The High Court in Nyamira has reduced by KSh300,000 the amount of general damages awarded to a passenger injured in a road accident involving a Climax Coaches bus, ruling that the trial court had overcompensated him by relying on medical evidence that was inconsistent with the initial treatment records.
In a judgment delivered by Justice Wamae T.W. Cherere, the court allowed an appeal filed by Climax Coaches Limited and reduced the award of general damages to KSh100,000 from KSh400,000 that had been granted by the Keroka Chief Magistrate’s Court.
The case arose from a road accident that occurred on February 5, 2022, along the Keroka Sotik Road, where Geoffrey Misaro Kangethe, a fare-paying passenger aboard a Climax Coaches bus, sustained injuries after the vehicle allegedly lost control and was involved in an accident.
The trial court had awarded Kangethe KSh400,000 in general damages and KSh97,560 in special damages after finding the bus company liable for the accident. However, Climax Coaches challenged the award, arguing that the amount was excessive and unsupported by the medical evidence on record.
Upon reviewing the evidence, Justice Cherere found that the respondent’s initial treatment notes, recorded immediately after the accident, showed that he had suffered only a soft tissue injury to his right shoulder. Although a subsequent medical report referred to additional injuries, the judge held that those injuries were not reflected in the contemporaneous treatment records and therefore carried less evidential weight.
The court further relied on a second medical assessment, which confirmed that the respondent had fully recovered without any permanent disability or residual complaints. Justice Cherere observed that the trial magistrate appeared to have relied heavily on the later medical report without reconciling it with the initial hospital records, resulting in an award that was disproportionate to the injuries actually sustained.
In reaching its decision, the High Court compared the case with previous decisions involving similar soft tissue injuries, noting that awards for such injuries are generally modest where there is full recovery and no permanent disability.
The judge concluded that an award of KSh100,000 was fair, reasonable and consistent with comparable cases while also taking into account inflationary trends. While reducing the general damages, the court upheld the award of KSh97,560 in special damages after finding that the amount had been specifically pleaded and strictly proved.
Justice Cherere also ordered that Climax Coaches Limited recover the costs of the appeal, while the respondent would retain the costs awarded by the lower court.
