Mollo Edilio v Abdullahi H. Khalil & another [1994] KECA 72 (KLR)
The bottom line
#Kenya's Court of Appeal ruled that foreign currency damages convert to shillings on the payment date, and that foreign grants must be resealed before claiming for a deceased's estate.
What this practically means
#Executive summary
#Questions the Court framed
#The issues the Court set itself to decide, in its own words.
- 1.What is the appropriate date for converting a foreign currency damages award into Kenya Shillings?
- 2.Whether the appellant, whose Italian grant of letters of administration was not resealed in Kenya under section 77 of the Law of Succession Act, had locus standi to claim under the Law Reform Act for the benefit of the estate
Key legal issues
#Date of conversion of foreign currency awards
The date of conversion of a foreign currency damages award into Kenya Shillings is the date of payment, not the date the right to compensation accrued.
Following the shift in English law effected by Miliangos v George Frank (Textiles) Ltd, the court recognised that currency fluctuation over the years between accrual, trial and appeal could leave a plaintiff inadequately compensated. Given an eight-year delay, the Kenya shilling had depreciated and foreign currency appreciated; fixing conversion at the end of the process best secures the creditor the value bargained for.
Locus standi to sue under the Law Reform Act without a Kenyan grant
A person holding only a foreign grant not resealed in Kenya has no locus standi to bring a claim under the Law Reform Act for the benefit of the deceased's estate.
Section 77 of the Law of Succession Act requires resealing of foreign grants. Without letters of administration in the claimant's own name effective in Kenya, there is no authority to sue on behalf of the estate. The court applied its own earlier five-judge decision in Troustik Union International v Mbeyu. The Fatal Accidents Act claim in the appellant's own behalf was unaffected.
Legal principles established
#- Kenyan courts are not restricted to giving judgments in local currency and may award damages in foreign currency.
- The appropriate date for converting a foreign currency damages award into local currency is the date of payment, not the date the right to compensation accrued.
- A personal representative who has not obtained letters of administration (including resealing of a foreign grant) has no locus standi to claim for the benefit of the deceased's estate.
Court orders
#- 1.The date fixed by the trial judge for conversion of the foreign currency award (25th March 1986) is set aside and substituted with the date of payment
- 2.The appeal against dismissal of the claim under the Law Reform Act (cap 26) fails
- 3.The appellant, having succeeded in part, is awarded half of the costs of the appeal
The bench
#One judgment of the whole court — no separate or dissenting opinions.
- On appeal from
- High Court of Kenya, Mombasa
- Jurisdiction invoked
- Appellate jurisdiction of the Court of Appeal over the High Court (first appeal on quantum and locus standi; specific constitutional/statutory basis not stated in the judgment)
Relief refused
#Reversal of the High Court's dismissal of the claim under the Law Reform Act
The appellant's Italian grant was not resealed in Kenya under section 77 of the Law of Succession Act, so he had no locus standi to claim for the benefit of the estate
Costs
The appellant is entitled to half of the costs in the appeal, having succeeded in part
Quotable passages
#Verbatim from the judgment, each located to the page it appears on in the official PDF — so these can be cited and checked directly.
In our view, the appropriate date for conversion is at the date of payment. This ground of appeal succeeds and the date fixed by the trial judge is set aside and substituted with the date of payment.
Unless the personal representative has obtained Letters of Administration of the estate in his name, he has no locus standi in a claim for the benefit of the estate of a deceased person.
As the appellant has succeeded in part, he will be entitled to half of the costs in this appeal. Dated and Delivered at Mombasa this 21st day of January 1994.
Issues in the judgment
#The judgment itself records that the trial judge's stated conversion date predated the accident, an error the appellate court accepted as a mistake without formally correcting it in its orders.
The judgment text supplied does not state the appeal number, the defendant's name, or the neutral citation, limiting full case identification.
Key timeline
#Practical implications
#Frequently asked questions
#Cite this brief
#Cite this brief
Caselaw, "Mollo Edilio v Abdullahi H. Khalil & another [1994] KECA 72 (KLR)", Case Analysis (1994). Civil Appeal (Mombasa). Source: https://new.kenyalaw.org/akn/ke/judgment/keca/1994/72/eng@1994-01-21
Suggested citation format for research notes or client memos. Always verify the original judgment before relying on any point.