Equitable Customary Trust and Absolute Proprietorship in Kenya

Abstract

It is undeniable that much of Kenyan law finds its source, either directly or indirectly, in England. This is easy to understand since Kenya was, until 1963, a British colony and it was the usual custom of the British colonialists in the absence df any applicable local law, to apply rules of law then operating in England to the new colony. Even after independence Kenya. inherited certain English statutes, common law and doctrines of equity. The local statutes have been modelled along their English counterparts. This dissertation is concerned with the application of the doctrines of equity. in Kenya, hence its objective is two-fold: to survey the reception and principles which can be extracted from the cases to rationalize the circumstances in which the doctrines of equity have been applied in Kenya, and secondly to set out certain instances in which these doctrines have been applied by the courts. In so doing it is intended that the contribution and usefulness of these doctrines in the administration of justice in Kenya will become clear. 'Equity' has been used in the dissertation in two main ways, firstly, it refers to the technical rules of equity that developed alongside and ameliorated the rigorous of, the cOm1on law.