JUDGMENT OF THE COURT
At the hearing of this appeal, Mr. Onyango the appellant’s learned counsel had to confront an objection raised by his learned counterpart for the respondent, Mr. Nyaencha, on the competency of the appeal. It was the latter’s contention in written submissions, repeated at the plenary hearing, that as the record of appeal does not contain a certified decree, a primary document on which the appeal must be anchored, then the appeal is incompetent and must be struck out. Mr. Nyaencha relied on this Court’s decision in REPUBLIC v. ATTORNEY GENERAL and ANOR Ex PARTE AIRLINES PILOTS ASSOCIATION [2003] KLR 183 to the effect that failure to include the primary documents listed in Rule 85(1) of the Court of Appeal Rules is fatal to the appeal. The current rule is 87(1).
The appellant’s counsel first offered a half-hearted response to that objection by suggesting that the absence of a certified copy of the decree appealed from was “a technical issue” that should not defeat the…