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1,166 judgments found.
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December 2024
A constitutional petition challenging government action, not legislation, is vexatious where alternative remedies are available.
Constitutional law — Constitutional procedure
— admissibility and propriety of affidavits
— alternative remedies and forum non conveniens (Fair Competition Commission/ judicial review)
— competence of petition
— distinction between challenging governmental action and Acts of Parliament
— locus standi of corporate entities in basic rights petitions
30 December 2024
Formatting defects cured by overriding objective; offensive affidavit paragraphs expunged, application proceeds to merits.
Civil procedure
— Electronic filing
— Interpretation of laws — inapplicable to schedule/format deviations
Evidence
— affidavits
— legal argument, conclusions or prayers are extraneous — Ex parte Matovu
— offending paragraphs expunged. Application for extension of time — remaining affidavit paragraphs sufficient to support the application. Costs to follow the event
30 December 2024
Application for judicial review struck out as premature for failure to exhaust prescribed internal remedies.
Civil procedure — Affidavits: Order XIX r.3 requirements for personal knowledge and verification — Proper content, verification and attestation of supporting affidavits
Judicial review
— Exhaustion of internal remedies — Whether applicants must exhaust internal/extrajudicial procedures before seeking leave for judicial review
— leave to apply for judicial review — Scope of leave and appropriate remedies at leave stage — Law Reform
30 December 2024
Application under s372 struck out because applicant’s counsel unlawfully administered oath, rendering supporting affidavit defective.
Civil procedure — preliminary objection
— competence of proceedings
— striking out and leave to re-institute
Criminal procedure — Revisionary powers
24 December 2024
Court granted interim injunction to preserve estate pending challenge to administrator revocation and alleged misappropriation.
Civil procedure — Revocation of letters of administration
— Preservation of status quo pending substantive hearing
— Probate closure and administrators' duties
— service of process and ex parte proceedings
— Valuation and alleged misappropriation of estate funds
23 December 2024
Court partially allowed appeal, reducing sentence for robbery based on misuse of burden of proof and fair application of possession doctrine.
Criminal law — Burden of proof in criminal appeals — Doctrine of recent possession — Sentencing in robbery with violence cases
20 December 2024
A company manager may validly verify an affidavit without disclosing sources if his managerial knowledge supports the averments.
Civil procedure
— Affidavit verification — Whether verification clause must state sources for facts based on information — Order XIX r 3 CPC
— preliminary objection — affidavit defects (verification clause, hearsay, arguments/conclusions) — When objection should be sustained or overruled
20 December 2024
Extension refused where 28-day delay was unexplained and alleged illegality of ex parte judgment was not established.
Civil procedure
— Ex parte judgment
— extension of time
20 December 2024
Court granted three-month access for orderly, accountable removal of perishable goods; landlord must allow access and remove restrictions.
Civil procedure
— Court may order orderly, accountable removal procedures
— order not inconsistent with prior stay
19 December 2024
Mareva injunction struck out as overtaken by events; court ordered temporary removal and safekeeping of movable assets.
Civil procedure
— interlocutory injunction — Maintainability where application is overtaken by events — Principles: prima facie case, irreparable injury, balance of convenience
— section 95 CPC (inherent powers) — preservation of status quo pending land suit — Removal and safekeeping of movable assets pending suit
Land law — sale of mortgaged land — Effect of transfer and possession, relevance of caveat and Registrar of Titles
19 December 2024
Extension of time granted to estate administrators to file Accounts due to Land Registry rectification.
Probate law — Probate — extension of time — Delay due to Land Registry rectification of property plot number — Administrators ordered to file Accounts within 30 days
19 December 2024
Appellate court confirmed negligence and specific damages, rejected unproven dependency claim, and adjusted interest to 7% per annum.
Civil procedure — Interest on judgment debts — Post-judgment interest and statutory rate under Order XX r21(1)
Tort
— Specific damages — Requirement of specific proof
— negligence and vicarious liability — owner liable for employee driver absent evidence of frolic of his own
18 December 2024
Administrator awarded general damages against insurer for fatal negligent driving; specific damages not strictly proved.
