Results.
874 judgments found.
Citation
Sort by Citation ascending
Judgment date
Sort by Judgment date ascending
December 1989
Identification at close range and possession of stolen property upheld conviction for robbery with violence; appeal dismissed.
Criminal law
— Possession of recently stolen property — corroborative inference of participation
— Robbery with violence — Visual identification — hurricane lamp may afford sufficient illumination for reliable identification
30 December 1989
Possession of a recently stolen goat without satisfactory explanation sustained the appellant's theft conviction and five-year sentence.
Civil procedure — Appeal — Appellate court will not disturb trial court’s factual findings absent clear misdirection
Criminal law
— identification — Positive identification of stolen animal as exhibit supports conviction
— Theft — possession of recently stolen property — Burden to give satisfactory explanation for possession
Evidence — Credibility findings — Trial court entitled to reject defence where explanations are fabricated/inconsistent
30 December 1989
Conviction based on an uncalled key witness and a retracted confession was unsafe and was quashed.
Criminal law
— conviction unsafe — appellate court quashed conviction and set aside sentence — Appellate intervention to quash conviction
— Evidence — prosecution’s failure to call material witness — Effect on prosecution case
— retracted confession — conviction unsafe if based on uncorroborated retracted confession — Requires corroboration
29 December 1989
Conviction based on weak identification and mere suspicion was quashed for lack of conclusive evidence.
Criminal law — identification evidence — reliability of brief street encounters — circumstantial evidence — conviction unsafe where suspicion, not conclusive proof, is relied upon
29 December 1989
The accused police officer was acquitted of murder, the court finding his use of force in self‑defence reasonable.
Criminal law — Self‑defence — requirement of reasonable and proportionate force
Evidence — Conflicting witness accounts — Proof beyond reasonable doubt and acquittal
29 December 1989
Defendant held liable for loss of entrusted spare parts; damages assessed using insurance valuation and fixed anticipated profit.
Damages — Loss of profits — Assessment of loss of profit and recovery for materials/tools
Evidence — Valuation evidence — valuation by unqualified valuer or made in absence of parties is unreliable
Tort — Bailment and tort — Duty to exercise reasonable care in custody of entrusted goods
28 December 1989
Accomplice/possessor evidence, when credibly corroborated, can sustain a theft conviction; appeal dismissed.
Criminal law
— conviction and sentence — Adequacy of five‑year imprisonment in theft conviction
— Theft and receiving stolen property — Reliance on accomplice/interested witness — Corroboration
27 December 1989
Robbery convictions upheld on sound identification and recovered property; rape convictions quashed as uncharged offences.
Criminal law
— Robbery with violence — Identification evidence — prior acquaintance, adequate lighting and recovery of stolen property corroborate identification
— sentencing — juveniles
Criminal procedure — Conviction for uncharged offence — trial court may not convict where charge sheet was not amended and accused not heard
27 December 1989
Whether identification by familiar witnesses in moonlight sufficiently proved robbery on appeal.
Criminal law — Robbery — Identification evidence based on familiarity and moonlight — Assessment of witness credibility on appeal — Procedural error in appellate record including acquitted accused
27 December 1989
Appeal allowed and convictions quashed where defence evidence raised reasonable doubt and prosecution conceded insufficiency.
Criminal law — Appeal against conviction — Evaluation of prosecution — Reasonable doubt — Convictions quashed where State concedes insufficiency of evidence
27 December 1989
A single missed instalment, where parties agreed an extension and substantial payments were made, does not justify rescission.
Contract law
— non‑payment of instalments — Failure to pay instalments
— performance — Substantial part‑performance and divisibility of obligations in instalment sales
— rescission — Seller’s acceptance of part‑payment and steps to enforce constitute election to uphold contract, barring later rescission
27 December 1989
Purchase and surrendered permit corroborated sale of stolen cow, supporting conviction and upholding five-year sentence.
Criminal law
— purchaser's testimony and surrendered permit corroborating prosecution case — Appeal against conviction and sentence
— theft of cattle — Identification by brand marks — Sale at market as proof of possession and disposal
22 December 1989
Appellant failed to prove shs.32,000 was her separate lottery winnings; magistrate’s joint-earning finding and division of funds upheld.
