|
Citation
|
Judgment date
|
| December 1991 |
|
|
Sale of registered family house without letters of administration and without Commissioner of Lands’ consent is void; appeal dismissed.
* Land law – Sale of registered land by family members – validity where seller is not registered personal representative – requirement for letters of administration. * Land Registration Ordinance and Land Regulations 1940 – consent of Commissioner of Lands – effect of failure to obtain consent. * Equitable remedies – availability of specific performance where transaction void – purchaser’s remedy limited to refund and compensation. * Right of occupancy – disposability subject to statutory control.
|
31 December 1991 |
|
An appeal is incompetent and struck out if the memorandum lacks the mandatory copy of the decree.
* Civil procedure – Order 39 r.1(1) – mandatory requirement to attach copy of decree to memorandum of appeal – non‑compliance renders appeal incompetent.
* Appeal procedure – section 39(2) Security of Employment Act – compliance with procedural formalities essential for competency.
* Preliminary objection – mandatory procedural defects may be sustained despite absence of prior notice.
|
31 December 1991 |
|
Appeal allowed and letters of administration revoked because administrator failed to file required inventory; fresh joint application ordered.
Probate and Administration — Grant of letters of administration — Appointment not invalid for undervaluation (s.86) — Revocation permitted where administrator willfully omits to exhibit inventory/accounts (s.49) — Proper administration requires fresh application where procedural requirements unmet.
|
30 December 1991 |
|
Appeal held time-barred: limitation runs from date the appellant was notified, not from counsel's later receipt of documents.
Civil procedure — Appeal — Computation of limitation period — Period of appeal begins to run from date the decision is notified to the appellant personally, not from counsel’s receipt of certified copies; Order 39 (requirement to accompany memorandum with judgment/decree) — compliance required and assessed from filed documents.
|
29 December 1991 |
|
Court granted transfer of proceedings to another registry under Rule 7(4) after finding it fair and just.
Civil procedure – Transfer of proceedings – High Court Registries Rules 1984 (G.N. 23 of 1985) rule 7(4) – Supporting affidavit and absence of objection – Transfer ordered as fair and just.
|
24 December 1991 |
|
A father remains statutorily liable to maintain his infant children regardless of their custody; mother may sue for maintenance.
Family law – Maintenance of children – Section 129(1) Law of Marriage Act – Father’s duty to maintain infant children irrespective of custody; Custodian need not be the plaintiff to claim maintenance; Procedural error where primary court required third party to sue.
|
21 December 1991 |
|
Ex parte judgment awarded for unpaid vehicle purchase balance after substituted service and proof of the sale agreement.
Contract law – Sale of goods/motor vehicle – unpaid purchase price; Civil procedure – substituted service by affixing summons; Ex parte proceedings and default judgment; Remedies – judgment for outstanding balance with interest and costs.
|
19 December 1991 |
|
|
19 December 1991 |
|
A child legitimized under customary law may inherit despite the deceased professing Islam; appeal dismissed with costs.
Inheritance – illegitimate child legitimized under customary law – effect on succession despite deceased's Muslim faith – application of customary law to estate administration – s.19(a) Administration (Small Estates) Ordinance.
|
16 December 1991 |
|
|
16 December 1991 |
|
Second appeal dismissed: evidence established respondent cleared and owns the disputed land.
Land dispute — proof of ownership by occupation and improvement — weight and totality of witness evidence — appellate review of findings of fact and credibility — second appeal without merit.
|
16 December 1991 |
|
A delayed inheritance claim was barred by limitation and defeated by the appellant’s proven purchase and long possession.
Land law – inheritance claims and burden of proof; limitation – late claims barred where unexplained delay exceeds statutory period for land (12 years); evidence of purchase and continuous possession supporting ownership; appellate review of factual findings.
|
13 December 1991 |
|
Appeal dismissing challenges to convictions for forgery, uttering and obtaining goods; sentences restructured to an effective 12-year term.
Criminal law – Forgery and uttering – printing and use of company documents in company’s name with intent to defraud – whether documents constituted forgery; Criminal law – Obtaining goods by false pretences – sufficiency of evidence; Counts and charging – single transaction supporting single counts; Sentencing – appropriateness, concurrent and consecutive terms, weight of accused’s silence.
|
13 December 1991 |
|
Appeal dismissed: eyewitness and medical evidence proved grievous bodily harm; three-year sentence upheld.
Criminal law – Grievous bodily harm (s.225 Penal Code) – Proof beyond reasonable doubt – Eyewitness credibility; Medical/exhibit corroboration; Defence failure to call supporting witnesses – Sentence review and appellate interference.
|
13 December 1991 |
|
Second appeal dismissed where respondent proved prior occupation and appellants' evidence was inadequate.
