Kenya Case Law

Ekiru v Chepchirchir (Suing as the Legal Representative of the Estate of Christopher Koech Tirieto (Deceased))

Ekiru v Chepchirchir (Suing as the Legal Representative of the Estate of Christopher Koech Tirieto (Deceased)) [2025] KEELC 3785 (KLR)

Court

Environment and Land Court

Case number

Environment and Land Appeal E024 of 2024

Judge

LN Mbugua

The court found that the appellant failed to provide a cogent explanation for not joining the third party or calling the crucial witness during the trial or pre-trial stages, despite being aware of the third party's occupation of plot 46. The application to join the new party was filed long after the close of the parties' cases, and the attempt to adduce new evidence at the appellate stage was deemed an effort to fill gaps left in the original proceedings. The court held that allowing such evidence would prejudice the respondent, who had closed her case without notice of additional witnesses.…

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• Admission Of Additional Evidence On Appeal
• Criteria For New Evidence
• Joinder Of Parties
• Ownership Of Land
• Retrial Applications

Muthinga v Odhiambo

Muthinga v Odhiambo [2024] KEHC 13022 (KLR)

Court

High Court

Case number

Civil Appeal E355 of 2024

Judge

TW Ouya

High Court appeal against dismissal of a Small Claims Court review/retrial application. The court found the application was out of time, unsupported, and failed to prove fraud or new evidence.

• Review Of Judgment
• Retrial Applications
• New Evidence
• Fraud Allegations
• Appeals Process
• Civil-appeals

Njoroge v Republic

Njoroge v Republic [2024] KEHC 1195 (KLR)

Court

High Court

Case number

Constitutional Petition E029 of 2022

Judge

AC Mrima

The High Court at Kitale dismissed a petition for retrial under Article 50(6), finding the alleged new evidence was not shown to be new and compelling.

• Retrial Applications
• New And Compelling Evidence
• Article 50 Rights
• Criminal Appeal Dismissal
• Article-50-6
• New-and-compelling-evidence

Paul Wafula Fombo v Republic

Paul Wafula Fombo v Republic [2021] KEHC 938 (KLR)

Court

High Court

Case number

Miscellaneous Criminal Application 71 of 2016

Judge

DN Musyoka

The High Court dismissed an application for retrial, finding that the issues raised should have been taken on appeal and that no new, compelling evidence was shown.

• Retrial Applications
• New And Compelling Evidence
• Mandatory Sentences
• Appeal Procedure
• Criminal-law
• Retrial-applications

Dominic Leposo Sadera v Republic

Dominic Leposo Sadera v Republic [2021] KEHC 1225 (KLR)

Court

High Court

Case number

Miscellaneous Criminal Application 17 of 2018

Judge

MC Kesse

The court found that the applicant failed to demonstrate that the evidence he sought to rely on was new and compelling as required by Article 50(6) of the Constitution. The documents and issues raised were available or could have been raised at trial or on appeal, and no credible explanation was provided for the failure to do so. The application was therefore not a genuine petition for a new trial but an attempt to re-litigate matters that should have been addressed in the appeal. The court held that the threshold for a new trial had not been met and dismissed the application as an abuse of p…

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• Retrial Applications
• New And Compelling Evidence
• Criminal Appeals
• Admissibility Of Evidence

Peter Mungai Kanyonyo v Republic

Peter Mungai Kanyonyo v Republic [2021] KEHC 1868 (KLR)

Court

High Court

Case number

Criminal Miscellaneous Application 13 of 2018

Judge

MC Kesse

The court held that the applicant failed to demonstrate the existence of new and compelling evidence as required under Article 50(6) of the Constitution. The alleged forensic irregularities and requests for prosecution materials did not constitute evidence that was unavailable at trial or on appeal, nor did they meet the threshold of being of high probative value and likely to lead to a different verdict. The court found that the grounds raised by the applicant had already been canvassed during the trial and appeals, and thus did not satisfy the legal requirements for a new trial. Consequentl…

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• Retrial Applications
• New And Compelling Evidence
• Article 50 6 Petitions

Monei Kipshan v Republic

Monei Kipshan v Republic [2021] KEHC 8133 (KLR)

Court

High Court

Case number

Miscellaneous Criminal Application 4 of 2020

Judge

REA Ougo

The court found that although the applicant had exhausted his appellate remedies, he failed to present any new and compelling evidence as required by Article 50(6) of the Constitution. The application was not supported by evidence that was unavailable at the time of trial, nor did it meet the procedural requirements for a petition under Article 50(6). The court emphasized that the constitutional threshold for a retrial or resentencing is strict and requires more than mere citation of the law or personal circumstances. As such, the application did not meet the legal standard for granting a ret…

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• Retrial Applications
• New And Compelling Evidence
• Sentencing Review
• Criminal Appeals

Stephen Mabili v Republic

Stephen Mabili v Republic [2020] KEHC 2702 (KLR)

Court

High Court

Case number

Criminal Case 14 of 2019

Judge

CM Njagi

The High Court at Kakamega dismissed a petition for retrial in a murder case, finding no proved new and compelling evidence and no basis to convert the matter into resentencing.

• Retrial Applications
• New And Compelling Evidence
• Fair Trial Rights
• Criminal-law
• Retrial-applications
• New-and-compelling-evidence

Stephen Odhiambo Onyango v Republic

Stephen Odhiambo Onyango v Republic [2020] KEHC 4627 (KLR)

Court

High Court

Case number

Constitutional Petition 37 of 2019

Judge

AC Mrima

The court found that the contradiction in the cause of death evidence cited by the Petitioner was not new, as it was available at trial, subjected to cross-examination, and addressed by both the trial court and the Court of Appeal. The Petitioner failed to demonstrate that any evidence now relied upon was unavailable at the time of trial or could not have been discovered with due diligence. As such, the requirements of Article 50(6) for new and compelling evidence were not met. The Petition was therefore dismissed for lack of merit.

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• Retrial Applications
• New And Compelling Evidence
• Article 50 6
• Post Conviction Review

Dan Mely Maganga & John Odhiambo Adundo v Republic

Dan Mely Maganga & John Odhiambo Adundo v Republic [2019] KEHC 235 (KLR)

Court

High Court

Case number

Miscellaneous Criminal Application 16 of 2019

The court held that Article 50(6) of the Constitution of Kenya sets out two cumulative requirements for the grant of a new trial or re-sentencing: (1) the applicant must have exhausted all appeals, and (2) there must be new and compelling evidence. The applicants admitted that they had no new evidence. The court found that the absence of new and compelling evidence was fatal to their application, as both requirements must be satisfied. The court further held that the applicants' rehabilitation, time served, or personal belief in their reformation could not substitute for the constitutional re…

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• Retrial Applications
• New And Compelling Evidence
• Sentencing Principles
• Finality Of Convictions