Family Bank Limited v Step Up Holding Limited
The bottom line
#Kenya's Court of Appeal ruled a bank customer can amend its lawsuit over frozen accounts, even if the claim may be time-barred, because it rests on the same facts.
What this practically means
#Executive summary
#Key legal issues
#Whether amendments introducing a claim that may be statute-barred can be permitted
Yes, where the new cause of action arises from the same or substantially the same facts as originally pleaded; limitation may then be raised as a special plea at trial.
Order 8 rules 3(2) and (5) of the Civil Procedure Rules, 2010 statutorily permit post-limitation amendments arising from the same facts. The Court compared the original plaint dated 19th October 2011 with the amended plaint and found the impugned averments related to the same period and same facts. Where the date of prescription is disputed, limitation is a triable mixed question of fact and law.
The appellate standard for interfering with discretionary interlocutory decisions
An appellate court will not interfere with the exercise of discretion unless it is shown the discretion was exercised on wrong principles, the decision is clearly wrong, or a miscarriage of justice resulted.
Restating Mbogo vs Shah and United India Insurance Co. Ltd vs East African Underwriters (Kenya) Ltd, the Court held that the appellant bears a heavy burden to show misdirection or a clearly wrong decision. The Court began with a presumption of correctness of the trial court's decision and found that presumption unrebutted.
The proper test for comparing original pleadings with proposed amendments
The court must compare the allegations and relief in the original plaint with those in the amendment; if based on the same or substantially the same facts, the amendment should be granted and limitation ventilated at trial.
Drawing on Affordable Medicines Trust, CGU Insurance Ltd vs Rumdel Construction and Cordier vs Cordier, the Court held that an amendment which merely clarifies or recharacterises the enforcement of the same foundational right from the same factual matrix does not introduce a completely new debt and is permissible notwithstanding the label of a new cause of action.
Legal principles established
#- An amendment adding or substituting a new cause of action may be allowed even after limitation has expired if the new cause of action arises out of the same or substantially the same facts as a cause of action already pleaded.
- Where limitation is not apparent on the face of the pleadings due to factual disputes, limitation is a mixed question of fact and law to be determined at trial, not at an interlocutory stage.
- An appellate court will not interfere with a trial court's exercise of discretion unless it misdirected itself or the decision is clearly wrong and has resulted in injustice.
- A litigant must be given leave to amend pleading unless it is absolutely clear the deficiency cannot be cured by amendment.
Court orders
#- 1.Appeal dismissed
- 2.Costs of the appeal to the respondent
- 3.The ruling of the High Court dated 18th November 2021 allowing amendment of the plaint left undisturbed, matter to proceed at the trial court
- On appeal from
- High Court
- HCCC Case No. 306 of 2011
- Jurisdiction invoked
- Appellate jurisdiction of the Court of Appeal over an interlocutory appeal from the High Court
Key timeline
#Practical implications
#Frequently asked questions
#Cite this brief
#Cite this brief
Caselaw, "Family Bank Limited v Step Up Holding Limited", Case Analysis (2026). Civil Appeal (from HCCC Case No. 306 of 2011). Source: https://new.kenyalaw.org/akn/ke/judgment/keca/2026/1235/eng@2026-07-03
Suggested citation format for research notes or client memos. Always verify the original judgment before relying on any point.