Karanja v Murigi
The bottom line
#Kenya's Court of Appeal refused to reopen a decades-old road accident judgment, confirming that review applications require genuinely new evidence—not facts you already knew.
What this practically means
#Executive summary
#Key legal issues
#Scope of the Court of Appeal's jurisdiction on a second appeal
The Court is confined to matters of law only and will not revisit factual findings of the two courts below
Relying on Kenya Breweries Limited v Godfrey Odoyo, the Court restated that a second appeal does not permit delving into matters of fact unless the lower courts considered matters they should not have, or failed to consider matters they should have, or the decision is perverse. The appellant's attempt to raise fraudulent representation, a matter never litigated below, fell outside this mandate.
Whether the appellant satisfied the statutory grounds for review under section 80 of the Civil Procedure Act and Order 45 of the Civil Procedure Rules
No; the alleged new and important matter was within the appellant's knowledge, and no error apparent on the face of the record was specified
The Court enumerated the three grounds for review: discovery of new and important evidence not available despite due diligence; a mistake or error apparent on the face of the record; and any other sufficient reason. The material the appellant relied on was within his knowledge before the application, and he did not identify any self-evident error. The first appellate court correctly upheld the trial magistrate's dismissal of the review application.
Whether the High Court erred in dismissing the appeal despite holding that the res judicata finding was erroneous
No; the res judicata finding was not the sole basis for dismissal, and the Court considered the res judicata finding itself justified
The Court noted that the trial court had relied on other grounds besides res judicata in dismissing the review application. Further, in the Court's own view, the application dated 9th May 2012 sought to re-litigate matters already raised in the earlier application dated 31st October 2012, so the res judicata finding was itself sound. The first appellate court would have erred had it allowed the appeal on that basis.
Legal principles established
#- On a second appeal, the Court of Appeal is confined to matters of law and will not interfere with findings of fact of the two courts below
- Review on the ground of discovery of new and important evidence requires that the evidence was not available despite due diligence, and material within the applicant's knowledge does not qualify
- An error apparent on the face of the record, as a ground for review, must be self-evident and not require extensive argument
- Where a trial court dismisses a review application on several grounds, an erroneous finding on one ground (such as res judicata) does not warrant setting the decision aside
Court orders
#- 1.Appeal dismissed with costs to the respondent
- On appeal from
- High Court of Kenya
- Not stated in judgment
- Jurisdiction invoked
- Second appeal to the Court of Appeal under the Civil Procedure Act (matters of law only); judgment does not cite the specific provision
Key timeline
#Practical implications
#Frequently asked questions
#Later judgments citing this (2)
#Judgments in the corpus that rely on this one. Where the Court said how it treated the authority, that is shown.
- Republic v National Land Commission & 4 others; Khodiyar Limited (Ex parte Applicant) (Environment and Land Judicial Review Case E009 of 2023) [2026] KEELC 2733 (KLR)[2026] KEELC 2733 (KLR)11 May 2026applied
- Mwaniki v (Secretary) & 3 others () Sued as the officials of Kibarage Slums Association); Kenya Railways Corporation & another (Intended Interested Party) (Environment and Land Case 91 of 2020) [2025] KEELC 7134 (KLR)[2025] KEELC 7134 (KLR)15 Oct 2025applied
Cite this brief
#Cite this brief
Caselaw, "Karanja v Murigi", Case Analysis (2025). Not stated in judgment (references Nairobi CMCC No. 2647 of 1998 as the subordinate court suit). Source: https://new.kenyalaw.org/akn/ke/judgment/keca/2025/517/eng@2025-03-21
Suggested citation format for research notes or client memos. Always verify the original judgment before relying on any point.