Editor's Review

  • The case had initially been presented at a Magistrate’s court and the lecturer awarded a compensation of over Sh2 million, but he opted to appeal citing an error in calculating the compensation.

A lecturer at Kenyatta University has been awarded Sh6 million compensation for the death of his wife in a road crash 10 years ago.

Machakos High Court Judge George Odunga recently ordered that the accused parties; Hauliers Limited and late Mr Fred Kinyamasyo, pay Dr Joshua Mulinge Itumo Sh6,052,865 for the loss of his wife Damaris Nduku.

In his ruling, Justice Odunga noted that the evidence presented before him proved that that the driver of the Hauliers Limited trailer, Faraj Said, and Kinyamasyo were liable for the fatal crash.

The two accused parties will share the burden of paying the compensation with the late Kinyamasyo taking a bigger share as he was found more liable for the accident.

 “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,” Judge Odunga ruled.


At the time of the accident, the late Damaris Nduku was serving as a teacher at St Kitulu High School. She was in the vehicle being driven by Kinyamasyo along Mombasa Road. The latter also died in the accident.

The case had initially been presented at a Magistrate’s court and the lecturer awarded a compensation of over Sh2 million, but he opted to appeal citing an error in calculating the compensation.

His appeal was successful and the compensation moved to over Sh6 million as Justice Odunga found that the lower court used the deceased’s net salary instead of gross salary while calculating the compensation.