https://new.kenyalaw.org/akn/ke/judgment/kehc/2026/8456
The court held that interest earned on the joint interest earning account belonged to the respondent, and the appellant's application seeking otherwise had no merit and was dismissed with costs.
Source-derived case information.
- Citation
- [2026] KEHC 8456 (KLR)
- Parties
- Appellant: Rael Wambui Wambugu; Respondent: Ronald Nyakundi Onchomba
- Court
- High Court
- Jurisdiction
- Kenya
- Case Number
- Civil Appeal 418 of 2019
- Procedural Posture
- Civil Appeal / Ruling on Application
- Outcome
- Application dismissed with costs; respondent entitled to the interest earned.
- Judges
- ["LP Kassan"]
- Legal Topics
- Interest on Decretal Sums, Joint Interest Earning Account, Entitlement to Investment Proceeds, Costs on Dismissed Application
- Source Language
- en
Source-derived case record
Summary, issues, holding and outcome
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Parties
Rael Wambui Wambugu
Appellant
Ronald Nyakundi Onchomba
Respondent
Procedural Posture
Civil Appeal / Ruling on Application
Legal Issues
- 1 Whether interest earned on a decretal sum deposited in a joint interest earning account belongs to the respondent who succeeds in the appeal
- 2 Whether the appellant could retain the earned interest or offset it against court rate interest
Ratio Decidendi
The court held that interest earned on the joint interest earning account belonged to the respondent, and the appellant's application seeking otherwise had no merit and was dismissed with costs.
Court Disposition
Application dismissed with costs; respondent entitled to the interest earned.
Orders
- The application is dismissed with costs.
- The respondent is entitled to the interests earned.
Full Case Text
Judgment text and source record
1 paragraphs
Wambugu v Onchomba (Civil Appeal 418 of 2019) [2026] KEHC 8456 (KLR) (Civ) (15 June 2026) (Ruling) Neutral citation: [2026] KEHC 8456 (KLR) Republic of Kenya In the High Court at Nairobi (Milimani Law Courts) Civil Civil Appeal 418 of 2019 LP Kassan, J June 15, 2026 Between Rael Wambui Wambugu Appellant and Ronald Nyakundi Onchomba Respondent Ruling 1.The main issue in this appeal for my consideration is the interest earned in a deposit made to a joint interest earning account in the names of both advocates of the parties - and to me, this is not supposed to be an issue of dispute at all because when Courts direct that a decretal amount be deposited to a joint interest earning account, two things are safeguarded for a party who will ultimately succeed in an appeal; security and interests accruing from the decretal account. 2.The moment a decretal amount is deposited, interests at Court rate or whichever is applied before is replaced by what is going to be earned by the deposited decretal mount. The appellant/ looser in an appeal may however choose to pay a higher amount if he so wishes. For example, in this case if the decretal amount deposited is charged interest at a normal Court rate of 12% from the date of deposit until release of the decretal amount, the interest would be around Ksh500,000 as compared to the interest from the escrow account which is around Ksh141,000. The appellant in this case may choose to retain the said Ksh140,000 and pay the Respondent Ksh500,000 or he may seek the Court to have the Ksh 140,000 subtracted from Ksh500,000 so that he can retain the Ksh 140,000 for his client and to have his client pay the Respondent the balance of Ksh 360,000. 3.The onset of the above is that the Application is dismissed with costs. The Respondent is entitled to the interests earned. DATED DELIVERED VIRTUALLY AND SIGNED ON THIS 15TH DAY OF JUNE 2026L. P. KASSANJUDGEIn the presence of:Luchemi for AppellantOneta holding brief Omwenga for RespondentsRuth - Court Assistant