|
Citation
|
Judgment date
|
| December 2001 |
|
|
Plaintiffs were neither lawful nor bona fide occupants; the lease and certificate of title were lawfully obtained; judgment for defendants with costs.
Land Act 1998 s30 — meaning of "lawful occupant" and "bona fide occupant"; twelve‑year occupation requirement for bona fide status; omission of purchasers from s30(2) deliberate; authority of statutory owner to lease; lawfulness of certificate of title grant.
|
21 December 2001 |
|
Failure to serve summons within 12 months is a substantive defect rendering proceedings a nullity; suit reinstated subject to limitation.
Civil procedure – service of process – Order 9 rule 16(1) – mandatory requirement; failure to serve within 12 months renders proceedings nullity. Res judicata – preliminary objections not finally determined do not bar re‑raising. Procedural technicalities v substantive justice – service requirement is substantive, not merely technical. Effect of fresh summons – cannot validate proceedings tainted by prior defective service.
|
11 December 2001 |
| November 2001 |
|
|
Civil Procedure
|
27 November 2001 |
|
Plaintiff failed to prove manufacturer negligence or causation where contamination and medical causation were unproven.
* Product liability – manufacturer’s duty of care to ultimate consumer (Donoghue principle)
* Evidence – weight of Government Chemist’s analysis and chain of custody concerns
* Causation – need for medical expert evidence to prove claimed permanent injury/impotence
* Proof on balance of probabilities – plaintiff’s burden to show defect existed when product left manufacturer
|
27 November 2001 |
|
Criminal law|Evidence Law
|
26 November 2001 |
|
An unsecured creditor proved insolvency and obtained a winding-up order despite competing secured-creditor rescue proposals.
* Company law – Winding-up – Creditor’s petition under Companies Act s.222(e) – entitlement of unsecured creditor to petition.
* Insolvency – inability to pay debts – proof and admission of debt.
* Secured creditors – mortgages and debentures – right to realize security after commencement of winding up.
* Abuse of process – winding-up petition vs. debt-collection; court’s role in preventing misuse.
|
21 November 2001 |
|
Civil Procedure
|
19 November 2001 |
|
Civil Procedure
|
15 November 2001 |
|
Long user and prior oral consent created an equitable easement and bona fide occupation defeated the applicant's trespass claim.
* Land law – trespass and encroachment – bona fide occupant under Land Act s.30 – equitable protection of long, unchallenged occupation.
* Easements – oral grant and part performance – long user and acquiescence creating an equitable easement enforceable against successor in title.
* Registration of Titles – proviso to s.61 protects unregistered rights by enjoyment/user; absence of registered easement does not automatically defeat equitable rights.
* Remedies – damages, injunction, vacant possession and mesne profits – appropriateness where equitable defenses succeed.
|
7 November 2001 |
|
Property Law
|
5 November 2001 |
|
|
5 November 2001 |
| October 2001 |
|
|
Civil Procedure
|
31 October 2001 |
|
Civil Procedure
|
27 October 2001 |
|
Bank entitled to recover on loan default via foreclosure of mortgaged property and enforce guarantor's obligations.
Banking law – Loan default – Guarantee – Power of Attorney – Foreclosure of mortgaged property.
|
17 October 2001 |
|
Civil Procedure
|
17 October 2001 |
|
Civil Procedure
|
2 October 2001 |
| September 2001 |
|
|
Dispute over alleged conversion and damage to an imported vehicle and the bank’s vicarious liability; key evidentiary rulings made.
Ownership dispute; conversion of vehicle; vicarious liability of bank for acts of appointed manager; duty of custodian to preserve vehicle; admissibility of documentary evidence including a "to whom it may concern" fax certificate.
|
10 September 2001 |
|
Civil Procedure
|
5 September 2001 |
|
Criminal law
|
4 September 2001 |
| August 2001 |
|
|
Land
|
21 August 2001 |
|
Criminal law
|
21 August 2001 |
|
Civil Procedure
|
20 August 2001 |
|
Court validates a will and grants administration rights to the widow and Administrator General, with joint estate management.
Succession law – validity of wills – letters of administration – jointly owned property – estate management.
|
20 August 2001 |
|
|
17 August 2001 |
|
Temporary injunction granted to preserve possession where applicant in effective possession and respondent’s unopposed acts risk irreparable harm.
Interlocutory injunctions – preservation of status quo; requirements: prima facie case, irreparable injury, balance of convenience – uncontradicted affidavit treated as admission where no reply filed; Order 37 r.1-2 CPR and s.101 CPA.
|
17 August 2001 |
|
Applicant in possession granted temporary injunction restraining respondent from cultivating or building pending the main suit.
