Mini-max Agencies Limited v Kenya Marine & Fisheries Research Institute

The respondent pleaded that delays in payment were occasioned by factors beyond its control and conceded in submissions that it owed Kshs 508,235 in interest having paid the principal in full. Before the Court of Appeal it completely denied owing any money. Applying settled precedent, including the Supreme Court's Odinga decision, the court held evidence contradicting pleadings must be rejected; the admission stood and formed the basis of the substituted judgment.

Sections 107(1), 109 and 110 of the Evidence Act place the burden of proving a particular fact on the person asserting it. The respondent alleged a certificate of acceptance fixed the commencement of the interest period but never produced it. The court found it highly improbable that goods delivered in December 2013 awaited inspection seven months later, and held the trial judge misdirected himself in finding the certificate was issued on 8/7/2014.

Clause GCC 16.5 provided a 30-day payment-delay period after which 15% interest applied. The principal was paid on 07/08/2014 against an invoice dated 4th February 2014, a delay of about four months, following which the respondent was obliged to pay interest. The respondent could not rely on its own default to escape the obligation; the trial court's contrary finding rested on a misapprehension of law and evidence.

The court noted ambiguity in the contract's interest provision and, regarding the respondent as a public institution, declined to award the 15% per month compounded figure the appellant's schedule produced, which would have reached Kshs 141 million. It substituted a judgment for the admitted Kshs 508,235 plus 15% per annum, and awarded interest at 15% per annum on the principal for the four-month delay.