Road traffic law — Motor vehicle accidents
— award of general damages
— insurer liability
— intimation to insurer via intermediary/broker
— negligent driving causing death
— vehicle identification and ownership
18 December 2024
District Court lacked pecuniary jurisdiction because the substantive claim fell within the primary court’s monetary limit.
Civil procedure — Pecuniary jurisdiction
— general damages excluded
— proceedings in wrong court are nullity. Jurisdiction is threshold question to be determined first
— Substantive/specific (special) damages determine court’s pecuniary jurisdiction
18 December 2024
Court granted non-disclosure and in-camera committal proceedings to protect witnesses in a terrorism-related murder prosecution.
Criminal procedure — Witness protection — non-disclosure of identity and of statements/documents likely to identify witnesses
18 December 2024
A defective charge sheet failing to name the appellant or properly identify the victim vitiates conviction and precludes retrial.
Criminal procedure
— Defective/incurably defective charge — consequences and whether retrial is appropriate
— particulars of offence
— Variance of names in charge and evidence — effect on fair trial
17 December 2024
Appellant failed to prove respondent used his image commercially without consent; appeal dismissed, citation error non‑fatal.
Civil procedure — Correction of court record — Misdescription of trial court in judgment — Remedied under section 96 Civil Procedure Code
Constitutional law — Privacy and data protection — Use and appropriation of personal image for commercial purposes — Proof required on balance of probabilities
Evidence — Civil burden of proof — Requirement to link alleged exhibit to defendant — Contradictions and failure to call supplier weaken claimant's case
17 December 2024
Conviction quashed where prosecution failed to eliminate possibilities of mistaken identity in weak visual identification evidence.
Criminal law — Visual identification — Waziri Amani principles — recognition versus identification — conviction quashed for unsafe identification
17 December 2024
Extension to appeal granted because impugned judgment was tainted by illegality; absence of board resolution not fatal.
Civil procedure — Extension of time to appeal — illegality of impugned decision as sufficient ground for extension
Company law — capacity to sue — a registered company can sue in its corporate name without always producing a board resolution
17 December 2024
Sickness of counsel may justify restoring a dismissed case only if supported by credible, specific proof and explanations.
Civil procedure — Restoration of dismissed suit
16 December 2024
Failure to frame and adjudicate a counterclaim is a fatal irregularity warranting quashing and remittal for fresh judgment.
Civil procedure — Counterclaim
Civil procedure — Framing of issues
Civil procedure — Judgment and decree
Civil procedure — remedy
— parties to amend issues
— Quash and remit for fresh judgment by another magistrate
16 December 2024
Whether a profit‑sharing arrangement was a loan or partnership and whether illness excuses contractual non‑performance.
Contract law
— Partnership law — proof of partnership and contributions — Whether receipt of profit makes one a partner (LCA s190; s191(2)(c))
— sanctity of contract — courts will not rewrite contractual clauses absent proven fraud, incapacity or illegality
— validity of contract
13 December 2024
Recognition-based daylight identification upheld; minor variance in TV description not fatal, appeal dismissed.
Criminal law — Armed robbery — visual identification by recognition — Reliability of recognition evidence in daylight and immediate identification
Criminal procedure — Defective charge curable — Variance between charge particulars and evidence (TV size)
Evidence — Witnesses — Adverse inference only where missing witness is key
13 December 2024
An arbitral settlement is enforceable only after registration and execution, not by a fresh suit filed by the applicant.
Arbitration
— Arbitration law — settlement deed constitutes an arbitral award
— jurisdiction — ordinary courts lack basis to entertain fresh suits seeking enforcement of unregistered arbitral awards
13 December 2024
Conviction quashed: penetration and age proved but identity in doubt due to contradictions and another suspect.
