This archive report was first published on 21 September 2019.
On September 21, 2019, a ruling by Justices Kanyi Kimondo, Chacha Mwita, and Wilfrida Okwany left the parties in a Del Monte Ltd land case reeling. The judges decided that they had no jurisdiction to determine the lease dispute on 60,000 acres of land in Murang'a County.
The decision was met with anger and disappointment, as the parties had expected a detailed judgment that could have set a precedent in determining questions of land leases across the country. However, the judges ruled that the dispute was about the renewal of a land lease, which falls within the purview of the Environment and Land Court.
According to the lawyers, the energy and research they invested in the case since 2015 were for naught, as the judges' decision meant that the matter should have been raised as a preliminary objection and dispensed with in the first instance.
Del Monte Ltd had been expecting a landmark decision that would set the trend in solving the burning question of renewing land leases that are about to expire, which has led to many disputes between multi-national companies and county governments.
