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Citation
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Judgment date
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| August 1988 |
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An award of damages cannot stand where the court finds reasonable cause and no malice and gives no supporting reasons.
Civil procedure – malicious prosecution – award of damages – whether an award can be sustained when the court finds reasonable cause and no malice; necessity for reasons to support compensation orders.
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30 August 1988 |
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Appellate court upheld assault conviction where eyewitness and medical evidence corroborated the complainant and accused gave no defence.
Criminal law – Assault (s.241 Penal Code) – Sufficiency of evidence – Eyewitness and medical corroboration – Accused’s election not to give evidence – Appeal dismissed.
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29 August 1988 |
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Circumstantial evidence and tampered engine numbers justified convictions for theft and forgery.
Criminal law – theft and forgery – identification of stolen vehicle by circumstantial evidence; tampering with engine numbers and registration documents; failure to cross-examine key witness undermining defence.
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29 August 1988 |
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A second sale by a fraudulent vendor conveys no title; the purchaser is a trespasser and not entitled to compensation.
Land law – sale of land – double sale by vendor – effect of first valid sale extinguishing vendor's title to resell. Evidence – appellate court calling additional witness under statutory powers – admission of additional evidence justified. Possession and improvements – trespasser who occupies land without title is not entitled to compensation for unauthorised improvements.
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29 August 1988 |
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Conviction for misappropriating payroll upheld; separate theft conviction quashed due to failure to account bank records.
Criminal law – Theft/embezzlement – Payroll fraud – Inclusion of terminated employees on payroll and collection of salaries – Evidence: payrolls, bank vouchers, witness testimony and admissions. Appellate review – Conviction unsafe where trial court fails to reconcile bank pay‑ins and employer bank statements with alleged missing sums. Sentence – Trial court sentencing errors may require intervention where evidential basis is defective.
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29 August 1988 |
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Allocation under national land policy and occupier’s development trumped respondent’s inheritance claim; trial court judgment restored, costs awarded.
Land allocation under National Policy – lawfulness of allocation by authorities and effect of occupation and development. Acquiescence and inheritance – failure of predecessors to protest allocation defeats later inheritance claims. Second appeal – limited to questions of law; appellate interference justified where trial court findings supported by evidence. Remedies – restoration of trial court judgment and costs ordered against respondent.
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27 August 1988 |
Land law - Eviction - Lawful occupier of land - Eviction from the land for no fault of occupier - Reason for eviction being "nationalization" - Whether such lawful occupier is entitled to compensation. Constitutional law - "Nationalisation"-Right to compensation |
27 August 1988 |
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Reported
A lawful occupier who improves virgin land is entitled to compensation when authorities seize it without enabling law.
Land law – allocation and occupation of virgin land – improvements by cultivator – entitlement to compensation for labour and improvements; Constitutional law – seizure of property for nationalization without enabling written law and commensurate compensation unlawful; Evidence – failure to remove crops does not negate entitlement where occupation and improvements were lawful.
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27 August 1988 |
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Accomplice evidence required corroboration; admission and independent witness corroboration upheld conviction and minimum sentence.
Criminal law – Theft – accomplice evidence requires independent corroboration – admission to a security officer and presence of third-party witness can provide sufficient corroboration – conviction and minimum sentence upheld.
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26 August 1988 |
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Conviction quashed where complainant failed to describe stolen property before post hoc identification and proof was lacking.
Theft/identification — owner must describe stolen property before being shown suspected items; identification after viewing is unsafe; burden on prosecution to prove ownership and link to accused.
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26 August 1988 |
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Conviction quashed where identification was unsafe and additional arrest evidence was unfairly admitted without opportunity to challenge.
Criminal law – Identification evidence – Recognition evidence must be supported by circumstances (opportunity to observe, prior description); unsatisfactory identification unsafe for conviction. Criminal procedure – Reopening of case and admission of additional evidence – Unfair to rely on evidence used to convict without proper admission and opportunity to challenge. Evidence – Reliance on lock‑up register requires proof of provenance and circumstances of arrest.
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25 August 1988 |
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Insufficient and conflicting evidence required quashing of conviction for alleged theft by a servant.
Criminal law – Theft by servant – Sufficiency of evidence and corroboration – Interested witness (watchman) requiring corroboration – Conflicting witness accounts and unreliable identification – Conviction quashed for failure to prove guilt beyond reasonable doubt.
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25 August 1988 |
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Imprisonment for first-time possession of bhang was manifestly excessive; a fine is ordinarily appropriate.