Family law — Division of matrimonial/business assets — Burden to prove separate source of funds — Trial court’s factual findings on source and division of assets entitled to deference on appeal where supported by evidence
22 December 1989
A widow’s refusal to be inherited prevents recovery of dowry; appellant’s claim for mahari return is dismissed.
Customary law — dowry (mahari) — levirate (inheritance)
— interpretation and application of G.N. 279 of 1963
— Primary Court ex parte order set aside on appeal
— where widow refuses to be inherited dowry is non‑refundable
22 December 1989
Prior final title determinations precluded respondents' bona fide claim; appellate court erred in overturning the Primary Court.
Criminal law — Criminal trespass
— appellate review of additional evidence
— bona fide claim of right
— res judicata/finality of earlier title determinations
Criminal law — disobedience of court order
22 December 1989
Circumstantial evidence, uncertain identification of remains and speculative inferences failed to prove murder beyond reasonable doubt.
Criminal law
— Circumstantial evidence — Where case depends wholly on circumstantial evidence, facts must exclude every reasonable hypothesis of innocence
— Proof of death — clothing/shoes should be identified and tendered when relied upon — Forensic and circumstantial limitations
22 December 1989
Convictions quashed where hostile witnesses and lack of proper identification made prosecution speculative.
Criminal law — Evidence — Hostile witnesses and reliability of their prior statements — Identification of stolen property — Circumstantial inference from alleged concealment of residence
21 December 1989
Appeal allowed: conviction quashed for lack of jurisdiction and evidence of lawful possession.
Criminal law — Unlawful possession of government trophies — defective charge sheet and mis-specified statutory/schedule reference
Criminal procedure — Jurisdiction — Economic offences — Written Laws (Miscellaneous Amendments) Act No.10/1982
Evidence — production of certificates of ownership negating unlawful possession — Certificates of ownership as a defence to unlawful possession
20 December 1989
An allegedly coerced confession is inadmissible and a retracted confession needs corroboration before supporting conviction.
Criminal law — Prosecution duty
Evidence
— Confession — Allegation of coercion by village authorities — Admissibility
— Retracted confession — Requirement of corroboration
20 December 1989
Conviction based on a retracted confession without a trial-within-a-trial and insufficient corroboration was quashed.
Criminal law — Confession admissibility — Trial-within-a-trial required to determine voluntariness where confession is retracted
Evidence
— identification and circumstantial evidence — Vague descriptions and unexplained but non-conclusive conduct insufficient to prove guilt beyond reasonable doubt
— Retracted confession
20 December 1989
A subordinate court lacks jurisdiction to try economic offences absent the statutory certificate of transfer, making such trials a nullity.
Criminal law — Jurisdiction to try economic offences — Requirement of transfer certificate and DPP consent (EOCCA ss 12(3), 26(1)) — Certificate/consent must cite statutory charging provisions
19 December 1989
Appellate court quashed cattle-theft conviction where prosecution evidence and trial magistrate's handling of alibi and corroboration were unreliable.
Criminal law — Appeal — quashing of conviction where connection between accused and stolen property is unreliable
Criminal law — theft of cattle
— misdirection by trial court on opportunity and proof
— sufficiency of circumstantial evidence and possession to prove theft beyond reasonable doubt
19 December 1989
Theft conviction and five-year sentence upheld; escape conviction and one-year sentence quashed for lack of lawful summary sentencing power.
Criminal law
— sentencing — five-year term
— Theft — sufficiency of circumstantial and eyewitness evidence — identity established by shoe marks, greasy shoes and conduct (poisoning of watchman)
Criminal procedure — summary conviction and sentencing by magistrate
— arrest
— no power to convict and sentence on the spot for ordinary offences without charge
19 December 1989
Conviction for recent possession of stolen property upheld; statutory five-year minimum sentence applies.
Criminal law
— Failure to call material witnesses — Failure to call principal witnesses not fatal where other credible evidence establishes offence
— Minimum Sentences Act, 1972 — mandatory five-year sentence lawful and applicable
— Possession of recently stolen property — Recent possession can give rise to a strong factual inference of guilt as thief or guilty receiver
19 December 1989
Convictions for forgery and theft by a public servant upheld, but excessive forgery sentences reduced for lack of jurisdiction.
