THE IN DUPLUM RULE: THE BRAKE EVERY BORROWER HAS AND FEW KNOW HOW TO USE
A Calm Explainer of a Real Legal Protection By Judy Mathenge* and Tim Munyi Mugo** Baraka went to Mzee Salim’s car yard along Archbishop Makarios Road in Ganjoni to buy a Toyota Vitz. Baraka took it with a Sacco loan. The Sacco paid the yard, and Baraka promised to pay the Sacco. The radio could be heard in Likoni. Six months later the Vitz was running well and Baraka was not. The Sacco wanted its instalments, so Baraka did what every lawyer begs you not to do. He visited a lender in Kongowea market, who gave him Kshs. 40,000 “for two weeks” at 20 percent a month, with a handshake and a signature. A year later the lender’s letter said Baraka owed Kshs. 136,000. He read it twice, then sat down on the bonnet of his own car. A lawyer who answers calls on Sundays told him the good news. The law has a brake for runaway debts, and almost nobody uses it. What is the brake? It has a Latin name, in duplum , which means “double”. Latin is what lawyers speak when they wa...