Civil procedure — Procedure
Criminal law — corroboration — Medical evidence may prove penetration but cannot substitute for proof of identity
Criminal law — Credibility
— victim evidence not gospel truth
— Victim’s testimony
Criminal law — identification — References to another suspect and material contradictions create reasonable doubt
Criminal law — sexual offences — Rape and unnatural offence — Elements: penetration, age, identity
13 December 2024
13 December 2024
Court struck out omnibus chamber summons combining extension of time and setting aside a dismissal as incompetent.
Criminal procedure — Chamber summons — Omnibus application — Whether extension of time and setting aside a dismissal order can be joined
— Omnibus applications impermissible unless prayers are kindred
— striking out for incompetence
13 December 2024
Electronic submission date under Rule 21(1) governs filing date; appeal held filed within 90 days, preliminary objection dismissed.
Civil procedure — limitation — Computation of 90 days for filing memorandum of appeal under Law of Limitation Act
13 December 2024
Conviction quashed where search was unlawful and prosecution evidence was inconsistent and insufficient.
Criminal procedure
— Criminal burden of proof — sufficiency of evidence and credibility assessment where prosecution evidence is inconsistent
— Identification parade and delays in reporting — impact on reliability of prosecution case
— Illegally obtained evidence inadmissible under section 169 CPA — Expungement of exhibits P6 and P7
— Search and seizure
13 December 2024
Failure to defend a summary suit results in summary judgment for unpaid statutory social security contributions and penalties.
Civil procedure — Summary judgment — Order XXXV Rule 2(2) CPC
Labour law — Statutory employer contributions — Recovery of unpaid members' contributions and accrued penalties under NSSF Act
13 December 2024
Court remitted record for additional evidence from lawyer to determine whether the applicant advanced the loan.
Civil procedure — loan agreement dispute — adequacy of evidence and credibility — remission of record to trial court for further evidence
13 December 2024
Summary judgment awarded for unpaid water bills after defendant failed to raise triable issues.
Civil procedure
— interest on decretal sum — Pre-judgment interest at 5% per month and post-judgment interest at court rate 7% per annum
— Summary procedure — Where defendants fail to obtain leave to defend, allegations in the plaint are deemed admitted and summary judgment may be entered — Order XXXV r.2(2) Civil Procedure Code
13 December 2024
Minority shareholders proved unfair prejudice under s233; court ordered participatory management, asset protection, and authorized civil claims.
Companies Act s233 — unfair prejudice — minority shareholders excluded from management — failure to hold AGMs and file annual returns — transfers to personal account and withholding company documents — reliefs: injunctions, declaratory relief, authorization to sue, compulsory directors' meeting — costs awarded.
12 December 2024
Adding a party absent from an extension order did not render the restoration application incompetent where parties matched the original proceedings.
Civil procedure
— authenticity of court records — parties in successive proceedings should ordinarily remain the same
— Restoration of dismissed suit — Competence of application where an additional party is joined after an extension order
— Right to be heard — Alleged denial of hearing in earlier proceedings and appropriate remedy by appeal/revision
12 December 2024
12 December 2024
12 December 2024
Leave to defend in summary proceedings denied where the affidavit failed to disclose a triable issue or fair defence.
Civil procedure — Evidence
— affidavits as basis for leave applications
— submissions/new facts raised from the bar do not cure deficiencies in the affidavit
Civil procedure — Merits — business hardship and employee theft may explain non-payment but do not necessarily constitute a triable defence to statutory contribution claims
Civil procedure — Summary procedure
11 December 2024
Suit dismissed as res judicata because the same issue and parties were finally decided in an earlier case.
Civil procedure — Res judicata
— dismissal with costs
— five-condition test (Peniel Lotia) applied
— prior decision finally determined
— same matter directly and substantially in issue (residential licence No. KND024074)
— same parties
— same title
11 December 2024
Court upheld the appellant's rape conviction of an eight‑year‑old despite minor inconsistencies and substituted sentence to life imprisonment.
Criminal law
— sentencing — Mandatory life imprisonment for rape of a girl under ten — Life imprisonment — Penal Code s 131(1)
— sexual offences against a child — Proof of age, penetration and identity — reliance on victim’s testimony and medical (PF3) corroboration
11 December 2024
Court admitted pleaded email exhibit, corrected the principal debt and awarded 7% post-judgment interest.