Injunctions – temporary interlocutory relief – preservation of status quo; requirements: prima facie case, irreparable injury, balance of convenience – unchallenged affidavit evidence treated as admitted – possession and dependence on land material to balance of convenience.
|
17 August 2001 |
|
Leave to appeal granted where applicants raised triable issues on lawful occupation, adverse possession and statutory/constitutional interpretation.
* Civil procedure – Leave to appeal – Test: whether intended appeal raises serious question of law or fact for appellate consideration. * Land law – Possession/adverse occupation – Whether occupation in 1971 and the period 1971–1999 can be relied upon to establish statutory period for title or adverse possession. * Pleadings – Striking out for failure to disclose cause of action – Where factual and legal issues exist, matters should proceed to appeal rather than be disposed of solely on preliminary objection. * Statutory and constitutional interpretation – Issues arising under the Impounded/Impropriated Properties Act (or related land statutes) and article 26(2) of the Constitution may require appellate determination.
|
14 August 2001 |
| July 2001 |
|
|
Conviction unsafe where confession is uncorroborated and translation/recording defects undermine proof of essential elements.
* Criminal law – murder – elements: death, unlawfulness, malice aforethought, and participation; malice inferred from nature of injury (neck twisted and fractured).
* Sexual offences – defilement – elements: penetration, victim under 18; medical evidence of genital injury insufficient without proof of penetration or corroboration.
* Evidence – confession statements – admissibility, reliability, retraction and necessity for corroboration when uncorroborated; caution where translation/recording is defective.
* Procedure – police recording/translation of statements must follow Chief Justice’s directions; deviations reduce evidential value.
|
19 July 2001 |
|
A magistrate’s recount order is invalid after the result is gazetted and a winner has taken their seat, and unsealed boxes vitiate recounts.
Electoral law – recounts under section 56(1) – jurisdiction limited to counting/announcement phase and exhausted upon gazetting/assumption of seat; recounts invalid if ballot boxes unsealed (sections 51(2), 53); election validity thereafter to be determined by High Court election petition; supervisory revision under Civil Procedure Act s.84.
|
17 July 2001 |
|
Court awarded plaintiff Shs.20,739,300 plus interest and costs after rejecting defendant’s unproven fraud and payment defences.
* Commercial law – Credit sales secured by post‑dated cheques – Dishonour of cheques and proof of unpaid debt. * Pleadings – Fraud and conspiracy – requirement for particulars and proof on balance of probabilities in civil claims. * Evidence – tracing cheques through bank statements and credibility of witnesses in commercial debt recovery. * Remedies – quantification of debt, award of interest at bank rate and costs.
|
5 July 2001 |
| June 2001 |
|
|
Criminal law
|
29 June 2001 |
|
Civil Procedure
|
22 June 2001 |
|
Plaintiff failed to prove fraud or that his title was not validly mortgaged; suit against the bank dismissed with costs.
Property law – Mortgage security – Interpretation of mortgage deed wording ("inclusive of all sums already advanced or incurred") – Proof of amount secured; Fraud and misrepresentation – Alleged substitution/use of title as security – Burden of proof; Power of attorney – Form issues not decisive where mortgage deed effects are clear.
|
20 June 2001 |
|
|
15 June 2001 |
|
Civil Procedure
|
11 June 2001 |
|
Criminal law|Evidence Law
|
11 June 2001 |
|
Failure to prove malice aforethought due to possible intoxication reduced murder to manslaughter; accused sentenced to 12 years.
Criminal law – unlawful killing – evidence of decapitation and confession proving participation; mens rea for murder – constructive malice and requirement to negative intoxication; intoxication by narcotics – prosecution duty to dispel reasonable doubt; conviction substituted to manslaughter; sentencing considerations including remand period and first‑offender status.
|
8 June 2001 |
|
Criminal law|Evidence Law
|
8 June 2001 |
| May 2001 |
|
|
Constructive eviction via wrongful termination of canteen contract; defendant liable for debts, stock, fittings and losses.
* Contract law – wrongful termination – constructive eviction by lock-out; adequacy of notice. * Contract conditions – interpretation of restrictions on attendants, credit facilities and pricing. * Agency/undertaking – deduction from soldiers’ salaries and unit liability for debts. * Remedies – assessment of damages for stock, personal effects, building works, loss of earnings, interest and costs.
|
25 May 2001 |
|
Substituted service by newspaper is improper absent prior reasonable attempts at personal or family/agent service; ex parte judgment set aside.
