Migori County Assembly Service Board v Moses Oloo Misee

Migori County Assembly is a State organ established under Article 176(1) of the Constitution, while the County Assembly Service Board is established under section 12 of the County Governments Act as a body corporate with perpetual succession capable of suing and being sued. The Clerk's dual role as Secretary to the Board could not merge the two entities. Process was served on the Assembly, which was not a party to the suit; the Board, the actual defendant, was never served with summons to enter appearance. The trial judge therefore erred in law and fact, and in amending the names under the slip rule, condemned the appellant unheard.

The slip rule permits correction of typographical errors, but it cannot be used to substitute a different legal entity as the party served where no summons to enter appearance was ever taken out against that entity. The reference to the Assembly in the judgment reflected the reality that process had been served on the Assembly, not a mere typographical slip. Exploiting the correction to sustain an ex parte judgment against an unserved body corporate denied the appellant its right to be heard.