finding) fall outside judicial review.
The court held the committee appointed under Section 6 of the Land Adjudication Act lawfully determined the dispute, and although the Applicant delayed in objecting, the Adjudication Officer validly heard the objection. The Minister had jurisdiction on appeal. Complaints about the will, plot sizes and whether the appeal was an afterthought are matters of merit, not process, and hence outside the supervisory jurisdiction of judicial review.
Legal principles established
#- Judicial review is concerned with the decision-making process and not the merits of the decision
- To succeed in judicial review, an applicant must show illegality, irrationality or procedural impropriety
Court orders
#- 1.Dismissal of the Exparte Applicant's Notice of Motion dated 19th December, 2022
- 2.Costs to the Respondents and the Interested Party
The bench
#One judgment of the whole court — no separate or dissenting opinions.
Wrote the judgment
- Jurisdiction invoked
- Judicial review jurisdiction over the decision of the Deputy County Commissioner sitting as delegate of the Cabinet Secretary, Lands and Physical Planning and Urban Development
Relief refused
#Order of certiorari to quash the Minister's decision of 20th September, 2022
The motion was found to be without merit; the decision-making process was lawful and the complaints went to the merits of the decision
Order of prohibition against implementation of the Minister's decision
No illegality, irrationality or procedural impropriety was established
Costs of the application to the Exparte Applicant
Application dismissed with costs to the Respondents and Interested Party
Costs
Costs of the Notice of Motion dated 19th December, 2022 awarded to the Respondents and the Interested Party
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.
I therefore proceed to dismiss the Notice of Motion dated 19th December, 2022 with costs to the Respondents an Interested Party.
In the instant case, the Applicant was okay with the decision of the committee until two years later when he invoked the jurisdiction of the Adjudication Oficer who granted him parcel 1208 and 4595 which had been hived ofi parcel 1366.
There was no procedural impropriety as all the procedural laws were followed before the Minister's decision was rendered.
Issues in the judgment
#Duplicate paragraph numbering - paragraph 37 appears twice (Analysis and Determination and Disposition)
Internal inconsistency in the date of the Minister's decision - the motion seeks to quash a decision of 20th September 2022 but the judgment elsewhere refers to 20th September 2021
Key timeline
#Practical implications
#Frequently asked questions
#Cite this brief
#Cite this brief
Caselaw, "Mutuku v Deputy County Commissioner Kilungu & 2 others; Mutuku (Interested Party) (Environment and Land Judicial Review Case E020 of 2022) [2025] KEELC 5277 (KLR)", Case Analysis (2025). Judicial Review Notice of Motion dated 19th December, 2022. Source: https://new.kenyalaw.org/akn/ke/judgment/keelc/2025/5277/eng@2025-07-15
Suggested citation format for research notes or client memos. Always verify the original judgment before relying on any point.