JUDGMENT OF THE COURT
Although this appeal turns on the short issue whether the appellants were afforded a fair hearing before the superior court, it is pertinent to relate, albeit briefly, the background to the appeal. Some 42 years ago at the dawn of our independence in 1963, 21 persons pooled their resources in partnership and purchased a prime property in the centre of Nairobi City known as “Terrace Hotel” on LR. No. 209/8012. Among them were the five protagonists in this appeal, who do not purport to be acting in any representative capacity for the other partners. It is common ground that the management of the partnership business in Terrace Hotel was entrusted to one of the partners Gichuhi Macharia, the 1st respondent. The hotel had boarding and lodging facilities, and it would appear from available records that the business did so well that the profits made from it were used to purchase two other prime commercial properties: a block of residential flats in Mbotela Estate on LR.…