Olkalou Dairy (2016) Ltd v Churchill Rombosia Kimwanga & another (Appeal E012 of 2025) [2025] KEELRC 2838 (KLR)

The court applied Rule 73(2) of the ELRC (Procedure) Rules 2024, which imports the Civil Procedure Rules on execution and stay. It reiterated the principles in Butt v Rent Restriction Tribunal and Order 42 Rule 6, found the appeal filed within reasonable time, accepted the Applicant's explanation of substantial loss and its willingness to deposit the decretal sum, and held that all conditions were satisfied, obliging the court to grant the stay sought in the 13th March 2025 application.

The Applicant contended that no service of the cost assessment documents was effected as required under Order 21 Rule 9A of the Civil Procedure Rules and that the proclaimed assets were secured under a debenture with Co-operative Bank. The Respondents argued execution was lawful and the debenture had not crystallised by any enforcement action by the Bank. The court, evidently accepting the irregularity arguments, declared the warrants and proclamation null and void ab initio and stayed the attachment subject to the deposit of the decretal sum.

The court reproduced section 44(1) of the Civil Procedure Act, which exempts tools and implements of a person necessary for their trade or profession. The Respondent relied on Blackwood Hodge and Invesco Assurance holding that section 44 protects natural persons, not companies. The final orders rested on the stay conditions and the nullity of the warrants rather than on a tools-of-trade exemption, so this argument was not determinative.