Criminal law – possession of bhang (Cap. 134, as amended by Act No. 4 of 1987) – sentencing – first offender – fine ordinarily appropriate; appellate interference where wrong principles or manifestly excessive sentence.
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23 August 1988 |
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Appellate court upheld reduction of customary damages where the trial court failed to state reasons and loss of services was not proven.
Customary damages — quantum — trial court must state reasons for substantial awards; loss of services vs injured feelings; Local Customary Law (Declaration) Order invoked where customary law unclear; insufficient proof of asserted Kamba custom.
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22 August 1988 |
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Convictions quashed: identification unsafe and alleged recovery of stolen radio was unreliable, creating reasonable doubt.
Criminal law – Robbery with violence – Identification evidence – Reliability undermined by poor lighting, sudden attack, confusion and inconsistent witness statements; identification unsafe. Criminal law – Recovered property – Possession/identification of recovered radio insufficiently distinctive and possibly fabricated; cannot corroborate unsafe identification. Appeal – Convictions unsafe where prosecution fails to prove guilt beyond reasonable doubt.
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19 August 1988 |
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Appellants failed to prove title or possession; authority validly terminated occupancy and reallocated the plot, appeal dismissed.
Land law – right of occupancy – termination of occupancy by local authority after notice – validity of reallocation of plot; possession and title – necessity of proof of actual possession or valid transfer to recover land; appeal – appellate court upholds trial magistrate's credibility and factual findings.
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19 August 1988 |
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Appeal allowed: conviction for trespass quashed because land ownership was not clearly established and belongs in civil court.
Criminal law – Trespass – Where ownership of land is disputed prosecution must prove ownership beyond reasonable doubt; land disputes are civil matters and should not be settled by criminal prosecution.
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19 August 1988 |
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A wholly credible complainant’s evidence may support conviction in sexual offences; extra‑judicial statements are not always confessions.
Criminal law – sexual offences – incest – standard of proof and corroboration in sexual‑offence trials. Evidence – extra‑judicial statements – when such statements constitute an unequivocal confession. Criminal law – intoxication – effect on capacity and responsibility. Credibility – role of assessors and corroborative evidence in sexual offence convictions.
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19 August 1988 |
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Court found intent to cause grievous bodily harm from admitted statement and post‑mortem, rejecting provocation, and convicted of murder.
Criminal law – Murder – Elements – Intention to cause grievous bodily harm as malice aforethought (s.200) – Post-mortem and extra‑judicial statement as primary evidence establishing act and result. Defences – Self‑defence and provocation (s.201) – Insults and threats insufficient to deprive accused of self‑control; provocation defence not made out. Sentence – Conviction under s.196 Penal Code; death by hanging.
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19 August 1988 |
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12 August 1988 |
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A wife's uncorroborated confession does not conclusively establish adultery; statutory affiliation rules do not apply to such civil claims.
Adultery claim — sufficiency of proof; wife’s uncorroborated confession not dispositive in civil adultery actions; GN 279/63 paras 183–184 apply to customary-law affiliation disputes only; appellate interference warranted where lower courts misapply law.
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11 August 1988 |
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Appellate court remitted robbery conviction for further evidence on identification, vehicle registration and missing witnesses.
Criminal law – robbery – identification evidence – reliability of eyewitness identification and adequacy of identification parade. Criminal procedure – duty to call material witnesses – effect of uncalled witnesses and silent record on appeal. Evidence – hearsay and secondary evidence concerning vehicle registration number – necessity to test source of registration information. Appellate procedure – ordering additional evidence and remitting record for further trial-court enquiries.
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11 August 1988 |
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Conviction for criminal trespass quashed where prosecution failed to prove ownership; land dispute must be litigated in civil court.
Criminal law – Trespass – Requirement that prosecution prove complainant's ownership or right of possession – Failure to prove possession undermines conviction. Property disputes – Competing claims to land should be resolved in civil proceedings, not by criminal prosecution. Defence – Honest claim of right to land may negate criminal trespass. Appeal – Conviction quashed where prosecution evidence did not clearly establish requisite property right.
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9 August 1988 |
Criminal Practice and Procedure - Discharges - Accused discharged under s. 225(5) of the Criminal Procedure Act - Whether discharge lawful. |
6 August 1988 |
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Appeal allowed where employment element and corroboration were not proved, conviction set aside.
Criminal law – theft by servant – requirement to prove employment relationship; corroboration of accomplice/co‑accused evidence; inadmissibility/unsafe reliance on hearsay and uncalled material witnesses.
