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Citation
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Judgment date
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| September 2023 |
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A court must invite parties to address any suo motu issue; failure to do so makes the decision a nullity.
Constitutional right to fair hearing – Article 13(6)(a); court raised issues suo motu – requirement to place issue on record and recall parties to address it; failure to afford hearing renders decision a nullity; exercise of revisionary powers and remittal for rehearing.
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29 September 2023 |
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29 September 2023 |
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Appellate court found a jointly built house matrimonial despite pre-marriage land and ordered a 40%/60% division.
Family law – Division of matrimonial property – s.114 Law of Marriage Act – jurisdiction to order sale or division after divorce; Matrimonial assets – Improvements on pre-marriage land – jointly built house can be matrimonial where spouses contributed; Contributions – extent of monetary/property/work contributions govern unequal shares; Remedy – variation of lower courts’ division, apportionment of market value and sale of plot for equal distribution.
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29 September 2023 |
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Prosecution failed to prove grievous harm and identity; appellant's conviction quashed.
Criminal law – Offence of causing grievous harm – ingredients required and burden of proof; medical evidence (PF3) insufficiency to establish "grievous harm"; visual identification – Waziri Amani criteria and need for watertight identification; first appeal – re-evaluation of evidence; acquittal where prosecution fails to prove identity and nature of injuries.
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29 September 2023 |
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Appeal against order striking out an execution application was incompetent because the order is not appealable under section 74/Order XL.
Civil procedure — Appealability — appeals lie only where law permits (section 74 CPC and Order XL) — execution proceedings (Order XXI) — order striking out execution application under rules 9, 10(2) and 28 not appealable — preliminary objection upheld; appeal struck out with costs.
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26 September 2023 |
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A court cannot grant divorce without determining presumption of marriage when no valid marriage certificate is produced.
Family law – divorce – validity of marriage proof – requirement that a marriage certificate must be issued by the Registrar General or authorised person. Family law – presumption of marriage – application of section 160(1) of the Law of Marriage Act where no formal certificate produced. Civil procedure – setting aside divorce judgment for want of proof of marriage; liberty to institute fresh proceedings.
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25 September 2023 |
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Review application dismissed: alleged fraud and apparent errors were an appeal in disguise, not grounds for review.
Civil procedure — Review — Grounds for review limited to apparent error on face of record, fraud, denial of hearing or lack of jurisdiction — Review not an appeal in disguise. Land law — Interpretation of Land Registration Act s.68 — challenge to statutory interpretation not established as apparent error for review. Land disputes — Orders against third-party occupier and claims for purchase money — matters more appropriately raised on appeal. Civil procedure — Decree extraction (Order XX CPC) — failure to extract decree not shown to cause miscarriage of justice warranting review.
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25 September 2023 |
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An appellant who constructs on land without a written, signed lease cannot enforce an oral agreement and is a trespasser.
Land law – disposition of land – lease – requirement that contracts for disposition (including leases) be in writing or have a written memorandum signed by the party against whom enforcement is sought (s.64(1) Land Act). Civil procedure – parties bound by their pleadings – cannot raise unpleaded issues without amendment. Property tort – trespass – construction without consent. Equitable estoppel – cannot succeed where no enforceable agreement proven.
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22 September 2023 |
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An appeal lodged beyond statutory time limits under s.361(1) is incompetent and is struck out.
Criminal procedure — Appeals — Time limits under section 361(1) Criminal Procedure Act — Notice of intention to appeal within 10 days and petition within 45 days. Failure to comply with statutory time limits — Appeal rendered incompetent — Remedy is striking out. Prisoner-lodged filings — inability to comply does not cure late filing absent extension or leave.
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22 September 2023 |
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Matrimonial proceedings without the Marriage Conciliation Board's certificate are a nullity and must be quashed.
Family Law – Law of Marriage Act, s.101 – mandatory requirement of Marriage Conciliation Board's certificate before instituting divorce proceedings. Evidence – documents appended to pleadings are not evidence; documentary evidence must be connected by oral testimony (Magistrates' Courts (Rules of Evidence in Primary Courts) Regulations regs. 8(1)(b), 11(2)). Jurisdiction – failure to produce/prove Board's certificate renders matrimonial proceedings a nullity. Remedy – proceedings and orders quashed; retrial declined; parties may institute fresh petition.
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22 September 2023 |
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21 September 2023 |
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High Court lacks jurisdiction to extend time for filing a Court of Appeal memorandum; application struck out.