Criminal law
— Forgery — alteration of duplicate and quadruplicate receipts — fraudulent representation of different transaction amounts
— Fraudulent false accounting versus forgery — false entries in summary sheets constitute false accounting
— sentencing — sentencing magistrate’s jurisdictional limits — illegal sentence reduced
— Theft by public servant
Evidence — admissions and handwriting identification — sufficiency to prove forgery
19 December 1989
Bail pending appeal granted where delay, tampered serial numbers and weak identification undermine prosecution’s case.
Criminal procedure — Bail pending appeal — good cause
— identification evidence unreliable
— receiving stolen property
— recent possession doctrine undermined by long delay
— tampered serial numbers
18 December 1989
18 December 1989
Delayed complaint, inconsistent testimony and failure to preserve physical evidence defeated adultery claim; appeal dismissed with costs.
Adultery claim; evidentiary burden; credibility and inconsistent testimony; delay in complaint; failure to preserve physical evidence (amulet and walking-stick); appeal dismissed.
16 December 1989
15 December 1989
Appellant lacked cause of action over intestate estate; appeal dismissed and respondents awarded full costs.
Probate law — Succession (intestate) — cause of action
— costs awarded to successful respondents
— fair hearing and failure to call witnesses
— locus standi to claim estate assets
— vexatious litigation
15 December 1989
Suits over customary land must be commenced in the Primary Court; District Court proceedings without leave are void.
Civil procedure — commencement in wrong court renders proceedings null and void
— District Court proceedings quashed
— fresh suit may be instituted in Primary Court
Civil procedure — jurisdiction
15 December 1989
Appeal allowed: conviction quashed for reliance on uncorroborated co‑accused testimony and improperly admitted bad‑character evidence.
Criminal law — Evidence
— Conviction based on uncorroborated testimony of a co-accused — Evidence Act s 33(2)
— Improper/prejudicial bad-character evidence — Evidence Act s 56(1)
15 December 1989
A mother retains custody of a child born out of wedlock absent customary formalities or compelling child-welfare reasons to the contrary.
Family law — custody — child born out of wedlock
— appellate intervention where trial court deprived child of parental care
— mother retains custody
— welfare of child paramount but displacement requires compelling reasons
14 December 1989
Employer's oral assurances and conduct created an implied contract extension; employer liable for unpaid remittances and repatriation costs.
Employment law
— Reasonable expectation of renewal — Employee duty to demonstrate employer conduct or representations giving rise to expectation — Whether oral assurances and employer conduct can create a binding extension of an employment contract
— Remedies — compensation and general damages — Damages for breach, unpaid expatriate remittances and repatriation costs
14 December 1989
Employer’s oral assurances and conduct created an implied contract renewal; employer liable for unpaid remittances, salary and repatriation costs.
Civil procedure — Remedies — award of unpaid salary/remittances, repatriation passage and costs
Contract law — breach of contract — premature termination/ non‑renewal where employee reasonably expects continuation
Employment law — oral assurances and conduct — implied renewal of contract by employer conduct and acceptance of work without formal signed contract
Legal profession — Expatriate remuneration — unpaid inducement allowance and remittances returned to sender remain employee’s entitlement
14 December 1989
Court refused to grant letters of administration because appointment would not be in beneficiaries’ interests.
Civil procedure — Probate and administration — petition for letters of administration — Court’s discretion to protect beneficiaries’ interests — Refusal to appoint administrator not in beneficiaries’ interest
14 December 1989
Custody of a 13‑year‑old with the father was upheld; wife entitled to a 20% buy‑out share in the matrimonial house.
Civil procedure — remedy — Government valuation and monetary payment to effect division of share
Family law
— custody of child — presumption favouring mother for children under seven and its inapplicability to older children
— Matrimonial property — Non‑monetary (wifely) contributions — entitlement to a minimal share — valuation and buy‑out remedy
14 December 1989
Appellate court upholds conviction where identification by familiar witnesses was reliable; appeal dismissed.
Criminal law
— Evidence — Interested witnesses
— identification evidence — reliability and opportunity to observe — familiarity of accused to witnesses
— Trial review — appellate court upholds conviction where identification circumstances are favourable
13 December 1989
Conviction for defilement upheld; six-year sentence illegal and reduced to five years imprisonment.
