MAHELA S JUDGMENT FINAL VERSION

IN THE HIGH COURT OF THE UNITED REPUBLIC OF TANZANIA DAR ES SALAAM SUB-REGISRTY AT DAR ES SALAAM CRIMINAL SESSION NO. 33472/2024 REPUBLIC Vs CLEMENCE MENDRAD MAHELA JUDGMENT Date of last order:13-3-2025 Date of Judgement: 4-4-2025 B.K. PHILLIP, J The accused is charged with the offence of murder contrary to sections 196 and 197 of the Penal Code, Cap 16 R.E 2022. It was the prosecution’s case that Clemence Mendrad Mahela, on the 30th of March 2024, at Kiwalani area within Ilala District in Dar es Salaam region, did murder Rose Augustino Ndunguru ( hereinafter to be referred to as “ the deceased”). 1 At the hearing of this case, the learned State Attorneys, Shindai Michael, Cuthbert Mbilinyi, and Judith Kiama, appeared on behalf of the Republic. The learned Advocate Neema Saruni appeared for the accused. The issue for determination in this case is whether or not the accused caused the deceased’s death. In proving their case the learned State Attorneys , paraded eleven witnesses, namely, Mwanaisha Salum Mazongera-(PW1), Ummy Mwalimu-(PW2), Adamu Andrea Mwakatika-(PW3), Tajiri Shabani Madigwa-( PW4), Shakira Mohamed -(PW5), Erack Zero Mfupi -(PW6) E8207 D/SGT Samweli- (PW7), SP Geofrey Simba (PW8), Dr. Alex Mashaka- ( PW9), Rukia Heri-(PW10), and Dr. Enock Changarawe ( PW11). PW1, Mwanaisha Salum Mazongera, testified that the accused was a tenant in one of her two houses, which were opposite to each other. He was staying in the rear rooms in the house, which was adjacent to the mosque. He had been staying in her house since 9th February 2024. On 30 March 2024, PW10, who was also a tenant in that house, informed her that she had heard the woman yelling for help from the accused’s room.PW1 went to the accused's room and asked him what the matter was and who 2 was yelling for help in his room. The accused's response was that the one who was making noises was his lover, but they had reconciled. The next day, that is, 31st March 2024, PW2, a tenant in PW1’s second house, informed her (PW1) that she had seen the accused carrying a woman on a motorcycle commonly known as a “bodaboda”. That person looked very weak. So, she and PW2 decided to sit on the verandah of the house where the accused was staying to wait for him. Within a short time, they saw the accused coming back, and when he saw them, he hesitated. He started going back, but later he started coming back towards where they were sitting. He passed them while walking to his room, talking on his cell phone. She heard him saying the following words in the Kiswahili language, “I have taken him/her to his/her mother. He/she wanted to bring problems to me, he/she pretended to be sick, but when he/she arrived at his/her mother’s residence, he/she looked fine and was laughing”. He went to his room. She and PW2 followed him. PW2 (Ummy) informed their ten-cell leader, Latifa Mlete, who joined them. She asked the accused about the person he was carrying when he left with the motorcycle/bodaboda. The accused told her that she was her brother’s wife. She asked him again why she had spent the night with his brother’s wife in his room. The accused 3 replied that the woman went to her mother, but she was chased away. She asked him where she had taken that woman. The accused replied that she took her to her mother, in Kigilagila area, Kipawa. Then, she asked him to call the person where he had taken that woman. The accused told her that person’s cellphone was not reachable. Finally, she asked the accused to take them to the place where she had taken the woman. The accused agreed. They started going to a bus stop. On the way, the accused told them that the place where he was taking them is known as Sigara. It is very far, and it is not safe to go there at late hours. They attempted to hire a motorcycle, but were unsuccessful because the motorcycle riders refused to take them to Sigara area and told them that the place was not safe to visit at late hours. They returned home. She advised that the accused should be taken to the police station, but the accused requested to be allowed to stay in his room. He told them that he had problems. His mother was lost. She came to Dar es Salaam from Ifakara, Morogoro, but her current whereabouts were unknown. Following the accused’s request, they agreed to let the accused spend the night in his room and meet the next morning so that he could take them to Sigara area. The ten-cell leader, Latifa, asked the accused to surrender his two cellphones to her. 4 The following day, she, Ummy (PW2), and the ten-cell leader went to the accused's room, as they had agreed the previous day, only to find the accused’s room closed and the accused not there. Latifa told them to wait for the accused’s sister, Shakira, because the previous day, the accused had mentioned that his sister, Shakira, would visit him. Within a short time, one of the accused’s cell phones rang. Latifa received the call. It was Shakira ( PW 5). She wanted to talk to the accused. Latifa told her that she confiscated the accused’s cell phones because the accused owes her money. She asked her where she was as she wanted to see her. Shakira explained to her where she was. Latifa and PW2 ( Ummy) followed Shakira. She did not go to see Shakira. Moreover, PW1 identified the accused before the court. In response to questions posed to her during cross-examination, PW1 told this court that he did not witness the accused killing the deceased. PW1’s testimony was supported by that of PW10, who testified that she knew the accused. He was her co-tenant in PW1’s house at Kiwalani. Both rented the rear rooms in PW1’s house. On the 30th of March 2024, at 4:00 pm, she heard noises outside while in her room. She went out of her room 5 to follow up on what was happening. She noted that those noises were from the accused’s room. An adult woman was screaming and asking for help. She was shouting the following words in Kiswahili language “ help me , I am dying”. The door was open. She entered in the room to see what was on the floor. She saw an elderly woman lying down, and the accused was on top of that