Barasa v Getange & another (Civil Suit E529 of 2024) [2026] KEMC 727 (KLR)
The bottom line
#A Bungoma court cut a costs bill to Kshs. 228,100, ruling you cannot recover payments made to public officials and that email service counts as valid service.
What this practically means
#Executive summary
#Key legal issues
#Whether payments to public officers (police officer and medic) are recoverable as costs
Assessed off; such payments are an illegality from which the Plaintiff cannot benefit
The court reasoned that a police officer and a medic are public officers who are paid by the State to perform their official duties. Paying them privately to perform those duties is an illegality, and costs cannot be awarded to a litigant to reimburse such unlawful expenditure.
Whether service effected via e-mail attracts service fees
Yes; Kshs. 1,400/= per service, following Aoro v Were
Relying on Aburili J in Aoro v Were, the court held that Order 5 of the Civil Procedure Rules applies mutatis mutandis to service of other court processes, that e-mail service is valid service (a practice necessitated by the Covid-19 pandemic), and each such service draws the Schedule 7 minimum fee of Kshs. 1,400/=.
Assessment of service fees for service effected at Luanda, over three kilometres from Bungoma
Assessed at Kshs. 4,000/= under Schedule 7 (10)(i) of the ARO
Schedule 7 (10)(i) provides minimum fees of Kshs. 1,400/= within three kilometres of the subordinate court or district registry. Luanda is beyond three kilometres from Bungoma, so the court, considering the distance, exercised its discretion and assessed service fees at Kshs. 4,000/=.
Whether hearing attendances that did not take a full day attract full-day fees
Reduced to Kshs. 2,100/= each per Schedule 7 (7)(ii)
The hearing sessions in items 23 and 24 did not take a full day, so they were assessed at the half-day rate of Kshs. 2,100/= each under Schedule 7 (7)(ii) of the Advocates Remuneration Order rather than as drawn.
Legal principles established
#- A litigant cannot recover, as costs, payments made to public officers to perform their official duties, as this would be benefiting from an illegality
- Service of court process via e-mail is valid service and attracts the minimum fee under Paragraph 10 of Schedule 7 of the Advocates Remuneration Order
Court orders
#- 1.The Plaintiff's Party and Party Bill of Costs dated 19th November 2025 is assessed at Kshs. 228,100/=
- 2.It is so ordered
- Jurisdiction invoked
- Advocates Remuneration Order – assessment of a Party and Party Bill of Costs
Key timeline
#Practical implications
#Frequently asked questions
#Cite this brief
#Cite this brief
Caselaw, "Barasa v Getange & another (Civil Suit E529 of 2024) [2026] KEMC 727 (KLR)", Case Analysis (2026). . Source: https://new.kenyalaw.org/akn/ke/judgment/kemc/2026/727/eng@2026-02-12
Suggested citation format for research notes or client memos. Always verify the original judgment before relying on any point.