Jepkosgei & 3 others v Maiyo & another (Environment and Land Case E022 of 2025) [2026] KEELC 3061 (KLR)

The bottom line

Kenya's High Court confirmed that clerical errors like a wrongly printed date in a judgment can be corrected anytime under Section 99 of the Civil Procedure Act.

What this practically means

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Executive summary

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This is a brief ruling under the slip rule. The court had earlier delivered judgment in favour of the plaintiffs against the defendants on 7th October 2025, but the month printed at the foot of that judgment was erroneously shown as 'September' instead of 'October'. Treating this as an accidental slip, the court invoked Section 99 of the Civil Procedure Act, Chapter 21, which empowers the court, either on its own motion or on the application of any party, to correct clerical or arithmetical mistakes in judgments, decrees or orders, or errors arising from an accidental slip or omission, at any time. Citing the Supreme Court decision in Outa vs Okello & 3 others {2017} KESC 25 (KLR), the court reiterated that the purpose of such correction is to give effect to the true intention of the court at the time of delivery of the judgment and to steer the decision towards logical and clerical perfection. The court accordingly corrected the slip by replacing the month 'September' with 'October' at the foot of the judgment of 7th October 2025. No costs order is recorded. The ruling does not disturb the substantive judgment, which remains intact; only the typographical error in the date was corrected. The parties' names and the case number are not reproduced in the ruling.

Key legal issues

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01

Power of the court to correct an accidental slip in its own judgment

Holding

The court has jurisdiction under Section 99 of the Civil Procedure Act to correct, of its own motion or on application, a clerical error in its judgment; the misprinting of 'October' as 'September' at the foot of the judgment was such a slip and was corrected.

Reasoning

The court noted that it had delivered judgment in favour of the plaintiffs against the defendants on 7th October 2025, but the month at the foot of the judgment was erroneously shown as September. Invoking Section 99 of the Civil Procedure Act, and the objective of giving effect to the court's true intention as recognised in Outa vs Okello & 3 others, the court corrected the slip by replacing the month 'September' with 'October'.

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Legal principles established

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Clerical or arithmetical mistakes in judgments, decrees or orders, or errors arising from an accidental slip or omission, may at any time be corrected by the court either on its own motion or on the application of a party (Section 99, Civil Procedure Act).
The objective of a slip-rule correction is to give effect to the true intention of the court at the time of delivery of the judgment.

Court orders

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1.Correction of the accidental slip in the judgment delivered on 7th October 2025 by replacing the month 'September' with the month 'October' at the foot of the judgment

Key timeline

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Practical implications

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Frequently asked questions

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Related briefs

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Cite this brief

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Cite this brief

Caselaw, "Jepkosgei & 3 others v Maiyo & another (Environment and Land Case E022 of 2025) [2026] KEELC 3061 (KLR)", Case Analysis (2026). Not stated in the judgment. Source: https://new.kenyalaw.org/akn/ke/judgment/keelc/2026/3061/eng@2026-05-21

Suggested citation format for research notes or client memos. Always verify the original judgment before relying on any point.