The plaintiff brought an action for damage to his crops caused by the spread of fire from the defendant’s shamba to the plaintiff’s land. The Primary Court awarded Shs. 700/- as compensation for the destruction of 72 banana trees, 25 sugar canes and 4 mango trees. In a prior criminal proceeding, the defendant had been found guilty of having set five to the crops, and was fined Shs. 100/-, and ordered to pay Shs. 700/- as compensation. The defendant appealed against the criminal conviction, which was quashed because it had not been proved that the defendant had willfully and unlawfully set fire to the crops, as required by s. 321, Penal Code.
Held: (1) The civil action was not banned by the successful appeal in the criminal proceeding, for the basis of liability is different.
In regard to civil liability, the court stated: “If a person stars a fire on his shamba and it spreads into somebody else’s shamba, of course, he cannot plead that if was merely bad luck. It is necessary for a person who starts fire in his shamba to control it, and if he cannot or does not control it, and it spreads into somebody else’s shamba, he must pay compensation for the damages he has done.
The court did not believe the compensation erroneous and did not disturb the award.
