Mile & another (Suing as the administrators of the Estate of the Late Vincent John Kavutu alias Vincent Kavutu Ngusu - Deceased) v Auto Cats International Limited & 2 others (Civil Case E213 of 2024) [2026] KEMC 20 (KLR)

The defendants were served but did not enter appearance or file a defence. Interlocutory judgment was regularly entered on 29/1/2025, and the court relied on the Court of Appeal's statement that liability becomes a foregone conclusion upon such entry, leaving the court only to assess damages.

Section 4(1) of the Fatal Accidents Act limits beneficiaries to the wife, husband, parent and child. Siblings fall outside these categories, so dependency must be proved; there was no evidence the adult siblings depended on the deceased.

No documents proved the deceased's occupation or earnings. Reviewing divergent High Court authorities and Gammel v Wilson, the court held the multiplier approach would be speculative where earnings are unascertainable, and adopted a global award considering the deceased's age, four dependants and statutory deductions.

Sections 2(2)(c) of the Law Reform Act and 6 of the Fatal Accidents Act permit funeral expenses in the award. Relying on Hayanga J and Marion Njeri Kago, the court held funeral expenses need not be strictly proved as special damages and, considering African funerals, awarded the pleaded sum despite receipts of only Ksh. 132,700/=.

Following Jacob Ayiga Maruja v Simeon Obayo, the court accepted that insisting on documents would injustice many Kenyans who keep no records, though here the multiplier was still rejected as speculative.

Guided by section 26 of the Civil Procedure Act and Omunyokol Akol Johnson, the court held interest on special damages runs from the date of loss/filing while interest on general damages runs from the date of judgment, as general damages are only ascertained then.