Written by Cyrus Kimanga 📝
The High Court has overturned KSh750, 000 in damages paid to lawyer Ahmednasir Abdullahi after his car was damaged on a highway.
When the lawyer was driving along the Nairobi-Namanga Highway, which was under construction at the time, the car, a Bentley, was damaged.
In a recent turn of events, Justice Stella Mutuku overturned the money awarded to Ahmednasir on the grounds that he failed to produce evidence that his vehicle had been damaged while driving along the highway.
The city lawyer also failed to call a witness to support his claims.
“No one else, other than the respondent, is aware that he was traveling to Nairobi from Arusha on the 30th August 2018. The exact location of the accident is also not known,” Justice Mutuku said.
The judge also pointed out that Ahmednasir produced photocopies rather than original copies, and that his testimony needed to be confirmed in order to prove that he was telling the truth.
“As the evidence stands, it is his word of mouth alone that he traveled to Tanzania. He told the trial court that his word is sufficient. I am afraid not. At least not under these circumstances,” she added.
The lawyer had sued the Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA) for negligence after his luxury car’s windscreen was shattered by a stone on a section of the Nairobi-Namanga highway.
Mr. Abdullahi claimed in his lawsuit that the workers failed to post appropriate signs warning motorists of danger on the stretch of highway that was being re-carpeted.
Shrapnel hit the windscreen of the lawyer’s car shattering it as he drove back to Nairobi from Arusha on August 25, 2018.
In August 2020, Senior Magistrate Edwin Mulochi found KeNHA guilty of negligence and ordered that it compensate Ahmednasir for the damages.
“In view of the foregoing, I come to the conclusion that the defendant owes the plaintiff and other road users a duty of care. The duty cannot be shifted to a third party,” the magistrate said.
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