Results.
31 judgments found.
Citation
Sort by Citation ascending
Judgment date
Sort by Judgment date ascending
February 1992
29 February 1992
Land law — Co-ownership — Division of the house in terms of its value and option to purchase the other’s share
28 February 1992
Reported
A co-ownership dispute over a family-occupied house resolved by valuation-based division and a first-refusal buy-out, not by auction.
Co-ownership dispute — occupation by relatives — breach allegation rejected — auction inappropriate — valuation-based division with first-refusal buy-out option — Government Valuer appointed (value Shs.2,077,440) — revaluation permitted — no costs
28 February 1992
Long uninterrupted occupation with acquiescence can establish ownership and defeat late probate claims.
Land law — customary land — Long uninterrupted possession and acquiescence — Effect on ownership claims and presumption of title
Probate law — Probate and succession — Whether probate proceedings may be entertained decades after death or should be determined as ordinary ownership suits
27 February 1992
Sale of a shamba and purchase price were proved; claimed value of demolished foundation was not proved and award set aside.
Land law — Appeal
— election between specific performance and refund
— setting aside award unsupported by evidence
Land law — Sale of land
27 February 1992
Application to revive an appeal and certify a point of law dismissed for lack of merit; no costs ordered.
Civil procedure — application to revive/restore appeal — whether a certifiable point of law exists warranting referral to the Court of Appeal — application dismissed for lack of merit
25 February 1992
24 February 1992
22 February 1992
Appeal dismissed where trial findings on credibility and allocation of the disputed land were supported by the evidence.
Civil procedure — Right to call witnesses — consequences of denying relevant witnesses
Evidence — locus visit and sketch/map under section 42 Land Disputes Courts Act — Weight and consistency of evidence
Land law — ownership dispute — Evidence evaluation and proof of ownership
21 February 1992
Appeal allowed: conviction quashed where eyewitness and circumstantial evidence left reasonable doubt.
Criminal law
— Defence of alibi — Alibi and defence witnesses
— Theft — Elements of theft and burden of proof beyond reasonable doubt
— identity evidence — Delay in naming/arrest and failure to name at scene
21 February 1992
Criminal law — Recent possession — Applicability ofthe doctrine
Evidence — Circumstantial
20 February 1992
Reported
Contract — Contract of employment — Wrongful termination — Reinstatement ofemployee to previous position — Claim by employee for various allowances owing and incurred during the period of his suspension
20 February 1992
Reported
Reinstatement revives the employment contract entitling the appellant to allowances; medical reimbursement denied for non-compliance.
Employment law
— medical reimbursement — compliance with employer's approved provider
— reinstatement revives contract — entitlement to allowances (depreciation, tools) following wrongful termination
20 February 1992
Reinstatement revives employment rights so allowances accrue despite wrongful termination; medical claim failed for procedural noncompliance.
Civil procedure — Procedural compliance — medical expense claims
Employment law — wrongful termination — reinstatement — reinstatement revives contract and restores all contractual rights and entitlements, including allowances
Labour law — Employment benefits — depreciation and tools allowances — recoverable where employee was wrongfully prevented from working and later reinstated
20 February 1992
A civil suit on ownership is res judicata where the same property was conclusively determined in prior probate proceedings.
Civil procedure — Res judicata
— later suit incompetent and liable to be quashed
— parties should pursue remedies within probate, not by multiplicity of actions
— Property claimed in later civil suit was conclusively determined in earlier probate proceedings
18 February 1992
First accused convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to four years; second accused acquitted for lack of evidence.
Criminal law
— Homicide: murder versus manslaughter — Proof of malice aforethought — Whether malice aforethought proven beyond reasonable doubt
— medical evidence — Causation of death (head injury) and relevance to mens rea — Reconciliation of doctor’s opinion with witness testimony for establishing cause of death
Evidence — Sufficiency of evidence — proof beyond reasonable doubt required
18 February 1992
Long uninterrupted possession for decades prevents dispossession despite disputed familial relationship.
Land law — long possession/adverse possession
— appellate review of lower court findings on possession
— continuous occupation for decades bars dispossession despite disputed lineage
— kinship evidence insufficient to displace long possession
16 February 1992
Costs follow the event; appellant awarded costs after plaintiffs withdrew suit; non-signatories are not liable.
Civil procedure
— Costs — Whether persons not on the plaint or not signing power of attorney are liable for costs
— Withdrawal of suit — costs follow the event
14 February 1992
13 February 1992
Conviction for receiving stolen property cannot rest solely on a co‑accused's confession; knowledge must be proved.
Criminal law — Evidence
— conviction cannot rest solely on a co‑accused’s confession
— mere suspicion insufficient to prove knowledge
Criminal law — Receiving stolen property
12 February 1992
Conviction based only on a co-accused’s uncorroborated confession is unsafe without proof of knowledge the goods were stolen.
Criminal law — Receiving stolen property
Evidence
— Confession of co-accused — Conviction cannot be based solely on an uncorroborated co-accused confession
— Standard of proof — Mere suspicion insufficient to establish knowledge or reasonable belief
12 February 1992
The accused were acquitted because identification and corroborative evidence were unreliable and insufficient to prove murder.
Criminal law
— identification evidence — reliability in darkness and under duress
— Murder — Sufficiency of evidence
11 February 1992
Civil procedure — Statutory interpretation — Whether section 63 (2)
Criminal law — Criminal practice and procedure — Pleas — Equivocality and unequivocality of pleas
10 February 1992
Reported
A guilty plea to causing death by dangerous driving must be unequivocal; s.63(2)(a) does not always mandate imprisonment.
Road traffic law
— equivocal plea — conviction quashed and retrial ordered
— guilty pleas — requirement of unequivocal plea and explanation of offence ingredients
— Road traffic act s.63(2)(a)
— Sentencing discretion
10 February 1992
10 February 1992
Failure to administer the mandatory oath to the Court‑Martial President renders proceedings null for lack of jurisdiction.
Military law — court‑martial procedure
— Condition precedent to jurisdiction
— convening authority and Judge‑Advocate’s role
8 February 1992
Reported
The respondent widow of a deceased tenant automatically became a protected statutory tenant; eviction requires suitable alternative accommodation.
Land law — Rent restriction act, 1984 — statutory/ protected tenancy on death of tenant — eviction procedures
7 February 1992
Reported
Land law
— Landlord and tenant — Protected tenant — Eviction — Need to comply with the provisions ofs 25
— Rent restriction act — Protected tenant — Protected tenant need not enter a new agreement with the landlord
7 February 1992
Whether permissive occupancy became a transfer of title, making the respondent the rightful owner of the house and plot.
Land law
— Inheritance — inclusion of property in deceased’s estate
— Land and title — permissive occupancy versus transfer of ownership — whether demolition and erection of permanent house changes original intention and effects transfer of title
— Remedies — invalidity of Primary Court valuation/compensation order where ownership has passed
6 February 1992
6 February 1992
Acquittal where contradictory identification evidence and darkness created reasonable doubt about who threw the fatal stone.
Criminal law
— identification evidence — Reliability of eyewitnesses in dark — Contradictory accounts and presence of other persons — Burden of proof
— reasonable doubt — Acquittal where guilt not proved
6 February 1992