Appellate procedure – Extension of time to file memorandum of appeal – Section 11(1) AJA does not empower High Court to extend time to lodge appeal to Court of Appeal – Court of Appeal Rules r.72(1) and r.10 vest extension power in Court of Appeal.
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20 September 2023 |
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E-filed submissions are filed on electronic submission date; one deponent may validly swear for many if reasons stated.
Civil procedure – Judicial review – Electronic filing: document deemed filed when submitted electronically before midnight EAT under Regulation 21(1). Civil procedure – Limitation: deadline falling on Sunday extends to next working day; electronic submission date governs. Affidavits – Rule 8(4): one person may swear affidavit on behalf of others if reasons are stated; deponent must confine to personal knowledge or state sources. Preliminary objections: factual disputes requiring evidence should not be decided as pure points of law.
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20 September 2023 |
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19 September 2023 |
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Variance as to scene and minor contradictions do not vitiate conviction where cautioned statement and evidence prove the offence beyond reasonable doubt.
Criminal law – causing grievous harm – proof beyond reasonable doubt – corroboration by cautioned statement and medical report. Evidence – variance between charge and witnesses’ testimony as to scene – can be cured by accused’s admission/cautioned statement. Evidence – minor discrepancies/contradictions – normal and not necessarily fatal to prosecution case. Criminal procedure – change of magistrate for preliminary steps – no unfairness where substantive hearing and judgment by same magistrate and no prejudice shown.
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19 September 2023 |
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Delay in receiving copies of judgment can constitute good cause for extension of time to seek leave to appeal.
Civil procedure – extension of time to file application for leave to appeal – s.11(1) Appellate Jurisdiction Act and s.14(1) Law of Limitation Act – delay in supply of copies of judgment as good cause – application of Lyamuya factors (account for delay, length, diligence, point of law).
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19 September 2023 |
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Court records and adopts the parties’ lawful deed of settlement as a consent judgment, resolving the unpaid levy dispute.
Civil procedure – Consent judgment – Recording and registering a deed of settlement under Order XXIII, Rule 3 of the Civil Procedure Code. Settlement – Summary suit – Compromise of disputed claims and adoption of payment instalment schedule. Release – Mutual discharge of past, present and future claims relating to the suit. Costs – Each party to bear its own costs.
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19 September 2023 |
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Applicant failed to show good cause—illness of relative and financial hardship did not justify extension of time to appeal.
Land law — Extension of time to appeal — Good cause requirement — Illness/death of relative and financial hardship — Need for detailed, plausible, and contemporaneous explanation; financial constraints only exceptional basis if convincingly shown.
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18 September 2023 |
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An appellate court erred ordering retrial and setting aside a valid primary court divorce and property division absent illegality.
Matrimonial law – divorce – division of matrimonial property – consideration of spouses' contribution – retrial – appellate interference only where proceedings or judgment are illegal or defective.
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13 September 2023 |
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Extension granted to file bill of costs due to late supply of order and court delay in admitting online filing.
Land procedure – extension of time to file bill of costs – necessity of attaching copy of court order – online filing/admission delay as good cause – electronic evidence/authentication issues – ex parte procedure where respondent fails to participate.
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11 September 2023 |
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Applicant failed to prove ownership on balance of probabilities; respondent's prior occupation established title.
Land law – ownership dispute – burden of proof – claimant must prove title or possession on balance of probabilities Evidence – credibility and consistency of witnesses – no contradiction where evidence matches pleadings Procedural fairness – tribunal may decide issues arising from pleadings; parties must be heard on added or necessary issues Remedies – allegations of trespass or crop destruction are subsumed if claimant fails to establish ownership Use of prior ward-tribunal dispute as evidential background in civil land disputes
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7 September 2023 |
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Applicant failed to show good cause or account for delay; extension of time to appeal denied.
Criminal procedure – extension of time under s.361(2) CPA – discretionary remedy requiring good and genuine cause. Requirement to account for each day of delay; delay must not be inordinate; applicant must show diligence (Lyamuya factors). Delivery of judgment in absentia or late supply of copies does not automatically constitute sufficient cause without accounting for delay.
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7 September 2023 |
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Court granted extension to file appeal due to applicant's sickness; alleged trial illegality not shown on the record.
Criminal procedure — extension of time to file appeal — discretion of court. Grounds for extension — sickness supported by prison dispensary certificate — valid ground. Grounds for extension — alleged illegality in trial record must be apparent on the face of the record to succeed. Admission of cautioned statement and victim's age — contested but not shown to be facial illegality.
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5 September 2023 |