The Court of Appeal has ordered a hotel to deposit $150,000 (Sh16.7 million) to allow it temporarily suspend a judgment that requires it to compensate a tourist for the death of his wife and daughter.
Justices William Ouko, Wanjiru Karanja and Martha Koome ordered Castle Forest Lodge to deposit the money in a joint and interest-earning account within 45 days, failing which it will be required to pay Jeffrey Brown Sh41 million as had been ordered by the High Court.
Mr Brown was awarded the money for the loss of his wife and one-year-old daughter who were trampled to death by an elephant in Mount Kenya Forest.
Justice Jairus Ngaah found that the management of the lodge, which is located on the southern slope of the mountain, was to blame for the deaths of Sharon and Margaux Brown on January 4, 2010.
This is the highest individual award given by the courts in a case of a wild animal attack.
In its appeal, Castle Forest Lodge faulted Justice Ngaah for failing to consider that Mr Brown had signed a card that exempted it from liability for personal injury. It also claimed the amount was exaggerated and would cripple its operations as a small boutique hotel.
Brown had sued the hotel for $2.66 million (Sh296 million). Justice Ngaah, however, awarded him $360,540 (Sh40 million) as compensation for the number of years Sharon would have worked. He also gave $9,295 (Sh1 million) as special damages and Sh150,000 for loss of expectation of life.
For Baby Margaux, the judge awarded Sh125,000 as compensation.
The court faulted the hotel for failing to have armed guards accompany the Brown family for a walk in the forest. It also emerged that the tour guide who led the hikers to their deaths was neither trained nor licensed to accompany visitors into the forest
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