Justice William Musyoka has delivered 7 Bombshells in a scorching judgment and arguably the most comprehensive indictment our justice system's failure to serve ordinary citizens while simultaneously determining that #SmallClaimsCourt judgments delivered after 60 days are null and void. 🧵 What began as a debt dispute in became a constitutional earthquake when the judge asked the question: Did the Small Claims Court that decided this case even have legal jurisdiction? His answer reveals systemic constitutional fraud across Kenya's entire judicial system. 1/10new.kenyalaw.org/akn/ke/judgmen…

Don't have the time to go through all these cases? Don't worry. I gotcha. Here's a thread of the 6 Supreme Court decisions, the key legal issues raised in each, the court's rationale, and its findings. A thread 🧵

https://twitter.com/zakheem_rajan/status/1779006553309184114

1. Harcharan Singh Sehmi & Another vs. Tarabana Company Limited & 5 Others (Petition No. E033 of 2023)
Key Legal Issues: Whether the Law Society of Kenya should be admitted as an interested party.
Court's Rationale: The court concluded that the issues the Law Society of Kenya wished to address were already covered by the arguments of the existing parties. Moreover, the Law Society did not demonstrate a direct and substantial interest that would be directly affected by the outcome, nor did it provide unique arguments that weren't already being made by the other parties. This decision was guided by the principles set out in previous Supreme Court decisions regarding the admission of interested parties.
Decision: The application for joinder was dismissed, and each party was ordered to bear their own costs​​.

To find out which is the best Kenyan legal AI, I prompted them with probably the trickiest legal problem:

Who is entitled to inherit an estate between a customary wife, statutory wife, cohabitee, divorcee, and mistress and their parents and children? (Question 3)

I than ranked them in four categories. 1: look and feel; 2: speed; 3: humanness (how human they sound); and accuracy to the law. The results were quite surprising. In no particular order...

1. (Wakili AI)

Look and Feel: Very clean interface, good font, spacing and colours. 5/5
Speed: It generated a response immediately after posting. 5/5
Humanness: Used natural language, showed empathy words, and recommended mediation. 5/5
Accuracy: Recognized complexity but then confused dependants and beneficiaries, failed to quote Section 3(5), and ultimately arrived at vague or incorrect conclusions. 1/5Wakili.org

Did you know that there is a mwakenya software for the @SmallClaimsCourt that can help lawyers, laymen, and magistrates predict the decision of any case.

Try it out at and read the thread below to understand how it works, but seek out a lawyer if you need legal advice.bit.ly/sccadjud
To ensure that your case is not thrown out before it even starts, the software confirms that the Court has jurisdiction and the parties have legal standing

Does the #SmallClaimsCourt have jurisdiction to handle claims for refund of security deposits?

This is hotly disputed after Majanja Js ruling in HCCOMMA/E236/22 Christoffersen vs The Random Shop. However the same judge was silent on the issue in Itakura v Odera eKLR In Civil Appeal No. *E036 Of 2022 Lisa Kristine Christoffersen Versus Kavneet Kaur Sehmi T/A The Random Shop Majanja J held
"In my view, the rent has a specific and known meaning which does not extend to a contract for services."

In less than 60 days you have filed your claim, served it, filed a return of service, attended court, made arguments, court has ruled in your favour, and you've extracted the decree in the #SmallClaimsCourt. But then the debtor tells you "I have no money". What next? 4 tips 🧵 1. Negotiate a payment plan. It's never great to receive a judgment award in bits, but it's far better than not to receive it at all. Formalize it through a formal agreement and incentivize early payment with a reducing balance interest clause in the agreement.

Our system of law has always been adversarial, which means judicial officers (JOs) mainly listen but do not investigate or examines witnesses. The #SmallClaimsCourt Act changes this by giving the adjudicators broad investigative powers. Are we creating a monster? A thread 🧵 Sections 19 and 32(4) of the SCC Act give the court wide inquisitorial powers which include summoning witnesses, requiring production of documents, researching on its own, and examining witnesses on anything they consider relevant to determine the suit.

Have you been sued in the #SmallClaimsCourt? Here is a short thread on my 100% full proof way to have the case thrown out of the SCC.

(🤫 don't tell everyone) I'll start by saying (obviously) this is not legal advice, BUT here is a tactic that defense lawyers have used with great efficacy to have claims thrown out.

Just follow these 4 simple steps

Could the Small Claims Courts be the reason insurance companies raised their premiums on motor vehicle insurance?

A short thread... Over 8 months last year, the Small Claims Courts issued judgment of almost half a billion, of which 190 million was paid out in civil claims (mostly by insurance companies)

By December 31st 2021, I had filed or defended over 50 cases in the Small Claims Court 🧑‍⚖️

Here are my top 20 tips on how to be successful in this court.

A thread ✍️ 1. Confirm that the court has jurisdiction before claiming or responding. Claims such as defamation, ownership/possession of land, employment, and malicious prosecution are excluded from Small Claims. S.13(5) SCCA kenyalaw.org:8181/exist/kenyalex…