Criminal law — Defilement — Evidence — Victim's testimony and PF3 medical report as corroboration — sufficiency to convict
Criminal procedure — Sentencing — Trial court powers — illegality of sentence exceeding statutory maximum for unscheduled offence
13 December 1989
Conviction for defilement upheld; six-year sentence set aside and reduced to lawful five-year term due to sentencing jurisdiction limits.
Criminal law — Defilement
Criminal law — sentencing
— appellate substitution of lawful sentence
— Trial court's jurisdiction
13 December 1989
Appeal dismissed: insufficient evidence and improperly admitted child testimony failed to prove offences.
Civil procedure — Appeal — Appellate review of acquittal where evidence is contradictory and lacks independent corroboration
Criminal law — Malicious damage to property and occasioning actual bodily harm — Sufficiency of evidence required for conviction
Evidence — Child witness
13 December 1989
Conviction for malicious damage quashed where narrated facts failed to prove wilful and unlawful conduct; civil suit suggested.
Criminal law — Malicious damage to property — Elements of offence (ownership, damage, causation, wilfulness) — Requirement that plea facts disclose mens rea (wilfulness and unlawfulness)
Criminal procedure — plea of guilty — requirement that plea be unequivocal and accused be asked to confirm narrated facts — Plea must be supported by facts disclosing the charged offence (mens rea must be evident)
Tort — Negligence — Where criminal ingredients are absent, aggrieved party may seek compensation by civil suit
13 December 1989
A licencee’s occupation does not ripen into adverse possession against land lawfully allocated by the competent authority.
Evidence — Documentary evidence — Admissibility of sketch maps and primary court judgments when identified and corroborative
Land law
— Allocation — Effect of lawful allocation by a traditional/administrative authority on subsequent squatters' rights
— adverse possession — Whether a licencee’s occupation can ripen into title against land allocated by the competent authority — Licencee cannot acquire title by adverse possession
11 December 1989
Circumstantial evidence and an admission that the accused quarrelled with the victim supported manslaughter conviction; 18-year sentence.
Criminal law
— homicide — Manslaughter — Circumstantial evidence and admissions to third party — sufficiency to prove guilt
— sentencing — deterrence and community prevalence of alcohol-related killings
Evidence — Identification and eyewitness testimony — reliability of witnesses who saw accused with deceased and heard quarrel
11 December 1989
An appeal to the High Court from a District Court must be by petition filed in the District Court, not a memorandum filed in the High Court.
Civil procedure — Appeals
8 December 1989
An appeal was rejected for being filed in the High Court instead of filing the petition in the District Court as required.
Appellate practice
— Appeal filing — Filing of petition of appeal in District Court required by s 25
— Substantial justice doctrine — Whether s 37(1) — Magistrates' Courts Act can cure appellate filing irregularities
Civil practice and procedure — Court registry practice
— Civil Procedure Rules (GN 312/64) r 5
— Established registry practice cannot justify non‑compliance with statutory filing requirements
8 December 1989
Eyewitness identification and threats established the accused’s intent; convicted of attempted murder, sentenced to four years.
Criminal law
— Accidental discharge defence — explanation that firearm fired accidentally did not, without more, rebut credible prosecution evidence
— Attempted murder — proof of actus reus and mens rea by conduct, weapon used, wounds and utterances
— Visual identification — night-time identification
8 December 1989
Possession of complainant's identified property and attempted flight supported conviction; appellant's five-year sentence upheld.
Criminal law — sentence review — whether excessive
Criminal law — Theft — circumstantial and direct evidence
— appellate review of magistrate's factual findings
— possession of stolen property and flight as corroborative evidence
7 December 1989
Appellant not liable for cattle transferred under Baraza la Jadi execution absent evidence he was party to the execution.
Land law — Property attachment
— disputed transfer of cattle
— execution by village council (Baraza la Jadi)
— liability to account
— party to execution
— proper defendants for forced seizure
— voluntary settlement by respondent’s son
7 December 1989
The applicant’s two‑year delay in objecting to attachment rendered the objection time‑barred; appeal dismissed.
Civil procedure — Attachment/enforcement of costs — Delay and laches — Time‑bar to objecting to seizure of property
7 December 1989