Miriam Wairimu Wambugu (Suing on behalf of the Estate of the late Jacob Juma) & 2 others v Jane Wanja Njiru & another [2022] KEELC 1634 (KLR)
The bottom line
#Kenya's Environment and Land Court ruled that an estate's administrator can produce a deceased person's documents in court, but an expert valuation report must come from the valuer who prepared it.
What this practically means
#Executive summary
#Key legal issues
#Competence of a legal representative to produce deceased's documents
Allowed; the administrator stands in the deceased's place and may produce documents he could have produced
The court asked whether Jacob Juma would have been a competent witness to produce the documents. Since he was a party to CMCC 5718 of 2011 and signatory to the acknowledgements and transfer, the answer was affirmative. Section 82 of the Law of Succession Act empowers the personal representative to enforce causes of action surviving the deceased.
Production of public documents from the Companies Registry
Producers other than registry officials are competent; sections 79 and 80 of the Evidence Act cover these documents
The court held that CR 12 searches, certificates of incorporation and constitutional documents of a company originate from a public office and are covered by sections 79 and 80 of the Evidence Act, so the 1st Plaintiff could produce them; the objection that only a registry official could testify on their contents was rejected.
Production of an expert valuation report
Objection upheld; the valuer must produce it
The court accepted that a valuation report is an expert's report whose maker must speak to its contents. It was to be marked for identification only and produced by the valuer, unless all parties consented to its production by the 1st Plaintiff.
Nature of the objections - production versus admissibility
The objections went to production only, not admissibility or probative value
Throughout the ruling the court emphasised that the defendants' objections challenged the competence of the producing witness, not admissibility. Questions of admissibility and probative value are for the court at the conclusion of the case, which framed the relatively liberal approach to production.
Best evidence rule
Noted but not determinative; objections were to production, not admissibility
The court traced the best evidence rule to Omychund v Barker and Mativo J's exposition in Charles Ndegwa Kiragu, noting sections 67 and 68 of the Evidence Act, but found the rule not engaged because the objections concerned the competence of the producing witness rather than secondary evidence.
Legal principles established
#- A legal representative of a deceased's estate is competent to produce documents the deceased could have produced
- Public documents such as Form CR 12, certificates of incorporation and memorandum and articles of association need not be produced by an official of the issuing registry
- An expert's report must be produced by the expert who prepared it, absent consent
- Section 67 of the Evidence Act is the basis of the best evidence rule in Kenya
Court orders
#- 1.Documents not objected to be marked as Plaintiffs' exhibits in the order in which they are listed on the Plaintiffs' list and bundle of documents
- 2.Production of the documents from Milimani CMCC 5718 of 2011 in the supplementary bundle allowed
- 3.Production of document No. 15 (sale agreement dated 27th July 2010) allowed
- 4.Production of documents No. 7, 8, 9 and 17 (certificate of incorporation, memorandum and articles of association, and Form CR 12) allowed
- 5.Production of documents No. 18 and 19 (acknowledgements signed by Jacob Juma) allowed
- 6.Objection to document No. 20 (valuation report by Tysons Ltd) upheld; it to be marked for identification and produced by the valuer who prepared it unless consented to by all parties
- 7.Production of document No. 23 (transfer of L.R No. 209/7842) allowed
- 8.The 1st Plaintiff, who had been stood down, to proceed with her testimony on a date to be given by the court
- Jurisdiction invoked
- Original jurisdiction of the Environment and Land Court over the dispute relating to L.R No. 209/7842 (provision not expressly cited in the ruling)
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.
- Robe v Muira (Environment and Land Appeal E084 of 2022) [2024] KEELC 74 (KLR)[2024] KEELC 74 (KLR)18 Jan 2024
Cite this brief
#Cite this brief
Caselaw, "Miriam Wairimu Wambugu (Suing on behalf of the Estate of the late Jacob Juma) & 2 others v Jane Wanja Njiru & another [2022] KEELC 1634 (KLR)", Case Analysis (2022). . Source: https://new.kenyalaw.org/akn/ke/judgment/keelc/2022/1634/eng@2022-02-03
Suggested citation format for research notes or client memos. Always verify the original judgment before relying on any point.