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Citation
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Judgment date
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| December 2024 |
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Conviction against the applicant quashed where visual identification was unreliable and the arresting officer was not called.
* Criminal law – Armed robbery – Visual identification – Recognition evidence must be watertight: account of lighting, distance, duration and description required (Waziri Amani principles). * Criminal procedure – Failure to call material witnesses/arresting officer – adverse inference may be drawn and prosecution case weakened. * Standard of proof – Prosecution must prove guilt beyond reasonable doubt; suspicion insufficient.
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31 December 2024 |
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27 December 2024 |
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Whether a temporary injunction should preserve the status quo over disputed farmland pending the main suit.
Land law – Temporary injunction to preserve status quo – triable issues, irreparable harm (cultivation and imminent dispossession), balance of convenience; technical omission to annex plaint not fatal; threats of violence are criminal matters, not determinative in civil interlocutory relief.
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23 December 2024 |
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Prisoner’s appeal notice struck out for typographical defects constituted sufficient cause for extension under section 361(2).
* Criminal procedure – Extension of time – Section 361(2) CPA – Court’s discretion to extend time where sufficient cause shown; sufficient cause includes circumstances beyond applicant’s control such as incarceration and procedural/typographical defects in appeal documents.
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23 December 2024 |
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Three accused convicted of murder on admissions, confessions and corroborative circumstantial evidence; two acquitted.
Criminal law – Murder; circumstantial evidence; last-seen-with inference; cautioned/confessional statements and their corroboration; retracted confessions; seizure and identification of weapon (axe).
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23 December 2024 |
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20 December 2024 |
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20 December 2024 |
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20 December 2024 |
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20 December 2024 |
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19 December 2024 |
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19 December 2024 |
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19 December 2024 |
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19 December 2024 |
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High Court lacks revisional jurisdiction over a district court's order re-admitting an appeal; application struck out.
Civil procedure – Revision vs supervisory powers – s44(1)(a) MCA (suo motu supervisory power not available to litigants) – s44(1)(b) MCA and s79 CPC (revision reserved for final/deciding orders) – nature of order setting aside dismissal (interlocutory, not revisable).
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19 December 2024 |
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19 December 2024 |
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19 December 2024 |
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19 December 2024 |
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19 December 2024 |
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17 December 2024 |
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17 December 2024 |
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17 December 2024 |
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Appeal allowed: conviction quashed due to identification doubts, failure to consider defence, and missing material witnesses.
Evidence — Child witness procedure under s127 Evidence Act; admissibility despite irregularity due to s127(7) amendment; Criminal procedure — duty to evaluate defence evidence; Identification — reliance on mobile torchlight and familiarity; Proof beyond reasonable doubt — adverse inference for failure to call material witnesses; Sexual offences — requirement for watertight identification where sole eyewitness.
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16 December 2024 |
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16 December 2024 |
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16 December 2024 |
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16 December 2024 |
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16 December 2024 |
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Cautioned statements recorded outside the statutory period were expunged and convictions quashed for failure to prove theft beyond reasonable doubt.
Criminal procedure – Cautioned statements – Compliance with sections 50(1) and 51(1) CPA – Statements recorded outside statutory period inadmissible and to be expunged; Criminal procedure – Trial judgment must evaluate defence evidence under section 235(1) CPA; Evidence – Proof beyond reasonable doubt – Confession voluntariness, recent possession, and failure to call investigating/arresting officers may raise reasonable doubt.
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16 December 2024 |
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13 December 2024 |
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The applicant proved title and trespass; the court quashed the tribunal’s decision and allowed the appeal without costs.
Land law – proof of title and trespass; burden of proof (Section 110 Evidence Act) – he who alleges must prove; weight of evidence – Hemedi Saidi principle; locus in quo inspection and possession evidence; procedural complaints about unpleaded facts and new issues (not decided on merits).
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13 December 2024 |
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Consent judgment set aside where settlement was signed by a person without authority to bind the company.
Companies law – capacity to bind company – documents must be signed by director, secretary or principal officer; Consent judgments – can be set aside for fraud, misrepresentation or lack of authority; Public company records and memorandum/articles prevail over contrary oral evidence; Overriding-objective principles cannot cure jurisdictional/capacity defects.
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13 December 2024 |
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Insurer who accepted premium and issued cover note cannot deny indemnity by relying on chassis-number discrepancy it failed to verify.
Insurance law — validity of insurance contract — chassis-number discrepancy — insurer's duty of due diligence before issuing cover note — acceptance of premium bars reliance on own failure to verify — breach for refusal to indemnify.
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13 December 2024 |
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An appeal against a garnishee order nisi is incompetent because such interlocutory execution orders are not appealable.
* Civil procedure — Execution — Garnishee order nisi — Appealability — interlocutory order not appealable under section 74 and Order XL rule 1 CPC.
* Civil procedure — Nature of order test — whether order finally disposes of rights.
* Execution procedure — Proper remedy to challenge garnishee nisi is application to executing court to uplift or revision, not appeal.
* Appeals — Right to appeal is statutory; must comply with procedural requirements (attachment of impugned order, correct form).
