Court Bars Ex-Treasury PS Mbindyo, NLC and Church from 3,000 Acres Land in Legal Standoff

Kenya, January 28 2026 - A High Court judge has issued orders temporarily barring former Treasury Permanent Secretary Charles Mbindyo, the National Land Commission (NLC) and a church from dealing with a contentious 3,000-acre land parcel, halting any further transactions or actions on the property as legal proceedings unfold.

The ruling underscores deep-seated complexities in land ownership disputes involving prominent individuals and institutional land-management bodies in Kenya’s evolving legal landscape of property rights.

The disputed acreage, located in Machakos County, has been at the centre of a long-running legal conflict over whether the title and rights over the parcel are validly held or subject to review by the NLC, a constitutional body mandated with managing public land and investigating historical irregular allocations.

At its core, the case raises questions about land allocation, title review and whether due process was followed when the parcel’s ownership changed hands nearly three decades ago.

The court’s conservatory order arose after Mbindyo mounted a judicial review challenge against the NLC’s exercise of jurisdiction over what he describes as private land, asserting that the commission should not have begun a review of his title without proper legal basis.

In previous judgments, courts have recognised that land review powers must be exercised carefully and within constitutional bounds to avoid undermining stable land ownership and investment confidence.

The involvement of a church entity, which claims interest in a portion of the same land, further complicates the dispute. Faith institutions based in Kenya have in past decades acquired land for worship and community activities, but questions around title legitimacy and historical transfers have increasingly drawn legal scrutiny, especially where large parcels are concerned.

This reflects broader national concerns about land governance, irregular allocations and the need for clarity in titling and institutional mandates.