Registered Trustees of the Assemblies of God Gospel Church International (AGGCI) v Registrar of Societies and Others

Why this matter warrants attention

Fabricated: Case Law | Counsel cited a purported Court of Appeal decision that the court could not locate. The cited Civil Appeal No. 27 of 1999 was not found, and the quotation stating that leave is consumed by filing and cannot be resurrected after a case is struck out was treated as fabricated. Outcome: The cited cases and quotations were expunged; counsel was suspended for six months and ordered to publish a written apology, with a further one-month suspension for noncompliance.. Counsel Johnson Johannes Kachenje cited and quoted two purported Court of Appeal decisions that could not be located: Mwanza Restaurant Workers Co-operative Societies v Regional Commissioner of Mwanza, Civil Appeal No. 27 of 1999, and Sanai Murumbe and another v Managing Director, Serengeti Safari Lodges Limited, [1986] T.L.R. 45. The court found that the cases did not exist, that the quotations were consequently fabricated, and that counsel had misstated facts and law despite claiming the mistake was inadvertent and not in bad faith. The court expunged the authorities and quotations from the record, found professional misconduct, suspended counsel for six months, and ordered a public apology in English and Swahili.