* Civil procedure – Service of process – substituted service by newspaper permissible only after attempts at personal service or service on agent/family have failed (Order 5 rules; Omuchito v Machiwa).
* Civil procedure – Notice of Motion – defect in form cured by affidavit stating grounds for relief.
* Appeal – review of magistrate’s findings where record does not show satisfaction that prerequisites for substituted service were met.
|
24 May 2001 |
|
Application to review consent judgment dismissed: affidavit defect not incurable, applicant failed to prove new evidence or payment.
Civil procedure – review of consent judgment – section 83 Civil Procedure Act and Order 42 Rules – grounds for review (newly discovered evidence; error apparent on face of record; fraud/collusion; public policy) – admissibility and sufficiency of affidavit evidence under Order 17 Rule 3 CPR – affidavit based on information and belief must state grounds – insufficiency of a departmental letter as proof of prior payment.
|
21 May 2001 |
|
Failure to obtain a Presidential waiver under the Bank's statute renders the suit prematurely filed and dismissible.
Bank immunity – Eastern & Southern African Trade and Development Bank Statute 1992 – Article 43(3) Charter – Presidential waiver required before instituting legal proceedings – Failure to obtain waiver renders suit premature.
|
19 May 2001 |
|
Appeal allowed: registered title cancelled where transferee procured registration to defeat prior unregistered interests.
Land law – Registration of Titles – Impeachment of registered title for fraud – Acquiring title to defeat unregistered interests; failure to survey/inspect; burden and standard of proof to impeach a certificate of title under the Registration of Titles Act.
|
10 May 2001 |
|
Owner held vicariously liable for negligent driver’s dangerous overtaking; damages and interest awarded to injured passenger.
Motor-vehicle accident; passenger injury; negligence by overtaking on a hill; vicarious liability of vehicle owner; proof and assessment of special and general damages; setting aside interlocutory judgment against unproven beneficial owners.
|
9 May 2001 |
|
Prosecution failed to prove deadly-weapon threat and identification; accused acquitted of aggravated robbery.
Criminal law – Aggravated robbery – Ingredients: theft, use or threat of deadly weapon, participation – Burden to prove each element beyond reasonable doubt – Identification by single witness and need for corroboration – Inconsistent recovery evidence undermining prosecution case.
|
8 May 2001 |
| April 2001 |
|
|
Letters showing a clear undertaking to pay under a performance bond can support immediate judgment despite "without prejudice" notation.
* Performance bonds – independent obligation – enforceable absent fraud; * Admissibility of correspondence – "without prejudice" letters may amount to admissions when they evidence definite undertakings; * Civil procedure – Order 11 r.6 – admissions otherwise than on pleadings can found immediate judgment; * Estoppel – insurer estopped from denying liability after clear undertaking; * Remedies – damages/monetary judgment, interest and costs.
|
27 April 2001 |
|
Plaintiff entitled to lease extension and cancellation of third-party offer where defendant unjustifiably refused renewal after lessee's improvements.
* Land law – Lease renewals – entitlement to renewal where lessee has partially developed premises and established a more permanent interest; * Administrative fairness – failure by land authority to respond to renewal application and making an offer to a third party without justification; * Remedies – declaration of lessee’s right, cancellation of third-party offer, mandatory grant of lease extension, costs.
|
23 April 2001 |
|
Conviction for defilement upheld on victim’s clear identification and corroboration; medical findings did not negate guilt, six-year sentence awarded.
Criminal law – Defilement (s.123(1) Penal Code) – ingredients: unlawful intercourse, victim under 18, identity of accused; identification and corroboration in sexual offences; evidentiary weight of medical findings; sentencing and remand credit.
|
9 April 2001 |
| March 2001 |
|
|
Contradictory and insufficient circumstantial evidence failed to exclude innocence, requiring acquittal for murder charges.
Criminal law – Murder: ingredients — death, unlawful causation, malice aforethought established by medical evidence; Circumstantial evidence — must exclude every reasonable hypothesis of innocence; contradictory or weak circumstantial proof insufficient for conviction; acquittal where no direct link to accused.
|
30 March 2001 |
|
Employer liable for failing to fence machinery; special damages unproven; general damages of Shs.3.5m awarded.
Employer negligence; breach of statutory safety duties under Part V of the Factories Act; failure to fence moving machine parts; special damages require strict proof; award of general damages for amputation/disfigurement (30% disability).
|
21 March 2001 |