Odongo & 6 others v Savings and Loan Kenya Ltd [1987] KECA 86 (KLR)
The bottom line
#Kenya's Court of Appeal confirmed that when the law says a decision is final, you cannot use review to reopen it.
What this practically means
#Executive summary
#Key legal issues
#Whether review under section 80 of the Civil Procedure Act is available against a High Court appellate decision under the Rent Restriction Act
It is not; section 8(4) makes the High Court's appellate decision final and section 80 does not apply to the Rent Restriction Act.
Section 8(4) of the Rent Restriction Act forbids further appeals from the High Court's appellate decision. Section 80 of the Civil Procedure Act provides for review only of orders from which an appeal is allowed by that Act, and the Rent Restriction Act is outside it. Allowing review would permit a litigant indirectly to do what the legislature has directly forbidden, subverting its expressed intention that there be an end to litigation after one appeal.
Consequence for the appeal to the Court of Appeal
Since the High Court had no jurisdiction over the review application, no appeal lay to the Court of Appeal and the appeal was struck out.
The court accepted the respondent's preliminary objection that the High Court lacked jurisdiction over the review. A decision rendered without jurisdiction cannot ground an appeal. The matter the appellants sought to revisit on review had already been considered and determined on the earlier appeal, and resurrecting it would circumvent section 8(4).
Legal principles established
#- Section 8(4) of the Rent Restriction Act renders the High Court's appellate decision final; no further appeal or review lies, and review cannot be used to circumvent that finality.
- A right of appeal must be expressly conferred and cannot arise by implication.
- A litigant may not achieve indirectly, by review, what he is barred from doing directly by statute.
Court orders
#- 1.Preliminary objection on jurisdiction upheld
- 2.Appeal struck out with costs
- On appeal from
- High Court
- Jurisdiction invoked
- Section 8(4) of the Rent Restriction Act, Cap 296; appeal to Court of Appeal treated as a first appeal under section 66 of the Civil Procedure Act (Hamzaali Alibhai)
Key timeline
#Practical implications
#Frequently asked questions
#Cite this brief
#Cite this brief
Caselaw, "Odongo & 6 others v Savings and Loan Kenya Ltd [1987] KECA 86 (KLR)", Case Analysis (1987). Mombasa Civil Appeal (arising from High Court appeal by Savings and Loan Kenya Limited). Source: https://new.kenyalaw.org/akn/ke/judgment/keca/1987/86/eng@1987-07-24
Suggested citation format for research notes or client memos. Always verify the original judgment before relying on any point.