Margaret Karungari Kamau (Suing as the administrator of the Estate of Kamau Kaime) v Jecinta Wanjiru Mwangi Kamau(being sued as the administrator of the Estate of Joseph Kaime Kamau) & 3 others [2018] KEELC 17 (KLR)
The bottom line
#What this practically means
#Executive summary
#Key legal issues
#Whether the suit is res judicata
The suit is res judicata: the subject matter was decided in the succession cause and in HCCC No. 359 of 2010 (OS), and the plaintiff is recasting the same claim
The court examined the two prior suits. The estate was distributed pursuant to a beneficiaries' agreement signed by the plaintiff and her co-executor, confirmed by court order of 9 May 1990, a final order never contested. HCCC No. 359 of 2010 (OS), in which the plaintiff testified, sought identical relief and was dismissed. The present claim merely couches the same subject matter differently and is therefore caught by Section 7 of the Civil Procedure Act.
Whether the plaintiff is bound despite not being a party to the earlier suit
Yes; she is deemed to claim under the persons who litigated under explanation 6 to Section 7
Although the plaintiff was not a party to HCCC No. 359 of 2010 (OS), she testified in that suit in support of her sons and was a person interested in the litigation. Explanation 6 deems all persons interested in a right claimed in common by bona fide litigants to claim under them, so she is precluded from re-litigating the same matter.
Abuse of court process
The suit is also an abuse of the court process as it attempts to overturn a decree in the succession matter through a fresh suit
The court found the plaintiff was executor of the will and signed the consent to distribution; filing successive suits to overturn that distribution abuses the process. The proper avenue was the succession cause itself, where the distribution order was made.
Legal principles established
#- A party cannot circumvent the res judicata rule through clever drafting of proceedings; the substance of the claim, not its framing, is what matters
- A person interested in prior litigation who did not participate is deemed to claim under those who litigated, under explanation 6 to Section 7 of the Civil Procedure Act
- A party aggrieved by an order distributing a deceased's estate must challenge it in the same cause, not through a multiplicity of suits
Court orders
#- 1.The plaintiff's suit is struck out as being res judicata and/or an abuse of the court process
- 2.Costs of the suit awarded to the defendants
- Jurisdiction invoked
- Original civil jurisdiction of the Environment and Land Court; application under Order 2 Rule 15 of the Civil Procedure Rules, 2010 and Section 7 of the Civil Procedure Act, Cap 21
Key timeline
#Practical implications
#Frequently asked questions
#Later judgments citing this (1)
#Judgments in the corpus that rely on this one. Where the Court said how it treated the authority, that is shown.
- Kamau Mwangi v Andrew Kiiru Kamau[2023] KEELC 15807 (KLR)23 Feb 2023
Cite this brief
#Cite this brief
Caselaw, "Margaret Karungari Kamau (Suing as the administrator of the Estate of Kamau Kaime) v Jecinta Wanjiru Mwangi Kamau(being sued as the administrator of the Estate of Joseph Kaime Kamau) & 3 others [2018] KEELC 17 (KLR)", Case Analysis (2018). Nakuru ELC (suit number not stated in the judgment). Source: https://new.kenyalaw.org/akn/ke/judgment/keelc/2018/17/eng@2018-06-20
Suggested citation format for research notes or client memos. Always verify the original judgment before relying on any point.