Wycliffe Nyamasege
A Machakos Court has awarded a Kenyatta University lecturer Ksh6 million in compensation of his wife who died in a road accident 10 years ago.
In a ruling delivered on Wednesday, Machakos High Court Judge George Odunga ordered Bash Hauliers Limited and a Ms Jeninan Munini, the wife of one Fred Kinyamasyo, to compensate Dr Joshua Mulinge Itumo Ksh6,052,865 for the loss of his spouse Damaris Nduku on June 4, 2011.
At the time of her death, Nduku was serving as a deputy principal at St Kitulu High School.
The accident occurred along Mombasa Road.
The car that killed Nduku was being driven by Kinyamasyo, who also died in the crash.
In his judgement, Justice Odunga ruled that the driver of a trailer owned by Bash Hauliers Limited, Faraj Said, and Kinyamasyo, were both liable for the accident that led to the death of Nduku.
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The judge concluded that Kinyamasyo was more liable for the accident than the driver of the trailer and thus ordered his representative (Munini) to take the highest liability share.
Justice Odunga noted that he only found Faraj liable because he didn’t attempt to avoid the accident or reduce the impact by reducing the speed of his trailer.
“The respondent vehicle’s driver, Faraj admitted that he didn’t make any attempt to avoid the accident. The admission makes him slightly liable for the accident,” ruled Justice Odunga.
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The lecturer was awarded the Sh6 million after a successful appeal of a ruling delivered by Senior Principal Magistrate Evans Keago in October 2020.
The magistrate had awarded Dr Itumo Sh2,073,600 in compensation for the loss of his wife.
Justice Odunga ruled that the magistrate erred by computing the compensation amount using Nduku’s net salary instead of the gross salary as per the law of computing the loss of dependency.
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