A judge has lowered a Sh1 million award made by a lower court to Sh409,000 for a family whose 11-year-old kid drowned three years ago in a swimming pool at Ndhiwa Village Resort in Homa Bay.
The hotel was forced to pay the family Sh1 million in damages after the magistrate court found that the leisure facility was 80 percent responsible for the child’s death in 2019.
The guardian was given a 20% share of the blame.
However, both the hotel and the family filed appeals in the High Court, requesting that the magistrate’s decision be overturned.
The hotel claimed that the amount was not only excessive, but also unsupported by the facts and evidence of the case.
However, both the hotel and the family filed appeals in the High Court, requesting that the magistrate’s decision be overturned.
The hotel claimed that the amount was not only excessive, but also unsupported by the facts and evidence of the case.
It claimed that the magistrate erred in finding it 80% liable when the facts presented put the whole guilt on the deceased’s brothers, who “negligently omitted to be their brother’s keepers and also snuck the dead into the hotel’s premises without knowledge or authorization.”
The family denied being irresponsible and claimed that the motel was entirely to blame.
While hearing the appeals, Justice Kiarie Waweru replaced it with a 50:50 liability.
“The guardian ought to have ensured that the deceased did not go to the pool unattended,” said Justice Kiarie.