Land dispute – proof of possession and/or title by occupation and development since 1976; credibility of witnesses; insufficiency of appellants' evidence; appeal dismissed.
|
13 December 1991 |
|
Temporary non-use does not equal abandonment; sale by non-owner void; appeal dismissed with costs.
* Property law – ownership of water well – temporary non-use does not amount to abandonment. * Sale by non-owner – purported sale of well by third party who had no title is void. * Remedies – injunction/mandatory order to remove vegetation obstructing access to land/well. * Costs – trial witness travel and expenses relevant to assessment; appellate court will not disturb reasonable costs award.
|
13 December 1991 |
|
|
13 December 1991 |
|
|
13 December 1991 |
|
An appeal filed out of time without an extension is incompetent and will be dismissed; District Court acquittal upheld.
Criminal appeal — timeliness of appeal under section 25(1) Magistrates' Courts Act — requirement to file within 30 days or obtain extension — failure to apply for extension — court declines to extend time sua sponte; appellate procedure; acquittal on appeal upheld.
|
12 December 1991 |
|
Application to compel filing of grounds of appeal struck out as unnecessary and beyond this court's jurisdiction.
Civil procedure – Application to compel filing of grounds of appeal – Jurisdiction – Appeal originating in primary court – Competency and necessity of relief – Striking out unnecessary or incompetent applications.
|
12 December 1991 |
|
Appellate court quashed convictions where misdirected burden on alibi and witness inconsistencies rendered the prosecution case unsafe.
Criminal law – alibi – accused does not bear burden to prove alibi; alibi need only raise reasonable doubt – credibility of witnesses – inconsistent earlier statements and testimony in related case may render convictions unsafe – appellate intervention to quash convictions and set aside sentences where prosecution case is unreliable.
|
12 December 1991 |
|
|
12 December 1991 |
|
|
11 December 1991 |
|
Where a matrimonial home was sold without the wife’s consent, nullification was inappropriate; monetary compensation for her share was ordered instead, and appeal dismissed.
Family/matrimonial property – sale of matrimonial home by one spouse without consent – necessity to join purchaser before nullification – relief by way of monetary compensation where nullification would prejudice third‑party rights or be impractical; procedural requirement to frame central issues at trial.
|
6 December 1991 |
|
|
6 December 1991 |
|
Acquittal where prosecution failed to prove magistrate solicited or received a Shs.22,000/= bribe beyond reasonable doubt.
Corruption — Alleged solicitation and receipt of bribe by a magistrate — Reliability and corroboration of trap operations — Conflicting witness testimony and contested forensic evidence (anthracene powder) — Failure to prove guilt beyond reasonable doubt.
|
6 December 1991 |
|
District Court erred in refusing retrial; prior judgments did not bar litigating ownership of land.
Land law – trial nullity where assessors changed and replacement assessors did not hear witnesses – retrial – res judicata – prior judgments addressing compensation do not decide ownership – allocation under Operation Vijiji may create new title – non-parties to earlier proceedings not bound.
|
6 December 1991 |
|
|
6 December 1991 |
|
|
6 December 1991 |
|
Second appeal in land ownership dispute dismissed; evidence upheld respondent’s title and appeal was ordered dismissed with costs.
Land dispute – ownership of cultivated plot – additional evidence ordered by appellate court – evidence upheld respondent’s ownership – second appeal dismissed with costs – further appeal subject to leave and certification.
|
5 December 1991 |
|
|
5 December 1991 |
|
|
4 December 1991 |
|
Appellate magistrate misdirected in overturning convictions and improperly castigating trial magistrate without hearing.
* Criminal law – malicious damage to property – sufficiency of charge sheet – particulars of value and crop; * Pleas of guilty – effect of unequivocal pleas and conviction on plea; * Appellate review – misdirection and overreach by appellate magistrate; * Administrative discipline – improper judicial condemnation and ordering of refunds without hearing; * Use of administrative titles in judicial proceedings.
|
4 December 1991 |
|
The appellant lawfully resisted an unlawful seizure; reasonable cause to report assault defeats the respondents' malicious prosecution claim.
Local/ward development law – seizure of property – statutory procedure under Ward Development/Area Committees Act No.6 of 1969 – non-compliance invalidates seizure; Civil tort – malicious prosecution – reasonable and probable cause to report assault where seizure was unlawful; Evidence – admissibility of appellate criminal judgment in civil proceedings (held immaterial to outcome).
|
4 December 1991 |
|
|
4 December 1991 |
|
A later suit claiming land already finally decided in civil case no. 52 of 1977 was barred by res judicata; execution, not a new suit, was the remedy.
