JUDGMENT OF THE COURT
This is an appeal from the judgment and decree of the superior court (Rawal J) dated 24th July, 2002 whereby the superior court dismissed the appellants’ suit and ordered the appellants to pay costs in respect of one claim.
By an amended plaint filed in the superior court, the appellants pleaded two causes of action and claimed distinct sums of money in respect of each of the two causes of action.
The first cause of action arose from an import financing transaction between the appellants and the respondent. Under this cause of action, the appellants claimed Shs.509,692/60 plus interest and penalty charges all amounting to Shs.1,815,787/15 being the loss the appellants incurred in the transaction allegedly due to fraud or negligence of the respondent. The basis of that claim is briefly as follows.
The first appellant Omega Chemical Industries Ltd. was a customer of the respondent Barclays Bank of Kenya Ltd., Enterprise Road Branch (the bank) since 1983. The bank grant…