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ELCDismissedNot stated in the judgment

Okongo v Odoro & 3 others (Land Case Appeal E003 of 2023) [2026] KEELC 3302 (KLR)

Environment and Land Court
5 May 2026
NYNYAGAKA
1,477 words in judgment
View original judgmentRead on Kenya Law Watch case
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·~6 min to read original · ~4 min brief

The bottom line

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Kenya's Environment and Land Court refused to undo a mediated land settlement because the applicant couldn't prove misrepresentation, reinforcing that signed settlement agreements bind parties.

What this practically means

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Executive summary

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The Applicant, Samuel Opiyo Okongo, moved the court by application dated 16th September 2025 seeking to set aside a mediation settlement agreement entered on 3rd July 2025 and all consequential orders, and to order a fresh mediation session or allow the matter to proceed from where it left. He contended that the underlying dispute had been resolved by the Land Disputes Tribunal in 2009 (claim No. 172 of 2007), that during mediation he insisted Clause 3 of the decree dated 21st July 2009 be adopted, that all parties agreed, but the Mediator left out the Clause 3 wordings in the report, amounting to a misrepresentation of the agreement, which if left standing would cause him to lose land already awarded to him. The Respondent opposed, averring the parties voluntarily executed the mediation agreement, which was adopted as a court order and could only be set aside for fraud, collusion or misrepresentation, none of which was demonstrated. Counsel for the Respondent relied on Flora Wasike v Destimo Wamboko and Kenya Commercial Bank Ltd v Specialized Engineering Co. Ltd. The court framed a single issue: whether to set aside the mediation settlement agreement. Relying on Brooke Bond Liebig v Mallya and Board of Trustees NSSF v Michael Mwalo, and Rule 39(3) of the Court-Annexed Mediation Rules, the court held the consent order was contractual and binding, found that the mediation report merely confirmed the parties' agreed terms without varying them, and held there was no misrepresentation. The application was dismissed with costs on 5th May 2026.

Questions the Court framed

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The issues the Court set itself to decide, in its own words.

  1. 1.Whether this court should set aside the mediation settlement agreement entered dated 3rd July, 2025

Key legal issues

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01

Whether the mediation settlement agreement dated 3rd July, 2025 should be set aside

Holding

The application fails because the Applicant did not prove any of the grounds in Rule 39(3) of the Court-Annexed Mediation Rules, particularly misrepresentation by the mediator or the parties.

Reasoning

The court set out the contractual nature of consent orders and the Rule 39(3) grounds for setting aside mediation-based orders. On the record, both parties attended mediation, executed the settlement agreement and the mediation report merely confirmed their agreed terms without varying them. The Applicant's contention that the mediator omitted Clause 3 of a 2009 Land Disputes Tribunal decree was therefore not established as a misrepresentation warranting setting aside.

p. 4

Legal principles established

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  • A consent judgment or order has the effect of a contract and is binding on parties, and can only be set aside on grounds which justify setting aside of a contract

Court orders

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  1. 1.Application dismissed with costs

The bench

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One judgment of the whole court — no separate or dissenting opinions.

NY
majority

Wrote the judgment

Jurisdiction invoked
Civil Procedure (Court-Annexed Mediation) Rules, Legal Notice 145 of 2022, Rule 39(3)

Relief refused

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Setting aside the mediation settlement agreement dated 3rd July, 2025 and all consequential orders

No misrepresentation found; the mediation report confirmed the parties' settlement without varying its terms

p. 4

Order for another mediation session or for the matter to proceed from where it left

Follows automatically from dismissal of the application to set aside the settlement agreement

p. 4

Costs

Application dismissed with costs (costs to the Respondent)

Quotable passages

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Verbatim from the judgment, each located to the page it appears on in the official PDF — so these can be cited and checked directly.

A consent order cannot, be varied or discharged unless obtained by fraud or collision or by an agreement contrary to the policy of the court or if the consent was given without suficient material facts or in apprehension or in ignorance of material facts or in general for a reason which would enable the court to set aside an agreement
p. 3Grounds for setting aside a consent order
In view of the above, it is this court's view that there is no misrepresentation and therefore there is not basis upon which the Applicant can set aside the mediation settlement agreement.
p. 4Court's finding on misrepresentation
The upshot of the above is that the application is dismissed with costs.
p. 4Final orders

Issues in the judgment

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minor

The judgment spells 'collusion' as 'collision' in the quoted passage from Brooke Bond Liebig and states 'there is not basis' rather than 'there is no basis'

minor

The ruling is dated 05th May 2026 while the application before the court is dated 16th September, 2025 and respondent's submissions dated 15th December, 2025; chronology is internally consistent but the case number is not stated anywhere

Key timeline

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Practical implications

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Frequently asked questions

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Cite this brief

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Cite this brief

Caselaw, "Okongo v Odoro & 3 others (Land Case Appeal E003 of 2023) [2026] KEELC 3302 (KLR)", Case Analysis (2026). Not stated in the judgment. Source: https://new.kenyalaw.org/akn/ke/judgment/keelc/2026/3302/eng@2026-05-05

Suggested citation format for research notes or client memos. Always verify the original judgment before relying on any point.