Res judicata – final judgment – parties cannot relitigate same claim; proper remedy is execution of an existing judgment, not filing a new suit.
|
3 December 1991 |
|
Identification of a recovered pressure lamp and surrounding circumstances firmly established possession of stolen property; appeal dismissed.
* Criminal law – Identification of property – Complainant identification of a pressure lamp linked to repair workshop sufficient to connect lamp to theft. * Criminal law – Possession of stolen property – Items recovered in appellant’s house held to be stolen where identification and circumstances are cogent. * Appeal – Insufficiency of appellant’s explanations to raise reasonable doubt; appeal dismissed.
|
3 December 1991 |
|
Reported
Specific performance granted where heir’s declaration and equitable principles rendered the land sale enforceable despite regulatory concerns.
• Contract law – sale of land – existence and enforceability of executory sale agreement; • Land law – disposition of right of occupancy and requirement of Commissioner’s approval under Land Regulations; • Equity – Declaration of Intent by heir binds and may render an otherwise problematic land disposition enforceable; • Remedy – specific performance granted where equity requires completion.
|
3 December 1991 |
|
Prosecution failed to prove non-deposit of collected public funds; convictions quashed for lack of proof beyond reasonable doubt.
Criminal law – False accounting and theft by public servant – Proof of deposit into bank account – Necessity of primary bank records (bank statements) to establish non-deposit – Weight of evidence: teller signatures and rubber stamps insufficient alone – Trial court’s duty to consider exculpatory documentary evidence.
|
2 December 1991 |
|
Reported
Court restored divorce for cruelty, holding ordinary conciliatory boards valid and section 101(f) permits dispensing with referral.
* Family law – Divorce – Validity of conciliatory board proceedings for Muslim marriages – effect of section 104(7) preserving proceedings despite lack of strict statutory jurisdiction.
* Family law – Procedure – Dispensing with referral to Marriage Conciliatory Board under section 101(f) where referral is impracticable.
* Family law – Grounds – Cruelty as ground for dissolution where allegations of repeated assault, threats and confinement are proved.
* Islamic family law – Section 107(3) remedies (khul, mubarat, talak) should be advised to Muslim spouses as alternative routes to divorce.
|
2 December 1991 |
|
Trial court rightly dissolved marriage for cruelty; referral to conciliatory board was impracticable, appeal allowed.
Family law – Divorce – Moslem spouses – validity of conciliatory board proceedings (s.104(7) Law of Marriage Act) – referral impracticable (s.101(f)) – alternative divorce routes for Moslems (s.107(3)).
|
2 December 1991 |
| November 1991 |
|
|
|
30 November 1991 |
|
Circumstantial facts (partial undress and abandoned belongings) can sufficiently corroborate and establish adultery; appeal dismissed.
Adultery — proof by circumstances — corroboration under Declaration of Customary Law — aggregation of incidents (found partially undressed, abandoned clothing and belongings, flight) can establish adultery where direct evidence is lacking; appellate review of credibility and sufficiency of circumstantial evidence.
|
29 November 1991 |
|
Seizures were unlawful where police failed mandatory s.38 formalities and seized property not shown to be connected to offences.
Criminal Procedure Act – search and seizure – mandatory compliance with s.38(2) and (3) (reporting to magistrate; receipt for seizure) – failure renders seizure irregular and of no legal effect; seizure limited to property connected with offence (s.39); court’s power to order release under s.357.
|
29 November 1991 |
|
|
29 November 1991 |
|
|
29 November 1991 |
|
The District Court lacked jurisdiction over a summary dismissal labour dispute; proceedings were a nullity and set aside.
* Labour law – jurisdiction – exclusive jurisdiction of Industrial Relations Board/Industrial Court over dismissal disputes – proceedings in ordinary court a nullity when industrial forum has exclusive jurisdiction.
|
29 November 1991 |
|
Buyer who paid for a house after inspection cannot rescind sale or claim refund for defects discovered post-purchase.
Contract law — sale of immovable property — buyer’s duty to inspect premises — caveat emptor; rescission — completed contract upon payment; extrajudicial intervention — village chairman’s direction cannot substitute for judicial relief.
|
29 November 1991 |
|
|
29 November 1991 |
|
An objector may challenge an attachment based on untaxed costs; attaching party must prove the property belongs to the judgment-debtor.
* Civil procedure – Attachment – Validity of attachment where underlying costs not taxed by proper taxing officer – Attachment warrant issued to enforce untaxed costs unlawful.
* Civil procedure – Ownership – Burden on attaching party to prove property attached belongs to judgment-debtor on balance of probabilities.
* Locus – An objector to attachment may challenge procedural irregularities in enforcement, including untaxed costs.
|
29 November 1991 |