Nguruman Limited v Attorney General (on Behalf of the Cabinet Secretary Ministry of Interior and Coordination of National Government) (Civil Appeal (Application) E730 of 2024) [2026] KECA 562 (KLR)
The bottom line
#Kenya's Court of Appeal corrected its own omission and ordered that Nguruman's Kshs.16.675 billion compensation now earns interest from July 2021 until fully paid.
What this practically means
#Executive summary
#Questions the Court framed
#The issues the Court set itself to decide, in its own words.
- 1.Whether the Court's judgment of 28th February 2025 omitted to make an order on interest on the awarded damages contrary to its intention
- 2.Whether that omission falls within the slip rule under Rule 37 of the Court of Appeal Rules, 2022, justifying review
- 3.Whether interest should run from the date of the judgment of the Environment and Land Court
Key legal issues
#Whether the Court's silence on interest on general damages was an accidental omission correctable under the slip rule
Yes. The Court had consciously declined interest on special damages, but said nothing about interest on general damages; that silence was an accidental omission, not a deliberate decision.
The Court distinguished between its conscious conclusion on special damages, where it declined to interfere with the judge's discretion, and general damages, where it merely halved the quantum without addressing interest. The omission was accidental and fell within the Supreme Court jurisprudence on slip-rule review to award interest, giving full effect to the compensation awarded.
Rationale for interest on damages awarded for violation of rights
Interest preserves the value of the compensation where the judgment debtor delays payment.
Delay in settling a decretal sum erodes its real value through inflationary forces, diluting and whittling down the compensation. Awarding interest from the date of the judgment below maintains the compensatory force of the damages and meets the ends of justice, consistent with the Supreme Court's jurisprudence.
Legal principles established
#- Once damages for violation of rights are adjudged payable, interest at court rates should run to maintain the compensatory force of the award against delay and inflation, and an accidental omission to award such interest may be corrected on the slip rule.
Court orders
#- 1.The judgment dated 28th February 2025 is reviewed
- 2.The sum of Kshs.16,675,000,000 awarded as general damages shall attract interest at court rates with effect from 28th July 2021, being the date of the judgment of the Environment and Land Court, until payment in full
- 3.No order as to costs
The bench
#One judgment of the whole court — no separate or dissenting opinions.
- On appeal from
- Court of Appeal
- Judgment dated and delivered on 28th February 2025
- Jurisdiction invoked
- Rule 37 of the Court of Appeal Rules, 2022 (slip rule)
Relief refused
#Costs of the application
The omission leading to the review was the Court's own
Costs
No order as to costs; each party to bear its own costs of the application.
Quotable passages
#Verbatim from the judgment, each located to the page it appears on in the official PDF — so these can be cited and checked directly.
In the result, we find the application to be merited and grant it with the effect that the sum of Kshs.16,675,000,000 awarded as general damages shall attract interest at court rates with effect from 28th July 2021 being the date of the judgment of the Environment and Land Court.
Our not addressing it was an accidental omission (we would not call it an error, though the omission may be termed erroneous).
It is thus proper and just that in order to maintain the compensatory force of the damages awarded, and thus meet the ends of justice, interest be awarded.
As the omission leading to this review was on the part of the Court, we shall make no order as to costs.
Issues in the judgment
#The relisted grounds misstate the applicant's position - the motion is brought by Nguruman (applicant) seeking interest, but the recital describes the earlier appeal as 'the appeal by the Attorney General' on which Nguruman was respondent; the roles are correctly captured but the narrative can confuse.
Key timeline
#Practical implications
#Frequently asked questions
#Cite this brief
#Cite this brief
Caselaw, "Nguruman Limited v Attorney General (on Behalf of the Cabinet Secretary Ministry of Interior and Coordination of National Government) (Civil Appeal (Application) E730 of 2024) [2026] KECA 562 (KLR)", Case Analysis (2026). Motion dated 20.3.25 (Civil Application). Source: https://new.kenyalaw.org/akn/ke/judgment/keca/2026/562/eng@2026-03-13
Suggested citation format for research notes or client memos. Always verify the original judgment before relying on any point.