Mpemba scan

IN THE HIGH COURT OF UNITED REPUBLIC OF TANZANIA SUMBAWANGA SUB-REGISTRY AT SUMBAWANGA CRIMINAL SESSION CASE NO. 000006999 OF 2024 REPUBLIC VERSUS 1 FROLENCE S/O MODEST MPEMBA, 2 VITALIS S/O PETER MPEMBA 3 DAUDI S/O NOVATUS MPEMBA Judgment 09/10/2024. JUDGMENT NANGELA, J: The three accused persons, namely: Florence s/o Modest Mpemba, Vitalis s/o Peter Mpemba, and Daudi s/o Novatus Mpemba, stand charged with the offence of manslaughter having caused the death of Salmon s/o Novatus Mpemba, contrary to Sections 195 and 198 of the Penal Code, Cap. 16 R.E. 2022. The incident took place on the 2.1st of June 2023 at Mao Village within Kalambo District in Rukwa Region. The facts of the case are to the effect that, on the material date, i.e., November 21, 2023, the first accused (Florence), while coming from his farmland heading to his house, saw Salmon s/o Novatus Mpemba (the deceased) i coming out of his house running. Upon entering his house, he found its doors broken and about TZS 300,000 were missing. Believing that Simon s/o Novatus Mpemba (now deceased) must have stolen the money from his home, he sought the assistance of the second and third accused persons in order to have Simon s/o Mpemba arrested. At approximately 17:00, they were able to capture Simon, and they took him to the first accused person to face the accusations of stealing money from him—a fact that the deceased is said to have acknowledged to them. In order to get Simon to confess to hiding the money, the three accused started thrashing hihn around with sticks on various body parts. As they brought the deceased to his father's home, they continued beating him even though he had told them he had kept the money there. Nevertheless, nothing was found in his father's home, and the accused left the deceased there. However, the deceased, Simon S/o Novatus Mpemba, passed away at around 20:00 on June 21, 2023. Following Simon's death, Gabriel, the son of Ghikondo, became aware of the incident and reported it to the Matai Police Station. Police officers from the Matai Police Station 2 arrived at the crime scene on June 22z 2023. With assistance from Mr. Gabriel, the son of Sinkondo, a police officer, H.382 D/CPL Bernard, created a sketch map of the crime scene. Additionally, after examining the deceased's body, Dr. Enos Emmanuel concluded that Simon Novatus Mpemba had died from interna! bleeding as a result of the injuries he had received from being struck by blunt objects. He, thus, filled up a postmortem report to that effect. On the first day of February 2024, the three accused persons were arrested by G. 1294 D/CPL Abuga who took them to Matai Police Station for interrogation They recorded their caution statements after they readily admitted to the offense. They were later brought before the court to answer charges of manslaughter brought under sections 195 and 198 of the Penal Code. On October 9, 2024, the accused came before this court. Following a reading and explanation of the charge sheet, which contained information about manslaughter, the three accused entered an admission of guilt. The prosecution did also read over the facts constituting the offense, and, upon being asked, the accused persons informed the court that all such facts were correct, and they admitted them as well. 3 Given that the three accused persons pleaded guilty to the charge sheet (information) and also admitted the facts of the case, both the charge sheet and the facts constituting the case having been read over and explained to them, it was the finding of this court that the accused persons' plea was unequivocal. In law, where an accused person has unequivocally pleaded guilty to the offence for which he stands charged, the accused will be found guilty by this court and must be convicted based on his own plea. In view of that, this court finds the three accused persons guilty and proceeds to convict them of the offence of manslaughter for which they stand charged. SENTENCING PROCEEDINGS AGGRAVAHNG/MITIGATING FACTORS The learned State Attorney representing the republic, Mr. Komba, informed this court in his submission that none of the three accused had ever been convicted of a crime. That implied that each of the three is a first-time offender. However, Mr. Komba urged this court to impose a deserving and severe sentence because the three accused persons caused the death of a very young boy who was below the age of 13, as they used 4 a very excessive force when they administered the beatings on the deceased. He submitted that the three accused persons were all beating such a boy, a fact that was quite unfair, and that they even took a very long time to beat the deceased. According to Mr. Komba, the accused persons ought to have been reasonable and taken the boy to his parents for a reprimand. He contended that they did not show any mercy to the little boy whom they were so ruthlessly beating. He concluded that the three accused persons were wholly unreasonable and ruthless and caused a loss of precious manpower as the boy was still a young child attending school. He contended, therefore, that the three accused's punishment should be severe to send a lesson to others who take the law in their own hands. For her part, Ms. Neema Charles, the advocate who appeared for the three accused, urged this court to consider the fact that the accused are still young men and that they have spent about seven months in remand prison. She submitted that, the first accused is married and has three children and wife who are depending on him. She also urged 5 the court to consider the accused persons’ readiness to enter a plea of guilty, a fact that saved the precious time of this court. For that matter, she urged this court to be lenient when sentencing the accused person. Sentencing I have considered the fact that the accused persons are first-time offenders. I also keep in mind that by entering a guilty plea, they have avoided the need for additional time and money that would have been required if the prosecution had called witnesses to support their allegations. But even though everything that their advocate, Ms. Charles, said is pertinent, I also think that what Mr. Komba, the learned state attorney, said, has merit—especially when you take into account that the deceased was a schoolboy and a minor. The beating administered to the deceased was too excessive, even if the intention was not to take away his life. The three accused persons were too ruthless and merciless on the young boy. They should have exercised their minds reasonably and could have brought the matter to the deceased's parents to have him reprimanded if he had any bad 6 behaviour, or even they could have brought him to the juvenile court to be treated in accordance with the law. However, they choose to be the police, the prosecutors, and the judges on their own. Furthermore, it is imperative that they receive instruction on demonstrating responsible behavior, which can only be provided to them during their jail sentence. For that matter, I will sentence them to serve a two-year jail sentence. It is so ordered. DATED AT SUMBAWANGA ON THIS 09™ DAY OF OCTOBER DEO JOHN NANGELA JUDGE 7