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13 December 2024 |
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High Court not functus officio and has jurisdiction to hear extension for revision of DLHT decision, which encompasses Ward Tribunal records.
* Civil procedure – preliminary objection – functus officio – dismissal of earlier appeal as time-barred does not constitute final adjudication on merits. * Land law – revisional jurisdiction – Ward Tribunal revisional powers vested in DLHT (s36 LDCA); High Court revisional jurisdiction over DLHT (s41 LDCA) may encompass Ward Tribunal records. * Limitation – extension of time applications under s14(1) Law of Limitation Act.
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13 December 2024 |
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DLHT lacked jurisdiction where ward tribunal mediation failed to involve the proper parties; matter remitted for ward settlement.
* Land law – jurisdiction – requirement of ward tribunal mediation/certificate before District Land and Housing Tribunal hears proceedings affecting title or interest in land (Land Disputes Courts Act, as amended).
* Civil procedure – amendment of parties – necessity to remit to ward tribunal where parties change after ward proceedings so mediation involves proper parties.
* Procedural competence – premature hearing where certificate does not reflect participation of the correct parties leads to nullification of proceedings.
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13 December 2024 |
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12 December 2024 |
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Application to restore dismissed petition granted where bereavement and failed holding‑brief constituted sufficient cause.
Civil procedure — Restoration of dismissed suit (Order IX r 6, s 95 CPC) — Sufficient cause: bereavement and failure of holding‑brief counsel — Affidavit evidence vs submissions — Uncontroverted sworn facts deemed admitted.
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12 December 2024 |
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Leave granted to seek judicial review of an association election over alleged quorum and procedural irregularities.
* Judicial review — leave to apply — prerequisites: arguable case (prima facie), time limit (six months), sufficient interest (locus standi).
* Elections — internal association elections — compliance with constitutional coram/quorum (2/3) and possible exceptions.
* Remedies — leave to apply for certiorari and mandamus granted; substantive review to follow.
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12 December 2024 |
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Failure to cross-examine does not replace court’s duty to assess victim credibility; conviction quashed for lack of proof.
Criminal law – Attempted rape – Credibility of victim’s testimony; Evidence Act s.127(6) and sexual offence evidence; duty to assess witness credibility despite failure to cross-examine; insufficiency of proof – conviction quashed.
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12 December 2024 |
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12 December 2024 |
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11 December 2024 |
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11 December 2024 |
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Appellant failed to prove ownership; single-assessor continuance lawful and appeal dismissed with costs.
Land law – proof of ownership – burden of proof under s110 Evidence Act; Land Disputes Courts Act s23 – tribunal composition and continuance with a single assessor under s23(3); evidentiary weight of neighbours and locus in quo beacons; party who alleges ownership must prove it.
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11 December 2024 |
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10 December 2024 |
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10 December 2024 |
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10 December 2024 |
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Stay of execution refused where applicant alleged irreparable loss but failed to furnish required security.
Civil procedure — Stay of execution — Order XXXIX r.5(3) CPC — Three cumulative conditions: substantial loss, no unreasonable delay, security for due performance — Failure to furnish security fatal to stay; Protection of decree-holder’s rights; Authorities: Africhick Hatchers Ltd; Ongujo Wakibara Nyamarwa.
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10 December 2024 |
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Plaintiff failed to prove ownership or tenancy; council entitled to collect rent and defendants were not trespassers.
* Land law – municipal permission to construct in buffer zone – conditional permission and need for building permit/contract to validate occupation
* Tenancy vs ownership – absence of written contract or payment to council undermines claim to ownership
* Rent collection – municipal authority entitled to claim rent where land is government-owned
* Tort of trespass – requires proof of possession; absence of exclusive possession defeats trespass claim
* Evidence – failure to discharge burden under section 110 of the Evidence Act results in dismissal
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10 December 2024 |
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Circumstantial evidence and an admissible cautioned statement supported conviction for manslaughter; seven-year sentence imposed.
* Criminal law – murder v. manslaughter – mens rea and provocation determining malice aforethought
* Evidence – circumstantial evidence must irresistibly point to the accused to support conviction
* Evidence – cautioned (retracted) confessions admissible if recorded properly and corroborated by independent evidence
* Procedure – extra-judicial statements recorded by a Justice of the Peace must comply with Chief Justice guidelines or be excluded
* Evidence preservation – exhibits not properly labeled/sealed may be excluded
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10 December 2024 |
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Accused acquitted under s293(1) CPA: circumstantial suspicion and excluded statements failed to establish a prima facie murder case.
Criminal law – Murder – Circumstantial evidence – Prima facie case – Section 293(1) CPA – Admissibility of cautioned statements – Suspicion insufficient for conviction – Use of CDR/handset seizures.
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10 December 2024 |
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Mediator wrongly disqualified applicant’s law firm absent evidence of prior representation or likely misuse of confidential information.
Labour law — professional ethics — conflict of interest; Rules of Professional Conduct and Etiquette (conflict, prior representation, confidential information); employer disciplinary hearings as administrative, not judicial, proceedings; standard for disqualifying advocate or firm — likelihood of misuse of confidential information; judicial control of advocates’ conduct.
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10 December 2024 |