BROOKE BOND (K) LIMITED V. JAMES BII

JUDGMENT OF THE COURT

The appellant is the registered owner of two parcels of land namely L.R. No. 621/1 and 7282 situate within Kericho District of Kericho County. In between the two parcels passes a stream or river variously known as Chepkitach river or Kapkorech river the latter being eponymous to a tea estate owned and run by the plaintiff. Its official name is Kapkorech stream, a tributary of the Nyando River.

The respondent is a neighbor of the plaintiff and is the proprietor of a portion of land nearby known as LR. No. 612/8 which does not, however, abut on the said river.

The dispute between the parties dates back to the year 1999 or thereabouts and is captured in the plaint filed before the High Court at Kericho as follows;

“4. In or about July, 1999, without any colour of right whatsoever and without first obtaining consent from the plaintiff, the defendant entered into the plaintiff’s said parcels of lands and started excavating each bank of Chepkitach river, constructing a dam…