Case Analysis

Abandoned Appeal Lawyer and Advocate at Nairobi Court of Appeal: Unpursued Notice Marked Withdrawn in Makunyi

If you need a abandoned appeal lawyer at Nairobi Court of Appeal, an advocate should review your documents and any deadline. This article analyses Makunyi v Odhiambo & another, explains the court’s decision and identifies practical records to prepare for a review of your situation.

A Nairobi abandoned appeal lawyer or advocate should distinguish lodging a notice from actually instituting the appeal. In Makunyi, the Court of Appeal marked a notice withdrawn after nearly seven years without a record of appeal. The respondents supplied no explanation. The court made no order on costs because the application proceeded undefended. It did not rehear the underlying claim or make a new damages award.

The record showed prolonged inaction

An earlier consent had permitted a late notice and required security. Proceedings were later prepared, and notification of readiness was given, but no appeal was instituted. The court considered the applicable procedural routes and found that the request to deem the notice withdrawn survived the timing issue associated with strike-out.

The operative order marked the notice withdrawn. References to the earlier damages award and security were background, not proof of payment or release of a deposit. The June ruling does not establish later execution or a final financial balance between the parties.

Prepare separate records for notice and appeal

Provide the notice, filing and service records, any extension order and the appeal record if one exists. State clearly if no record has been lodged. A notice should not be described as a fully instituted appeal simply because it appears in the file or because a party announced an intention to challenge the judgment.

An advocate needs to identify which essential step is alleged to be missing. Set out the procedural history without merging filing, service, requests for proceedings and institution into one event. Each document may answer a different part of the chronology.

Requests for proceedings need follow-through evidence

Keep the request letter, payment records, readiness notification, collection record and any certificate of delay together. Where another party pursued the proceedings, identify that fact and attach the correspondence. A statement that proceedings were unavailable should be checked against the record of when they became available.

The Makunyi reasoning did not treat an initial request as an indefinite suspension of every subsequent duty. For a current enquiry, provide the full documentary sequence so an advocate can assess the asserted delay rather than assuming the request alone resolves it.

Choose the procedural issue precisely

Explain whether the enquiry concerns striking out, deeming withdrawal, extending time or responding to such an application. These should not be treated as interchangeable labels for ending an appeal. The court in Makunyi examined the distinction and its effect on the application's competence.

The article records that reasoning as part of this decision rather than offering a universal deadline instruction for every current file. The applicable rules, service dates and later orders require review in the actual case. An advocate should see the application and response, not only the relief described in an enquiry message.

Keep security and execution separate

Supply the judgment, decree, consent and any security orders. Identify whether money was deposited and whether a separate release direction exists. Withdrawal of an appeal notice should not be represented as proof that every security or execution issue has automatically been implemented.

For a present-day review, provide later payment, enforcement or stay records. The original award may remain relevant, but its practical status cannot be established from the appellate notice ruling alone. An itemised account is more useful than a statement that the whole amount must now have been paid.

Report the outcome without adding a merits finding

The appellate court addressed failure to institute the appeal and marked the notice withdrawn. It did not adjudicate the substantive arguments that might have been raised in a completed appeal. A summary should distinguish that procedural result from a new affirmation of every factual allegation in the original case.

Makunyi demonstrates why an unpursued notice can require a focused procedural response. A Nairobi advocate can review the chronology, applicable route and associated orders together, while keeping notice withdrawal, underlying judgment and actual enforcement as separate questions.

Editorial analysis of the cited decision, checked on 5 October 2026. Practical document guidance is commentary; later orders may affect the current position.