Maaru v Capital Sacco Limited & another (Land Case Appeal E040 of 2026) [2026] KEELC 2569 (KLR)
The bottom line
#Kenya's Environment and Land Court struck out a mortgage appeal, confirming that charge and mortgage disputes belong in the High Court, not land courts.
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 Environment and Land Court has appellate jurisdiction over a suit that was essentially a mortgage/charge dispute erroneously filed as an environment and land case in the lower court
Key legal issues
#Jurisdiction of the ELC over mortgage/charge disputes
The ELC has no jurisdiction; mortgage and charge disputes fall within the High Court's civil jurisdiction
The Court of Appeal has repeatedly held that ELC jurisdiction under Section 13 of the ELC Act covers disputes connected to the 'use' of land and contracts incidental to such use, but not mortgages, charges or collection of dues. Those decisions bind this court. Since the lower court suit challenged the chargee's statutory power of sale, the appeal lay to the High Court, not the ELC.
Effect of erroneous filing on appellate jurisdiction
Mislabelling a commercial dispute as a land case at filing does not confer jurisdiction on the ELC
The court emphasized that jurisdiction is determined by the true nature of the dispute, not the label used at filing. The suit was erroneously uploaded as an environment and land case when it was a civil/commercial mortgage dispute; the proper appellate forum is the High Court notwithstanding the filing error.
Legal principles established
#- Mortgage and charge disputes fall outside the jurisdiction of the Environment and Land Court and belong to the civil jurisdiction of the High Court
- Erroneous filing of a civil/commercial dispute as a land dispute does not confer appellate jurisdiction on the ELC
Court orders
#- 1.The appeal is struck out
- 2.The court declines to exercise jurisdiction (downs its tools)
- 3.No order as to costs
The bench
#One judgment of the whole court — no separate or dissenting opinions.
Wrote the judgment
- On appeal from
- Principal Magistrate's Court at Nkubu
- Nkubu PMC E & L Case No E022 of 2026 (counsel stated it should read E022 of 2024)
- Jurisdiction invoked
- Appellate jurisdiction of the Environment and Land Court under the ELC Act; court found it lacked jurisdiction as the dispute was a mortgage/charge matter belonging to the High Court
Relief refused
#Hearing of the appeal on its merits
The appeal was filed in the wrong court; the ELC lacks jurisdiction over mortgage/charge disputes
Costs
There will be 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.
For the above reasons, this appeal is struck out and the court hereby downs its tools in tandem with the principle in Owners of Motor Vessels “Lillian S” v Caltex Oil (K) Ltd
uploading a civil/commercial dispute as a land dispute in the lower court does not confer appellate jurisdiction upon the Environment and Land Court
There will be no order as to costs.
Issues in the judgment
#Date discrepancy: lower court judgment stated as rendered on 8/4/2026 while this judgment is dated 27 April 2026, and the lower court case number is noted as possibly erroneous (E022 of 2026 vs E022 of 2024)
Key timeline
#Practical implications
#Frequently asked questions
#Cite this brief
#Cite this brief
Caselaw, "Maaru v Capital Sacco Limited & another (Land Case Appeal E040 of 2026) [2026] KEELC 2569 (KLR)", Case Analysis (2026). Not stated in judgment (memorandum of appeal refers to lower court case as Nkubu PMC E & L Case No E022 of 2026, said to be E022 of 2024). Source: https://new.kenyalaw.org/akn/ke/judgment/keelc/2026/2569/eng@2026-04-27
Suggested citation format for research notes or client memos. Always verify the original judgment before relying on any point.