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6 August 1988 |
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A promise about a future act cannot constitute a false pretence; conviction based on such a charge was quashed.
Criminal law – Obtaining by false pretences – Requirement that false pretence be a representation as to past or present fact – Promise of future performance cannot constitute false pretence (see Mcithew Merere v R; Ali Mohamed v R).
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6 August 1988 |
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A conspiracy conviction cannot stand where the alleged co-conspirator has been acquitted; other document-related convictions were upheld.
Criminal law – Conspiracy (s306 Penal Code) – requires at least two persons; acquittal of alleged co-conspirator renders conviction unsafe. Evidence – sufficiency to support convictions for false document and making document without authority. Sentencing – concurrent terms on counts two and three not excessive.
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6 August 1988 |
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Appeal against sentence dismissed: magistrate’s sentence for grievous harm upheld as not manifestly inadequate.
Criminal law – Sentencing – Appellate interference with sentencing discretion – Review only where wrong principle, overlooked material factors, or sentence manifestly excessive/inadequate; grievous harm arising in fight – adequacy of sentence; charge versus attempted murder.
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5 August 1988 |
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Execution of a criminal compensation order cannot be levied on the property of a non‑party or used to impose parental liability for an adult child's crime.
Civil enforcement of criminal compensation — execution against third party — whether property of non-party may be seized; Vicarious liability — parent for adult child's crime — none; Restoration of wrongfully seized property; Interaction with local reconciliation body (Baraza la Jadi).
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5 August 1988 |
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Identification upheld but injury did not amount to grievous harm; conviction substituted and sentence reduced to two years.
Criminal law — Identification evidence — Credibility of complainant and eyewitness establishing identity; Criminal law — Distinction between grievous harm and actual bodily harm — medical evidence insufficient to prove grievous harm; Criminal procedure — Power to enter alternative verdicts under sections 250 and 366; Sentence — appellate reduction where conviction substituted and original sentence excessive.
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5 August 1988 |
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Conviction upheld on recent-possession evidence; stealing sentence corrected to statutory five years; appeal dismissed.
Criminal law – burglary and stealing – doctrine of recent possession; appellate intervention on credibility findings; Minimum Sentences Act – theft of specified authority property; sentence correction and concurrency.
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5 August 1988 |
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4 August 1988 |
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Neither party proved legal title to the disputed plot; appellate court quashed respondent’s ownership finding.
Land law — proof of title — absence of certificate of occupancy — rent payments and administrative letters insufficient to prove local title; Ownership by unregistered association — an unregistered group lacks capacity to hold or be conveyed land absent proof of legal personality or title in transferor; Evidence — transferor must be shown to have had title before passing ownership.
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3 August 1988 |
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3 August 1988 |
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A civil court is not bound by prior criminal findings; damages reduced where plaintiff's conduct was blameworthy.
Evidence — Relevancy of prior judgments — Whether criminal judgments are conclusive in subsequent civil proceedings — Sections 42–45 Evidence Act. Civil procedure — Effect of prior criminal findings on civil liability — civil court entitled to independent assessment of evidence. Damages — Assessment and reduction of excessive award where plaintiff bears some blame.
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3 August 1988 |
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3 August 1988 |
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An application supported by affidavits swearing only on "information and belief" (without grounds) is incompetent and dismissed.
Civil procedure — Affidavits — Verification — Affidavits must be confined to facts within the deponent’s personal knowledge; statements on information and belief are permissible only in interlocutory applications and where grounds of belief are stated. Precedent — Bombay Mills v Chunibhai Patel (1962) E.A. 803 applied.
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2 August 1988 |
Criminal Practice and Procedure - Assessors - Recruitment of a new assessor after the hearing hasstarted - Groundfor vitiating the proceedings. Criminal Practice and Procedure - Unsolicited order ofthe Court to exhume - Whether properly made. |
1 August 1988 |
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1 August 1988 |
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Conviction for store breaking and stealing quashed for insufficient evidence of the applicant’s guilty knowledge.
Criminal law – store breaking and stealing – sufficiency of evidence – identification of stolen goods sold by accused – knowledge of felonious origin – possible alternative of guilty receiver (s.311(1)) – conviction quashed for lack of proof beyond reasonable doubt.
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1 August 1988 |
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First appellant convicted for stabbing; second appellant acquitted for lack of participation and common intention.
Criminal law — Grievous harm (s.225 Penal Code) — Eyewitness identification; lighting conditions; credibility of witnesses — Common intention and party liability — Appeal: acquittal of non‑participating accused.
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1 August 1988 |