Akinyi v Ogwari & another

What this practically means

The Supreme Court has dismissed an attempt to appeal a Small Claims Court case directly to it. The court ruled that the Small Claims Court Act does not give the Supreme Court power to hear such appeals. Instead, the Act says the High Court is the final court for these disputes. This means once the High Court decides a Small Claims Court appeal, that is the end of the matter. The Supreme Court cannot step in, even if the Court of Appeal is bypassed.

Executive summary

The applicant, Linet Akinyi, was injured in a road traffic accident and filed a claim at the Small Claims Court (Milimani SCC/E969/2024). The Small Claims Court dismissed the suit on March 4, 2024, on grounds that it lacked jurisdiction to hear matters under Cap 405, following the High Court's decision in Mombasa HCCA/223/2022. The applicant then sought clarity from the High Court, which declined to review its judgment on May 9, 2024.

Aggrieved, the applicant filed a petition of appeal directly to the Supreme Court under Article 163(3)(b)(ii) of the Constitution, arguing that section 38 of the Small Claims Court Act ousts the Court of Appeal's jurisdiction, making the Supreme Court the only appellate forum. The Deputy Registrar declined to admit the appeal for failure to attach a copy of a Court of Appeal judgment as required by rule 40(1)(b) of the Supreme Court Rules; the applicant moved to review that decision.

The court held that while Article 163(3)(b)(ii) grants appellate jurisdiction over “any other court or tribunal as prescribed by national legislation”, the Small Claims Court Act prescribes none — section 38 makes an appeal to the High Court “final”. The Supreme Court therefore lacks jurisdiction; the application was dismissed with no order as to costs, the respondents not having participated.

Questions the Court framed · key issues

Whether this court has jurisdiction under article 163(3)(b)(ii) as read together with section 38 of the Small Claims Act to hear and determine an appeal from the High Court.

Issue 01 (ratio) — whether the Supreme Court may hear an appeal from the High Court in a Small Claims Court matter given that section 38 ousts Court of Appeal jurisdiction and declares the High Court's decision final. Held: no jurisdiction — the Act prescribes none, as Article 163(3)(b)(ii) requires; section 38(2) makes the High Court decision final. p. 4 ↗

Issue 02 (moot) — whether the Deputy Registrar correctly declined admission for want of a Court of Appeal copy under rule 40(1)(b). Held: not decided; moot after the jurisdictional finding. p. 4 ↗

Legal principles established

• Supreme Court jurisdiction under Article 163(3)(b)(ii) requires national legislation to expressly grant it appellate power.
• The Small Claims Court Act does not prescribe any appellate jurisdiction to the Supreme Court.
• Section 38(2) of the Small Claims Court Act makes High Court decisions final, blocking further appeals.
• A court must first establish it has jurisdiction before considering any procedural issues in a case.
• The absence of Court of Appeal jurisdiction does not automatically create Supreme Court jurisdiction.

Binding proposition (p. 4): the Supreme Court's appellate jurisdiction under Article 163(3)(b)(ii) is contingent on national legislation prescribing it; where the legislation designates the High Court as final, the Supreme Court lacks jurisdiction. All binding propositions →

Quotable passages

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Court orders & relief refused

1. The applicant's notice of motion dated May 19, 2025 and filed on May 28, 2025 be and is hereby dismissed.
2. There shall be no order as to costs.

Relief refused: review of the Deputy Registrar's decision of 23 May 2025 declining to lodge the petition of appeal — the court lacks jurisdiction under article 163(3)(b)(ii) as the Small Claims Court Act does not prescribe appellate jurisdiction to the Supreme Court. Costs: no order as to costs.

Case provenance

• On appeal from: Supreme Court of Kenya (Deputy Registrar) · ruling 23 May 2025
• Jurisdiction invoked: Article 163(3)(b)(ii); rule 6(2) Supreme Court Rules, 2020
• Statutes: Constitution of Kenya, 2010 — Art 163(3)(b)(ii) · Small Claims Court Act — s 38 · Supreme Court Rules, 2020 — rr 6(2), 40(1)(b)
• Cases cited: In the Matter of the Interim Independent Electoral Commission (Applicant), Const. App. No 2 of 2011 — followed (authority)
• Later judgments citing this: none indexed yet (decided 23 Jan 2026) — citator · case alert

Key timeline

1. 2024-03-04 — Small Claims Court dismisses the injury claim for lack of jurisdiction.
2. 2024-05-09 — High Court declines to review.
3. 2025-05-19 — Notice of motion filed at Supreme Court.
4. 2025-05-28 — Application dismissed for lack of jurisdiction.

Practical implications

Lawyers · advise that the High Court is the final appellate forum in Small Claims matters; present everything there — no further review, saving time and costs.

Businesses · the High Court is the last stop; invest in representation at that stage, not in Supreme Court appeals.

Individuals · appeal to the High Court within time; once it decides, that is the final word.

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Related briefs: Wafula v Maru · Kimweli & 46 others v NSSF · Otieno v Ngani.

How this was checked

Quotes grounded 2/2 · pages verified 2/2 · citations stripped 0 · ungrounded amounts 0 · model deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash · extracted 29 Jul 2026. Compiled from AI-extracted briefs of Kenya Law judgments, each checked against the source text.