KENYA: Appeal Court in rush to conclude pending cases by end-month

By PAUL JUMA

About 200 cases that have been pending in the Court of Appeal both in Nairobi and Mombasa will be concluded by the end of January.

Appeal judges are scheduled to start hearing the cases on Monday morning, according to a statement from the office of the Chief Justice.

“Four Court of Appeal benches will sit every day, concurrently, in Nairobi to hear 188 civil applications,” the statement read. “Another bench of three judges will travel to Mombasa to hear 35 civil appeals.”

The cases to be heard on Monday in Nairobi include a civil appeal filed by retired President Daniel Moi against one Mwangi Stephen Muriithi and another.

Mr Moi had filed the appeal after the High Court last April ordered him to pay Mr Stephen Mwangi Muriithi Sh130 million as damages for loss of property he suffered when he was detained 28 years ago.

Mr Muriithi, a former Special Branch official, had sued Mr Moi to pursue compensation for property they jointly owned, but which he claims that Mr Moi took during without his consent when he was locked in detention in 1982.

The property subject of the suit includes Nairobi plots on which the Fourways Towers, Corner House, Atlas Building and Norwich Union House and Kenwood House are built.

While Mr Moi’s lawyers will be arguing the former President’s case before a bench of the Court of Appeal, lawyers for his son, Philip, will be before a different bench simultaneously presenting a case for the reversal of a High Court order requiring him to pay alimony to his estranged wife Pluda.

Other high profile appeals scheduled for hearing include the duty free shops dispute between Kenya Airports Authority (KAA) and the World Duty Free Company, which is associated with businessman Kamlesh Pattni.

The Kenya Airways case against an order that compelled it to take back its retrenched workers will also be placed before the appeal judges.

The appeal judges will be sitting in Nairobi and Mombasa daily until the end of January, in a stop-gap measure to reduce the huge case backlog in the Court of Appeal, pending the posting of permanent judges to Nyeri, Kisumu and Malindi, according to the statement.

Before the appointment of 16 new judges of the court last year, only two benches could be constituted in Nairobi.

The new appeal judges, who were promoted from the High Court and private practice, will be handling their first matters in the second highest court since their appointment last year.

Source: Daily Nation (14/01/2013): http://www.nation.co.ke/News/Appeal-Court-in-rush-to-conclude-pending-cases-by-end-month/-/1056/1664932/-/4j8mrb/-/index.html