Olgos v Ndorko (Environment and Land Case 141 of 2018) [2026] KEELC 2277 (KLR)
The bottom line
#A Kenyan court struck out an attempt to use the 'slip rule' to value land-related cattle compensation after judgment, confirming it only fixes typing or calculation errors.
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 Applicant has moved this Court through the correct legal procedure to seek the orders prayed for in the Notice of Motion
Key legal issues
#Whether the failure to quantify the monetary value of the 35 head of cattle in the decree is an 'accidental slip or omission' correctable under Section 99 of the Civil Procedure Act.
No. The proposed amendment would require the court to adopt fresh valuation evidence and conduct a post-judgment assessment of damages, which exceeds the slip rule. The application was procedurally incompetent and an abuse of process, and was struck out.
The court held that Section 99 only permits correction of mechanical, clerical or arithmetical mistakes so the decree mirrors the judgment; it cannot be used to review the merits, rewrite substantive rights, or fill evidential gaps left open at trial. Introducing a valuation letter years after judgment, incapable of cross-examination, was a fatal procedural misstep. The proper remedies were an appeal or an Order 45 review. The court therefore did not address the in duplum argument or the computation of interest, holding the application incompetent ab initio.
Whether the court is functus officio in relation to the substantive merits of the newly introduced valuation.
Yes. Having delivered judgment, the court is functus officio and lacks jurisdiction to entertain the substantive merits of the new valuation report or adjust the decree on that basis.
Relying on the Republic v Attorney General ex-parte Kenya Seed Company exposition of the slip rule, the court noted the inherent jurisdiction survives judgment only for the limited purposes of Section 99. Because the Applicant sought to reopen a concluded matter using new evidence under the wrong procedure, the court declined jurisdiction over the substance and did not reach the in duplum rule arguments raised by the Respondent.
Legal principles established
#- Section 99 of the Civil Procedure Act (the slip rule) is strictly confined to correcting clerical or arithmetical mistakes and accidental slips so that the decree mirrors the judgment; it cannot be used to review the merits, rewrite substantive rights, or fill evidential gaps.
- The slip rule may only be applied where the court is giving effect to its own intention at the time of judgment, and cannot be used to redo the case or make corrections going to the substance of the judgment.
- A party aggrieved by an omission in a judgment must appeal, or if relying on newly discovered evidence, apply for review under Order 45 of the Civil Procedure Rules; the slip rule is not the correct procedural vehicle.
Court orders
#- 1.A declaration that the Applicant's Notice of Motion dated 2nd December 2025 is fundamentally defective, incompetent, and constitutes an abuse of the court process.
- 2.The application is struck out with costs to the Respondent.
The bench
#One judgment of the whole court — no separate or dissenting opinions.
Wrote the judgment
- Jurisdiction invoked
- Sections 1A, 1B and 99 of the Civil Procedure Act (cap 21) and Order 51 rule 1 of the Civil Procedure Rules 2010
Relief refused
#Amendment of the decree under Section 99 to quantify the value of 35 head of cattle (principal of Kshs. 1,900,000.00 and interest of Kshs. 21,743,956.16) and issuance of an amended decree
Section 99 is confined to genuine clerical or arithmetical slips; introducing a post-judgment valuation report amounts to fresh evidence and a post-judgment assessment of damages, which cannot be done under the slip rule - the proper recourse was an appeal or a review application under Order 45. The court is functus officio on the merits.
Costs
The application was struck out with costs to the Respondent.
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.
Clerical or arithmetical mistakes in judgments, decrees or orders, or errors arising therein from any accidental slip or omission, may at any time be corrected by the court either of its own motion or on the application of any of the parties.
The mandate of Section 99 is strictly confined to correcting genuine mechanical mistakes, clerical anomalies, or mathematical miscalculations to ensure the decree accurately mirrors the judgment.
Attempting to introduce fresh documentary evidence, which cannot be subjected to the rigors of cross-examination, years after pleadings have closed and judgment delivered is a fatal procedural misstep.
The Applicant’s Notice of Motion dated 2nd December 2025 is fundamentally defective, incompetent, and constitutes an abuse of the court process.
The application is hereby struck out with costs to the Respondent.
Issues in the judgment
#The heading states the ruling is in respect of an application 'seeking amendment of the decree issued on 23rd July 2025', while the body records that the underlying judgment was delivered by Hon. Justice M N Gicheru on 3rd November 2022 and the decree was issued on 23rd July 2025; the relationship between these dates is not fully explained in the ruling.
The suit's own case number and the name of the Defendant/Respondent are not stated anywhere in the ruling as extracted.
Key timeline
#Practical implications
#Frequently asked questions
#Cite this brief
#Cite this brief
Caselaw, "Olgos v Ndorko (Environment and Land Case 141 of 2018) [2026] KEELC 2277 (KLR)", Case Analysis (2026). Not stated in the judgment (ruling in respect of Notice of Motion dated 2nd December 2025). Source: https://new.kenyalaw.org/akn/ke/judgment/keelc/2026/2277/eng@2026-04-23
Suggested citation format for research notes or client memos. Always verify the original judgment before relying on any point.