BY SAM ALFAN.
A tailor who was taken to court by a city lawyer for allegedly burning his Italian suit wants the High Court to dismiss the appeal filed by the advocate.
Daniel Onyango Dinda says in reply to the suit that lawyer Gatheru Gathemia has subjected him to untold emotional anguish and distress.l over the case.
The tailor says the appeal wasn’t about seeking justice but ego, as the lawyer allegedly claimed that he cannot lose a case to a mere tailor.
Dinda said Gathemia vowed to use his long-standing period in the practice of law and knowledge to pursue the case to whatever length to teach him a lesson.
He said the lawyer said it doesn’t matter the strength of the case but that he will not stop at anything unless he gets a favourable decision.
To the lawyer, he cannot imagine losing the legal fight to mere tailor.
“I have not been able to concentrate on my small-time tailoring work in the midst of the current economic turmoil,” lawyer told the court.
In his pleading, he argues that even at the lower court, the lawyer kept on switching witnesses.
He said Gathemia wants to employ the same character trait in the appeal.
Dinda added that at the Lower Court, the lawyer and who was the key witness, failed to show up during the hearing and introduced a new witness who testified before the court and in extending his behaviour, Gathemia now wants again to onboard another witness and introduce new evidence to his detriment.
“Gathemia’s suit was dismissed on merit and on the basis that he forced me or subjected me to unde duress to have me sign the contract and which duress vitiated the said contract,” says the tailor.
He added that Gathemia now wants to bring on board another witness purely to advance his trial and error gimmicks, terming it a waste of judicial time and also subject him to unnecessary anxiety and costs.
“No indication was made by the lawyer at the trial/lower court that the intended witness was either away, indisposed or any reason given for failure by the appellant to have called the intended new witness including the new or additional evidence,” he adds.
In the appeal, Gathemia the Judgment and Decree of the trial Magistrate Caroline Ndumia dated, signed and delivered on the 2nd March, 2022 be varied or set aside.
“This Court does make its own decision on the merits of the case, or in the alternative, upon setting aside the judgment, do Order that the Respondent is bound by the terms of the Contract dated 28th June, 2021,” seeks the lawyer.
He further seeks the court to quash the magistrate decision and substitute it with Judgment against the tailor.
