30/06/2026
Ownership through adverse possesion..
Many Kenyans assume that once a land sale agreement collapses, the buyer loses everything and the registered owner automatically keeps the property. The Court of Appeal has now shaken that assumption in Okul v Ondieki [2026]. The dispute revolved around a Nakuru property allegedly sold in 1985. The purchaser paid the agreed consideration, took possession, developed the land, erected rental structures, and remained in occupation for over three decades. Yet the transfer was never completed. Years later, after both the buyer and seller had died, the seller’s family claimed the property as part of the deceased’s estate and argued that no valid transfer had ever occurred.
The Court of Appeal was confronted with a question that keeps many investors, families, and estate administrators awake at night: can a person who never received a title deed still end up owning the land? The answer was a resounding yes. The Court held that where a purchaser enters land pursuant to a sale agreement, openly occupies it, develops it, collects rent, and remains there uninterrupted for the statutory period, that occupation can mature into adverse possession even if the sale transaction itself was never completed. In one of the most consequential statements in the judgment, the Court affirmed that entry into land under an incomplete sale agreement, particularly where the purchaser is not to blame for the failure to complete, can ultimately extinguish the registered owner's rights altogether.
The implication for landowners, investors, succession practitioners, and property developers is profound. A title deed is not always the end of the conversation. If another person occupies your property openly, treats it as their own, develops it, earns income from it, and you fail to assert your rights for years, the law may eventually recognize them rather than you. The decision reinforces a powerful principle in Kenyan property law: ownership is not protected by registration alone; it must also be defended through action. For those dealing with old land transactions, stalled transfers, family estates, or forgotten sale agreements, this judgment is a reminder that time can quietly transfer property just as effectively as a signed transfer form