Civil procedure — admissibility of documents — exhibit pleaded and partly annexed
Civil procedure — Interest
— Court’s discretion to vary interest within statutory limits (7%–12%)
— distinction between commercial (filing-to-judgment) and post-judgment interest
Civil procedure — Proof and calculation of decretal sum — adjustment for admitted payments
11 December 2024
Applicant granted leave to defend a summary suit after establishing a triable issue over the amount claimed.
Summary procedure — leave to appear and defend — Order XXXV Rule 3(1)(b) CPC; triable issue on quantum of contributions; conflicting affidavits and inspection conducted in presence of defendant’s representative; discretion to grant leave with or without conditions (part payment).
11 December 2024
Whether circumstantial evidence and confession proved the accused guilty of murder beyond reasonable doubt.
Criminal law — Murder — Circumstantial evidence and confession — Penal Code ss 196, 197
11 December 2024
Court convicted two accused of murder on corroborated confessions and forensic evidence; acquitted the third for lack of corroboration.
Criminal law — Murder — Elements of murder and proof beyond reasonable doubt — Proof beyond reasonable doubt and requirements of circumstantial evidence
Evidence
— Confession of co-accused — Conviction cannot be based solely on an uncorroborated co-accused confession
— Confessions — voluntariness, corroboration and admissibility — Admissibility, voluntariness and weight of cautioned/extrajudicial statements
11 December 2024
Conviction quashed where victim’s age was proved but penetration and surrounding facts were not proved beyond reasonable doubt.
Criminal law
— medical evidence inconclusive — credibility assessment and consideration of defence essential — inadequate investigation may vitiate conviction
— Rape — Proof beyond reasonable doubt — age of victim may be proved by victim or parent
10 December 2024
Applicant granted leave to defend summary suit after raising a statutory exemption defence to a claimed service levy.
Civil procedure — Order XXXV summary procedure
— distinction between summary judgment purpose and right to a trial where issues are contested
— test for leave to defend: existence of triable issues, bona fide/reasonable defence or facts from which a defence may be established
Tax law — Service levy — Exemption of educational institutions — Section 22, Local Government Finance Act (Cap 290 R.E.2019)
10 December 2024
Court stayed proceedings under its inherent power to prevent multiplicity of suits and abuse of process.
Civil procedure — inherent powers of the court under section 95 CPC
— res judicata and sub judice objections considered
— stay of proceedings to prevent multiplicity of suits and abuse of process
10 December 2024
Concurrent findings upheld: payment into third party account proved sale; appeal dismissed with costs.
Civil procedure — Joinder of necessary parties — Joinder of necessary parties (CPC Order I r.10(2) and r.3) — Correctness of suing party who negotiated sale
Contract law — Sale of goods — proof of price and payments — Burden of proof and credibility in civil claims
Evidence — Standard of proof — balance of probabilities — Deference to concurrent findings on appeal
10 December 2024
A second appeal cannot raise fresh factual grounds not decided on first appeal; appeal dismissed with costs.
Civil procedure — Appeals
— executability of decree where auctioneer not named (raised but not determined due to procedural bar)
— late written submissions may be disregarded for failure to prosecute
— Second appeal: court will not entertain new grounds of appeal not raised and determined by the first appellate court
10 December 2024
Failure to allow the appellant to plead to a substituted charge vitiated the trial and mandated a retrial.
Criminal procedure — Substitution/amendment of charge
— Mandatory requirement to call accused to plead to altered charge
— retrial principles (Fatehali Manji)
10 December 2024
Circumstantial evidence and a co-accused’s confession convicted the first accused of murder; second accused acquitted as uncharged accessory.
Criminal law — caution statement/confession by co-accused
— accessory after the fact vs aider and abettor
— admissibility and weight
Criminal law — Identification parade — admissibility and reliability
Criminal law — Murder — circumstantial evidence
10 December 2024