woman. She left and went outside, where she met other people coming towards the accused’s room. Then, she went back to the accused’s room, accompanied by other people, and found it closed. They knocked on the door, and the accused came out. He told them that he had settled the quarrel with the woman who was yelling for help. On 31st April 2024, she saw the accused. He was not settled. he looked worried. He locked his door, which was not his habit. Moreover, PW10 identified the accused before the court. PW1’s testimony was also supported by that of PW2, who testified that she knew the accused. He was her co-tenant in the houses owned by PW1. PW1 owns two adjacent houses. She stays in the house adjacent to the mosque, where the accused had rented a room. The accused was staying in the rear rooms in that house. On the 31st of March 2024, at 9:00 pm, he saw a motorcycle, commonly known as a “bodaboda”, parked at the 6 verandah of the house where the accused was staying. Then, she saw the accused coming from the house in the rear room carrying a woman who looked weak/ helpless, or dead. He boarded the motorcycle that was parked at the verandah and left with the woman he was carrying. She managed to identify the accused because there was an electric light from the mosque, where high-voltage bulbs provided a bright light, and in the house where the accused was staying, there was also an electric light. She informed PW1, her landlady, what she had seen, and both she and PW1 sat together on the verandah to wait for the accused. She went on to testify that finally they saw the accused coming back. When he saw them at the verandah, he seemed to panic. He started going back where he came from, but later he passed them while walking to his room, talking on his cellphone. He heard him saying the following words in Kiswahili. “I have taken him/her to his/her mother.” He/she wanted to bring problems to me, he/she pretended to be sick, but when she/he arrived at his /her mother’s residence, he /she looked fine and was laughing.” Regarding what transpired thereafter on that day, PW2 gave similar explanations as PW1. 7 Moreover, she testified that she is the assistant to the ten-cell leader, Latifa. On 1st April 2024, she went with Latifa to meet Shakira, the accused’s sister, who was with her friend. Upon meeting her, Latifa asked Shakira if she knew the accused. Shakira told them that the accused is his cousin. The accused called and informed her that his mother is lost. Upon Shakira being shown the two cell phones confiscated from the accused by Latifa, she recognized them. She told them one of the cellphones belonged to the deceased. After that, they went back to the accused’s room together with Shakira, and within about ten minutes, the accused also came back. He had a bag and was holding sandals in his hands. Latifa followed and asked him why he had decided to leave the previous night in contravention of the order she had given him. The accused told her to leave him alone as he was confused. Shakira asked him about the whereabouts of his mother. The accused told her that his mother was found in Buza and taken to the hospital, and her condition was not good. Then, the accused started washing the female clothes she came with. They locked the accused in a room. Latifa called the street chairman, who joined them. They removed the padlock and pushed the door, but were unable to open it because it was still locked from the inside. They asked the accused to open the door, 8 but he did not. Finally, the chairman broke the door. They found the accused lying on his back. He hit himself with the screwdriver in his stomach. The matter was reported to the police by the chairman. PW2 saw the accused when police officers from Buguruni Police Station arrived and took him from his room. Furthermore, PW2 identified the accused. In response to questions posed to him during cross-examination, PW2 told this court that she did not witness the accused killing the deceased. She did not tell the court what the accused was wearing when she saw him carrying a woman on 31st March 2024. The testimony of PW2 was supported by that of PW5, who testified that the accused is his cousin. On 31st March 2024, the accused informed her that his mother was lost. On 1st April 2024, she called the accused, and Latifa received his cell phone. She gave the same narrations as PW2 on how she met Latifa and went to the deceased’s residence, how the accused behaved when he arrived at his room and how he was removed from his room by the police after stabbing himself with a screw driver on his stomach. 9 Further, PW5 told this court that she informed Lucia Augustino Ndunguru, Henirick Mfupi, and Luciani Augustino Nduguru about what happened to the accused and the deceased. Additionally, she visited the Buguruni Police station to search for the deceased. Upon arriving there, she was informed that a woman had been found on the Railway line in the Buza area and was taken to the Hospital. They advised her to go to Temeke Hospital. She went to Temeke Hospital, where she found the deceased. Her condition was critical. She was unconscious. The deceased remained at Temeke until 2nd April 2024, when she was transferred to MOI -Muhimbili. On 5th May 2024, she was informed by the Doctor from MOI that the deceased had passed away. She informed her relatives and went to the Buguruni police station to report the deceased’s death. The police knew that the accused had injured the deceased. Moreover, PW5 identified the accused before the court. During cross-examination, PW5 told this that she did not witness the accused killing the deceased. The accused told her that his mother was lost. When he met him, he asked him about the whereabouts of the deceased, but his answers were vague. He looked unsettled. The deceased used to tell her that her relationship with her son ( the accused) was not good. 10 The testimonies of PW1 and PW5 were supported by the testimony of PW8, SP Geofrey Simba, whose testimony was as follows: He was in charge of Buguruni Police Station. On 1st April 2024, at 10.00 am, he received a call from the chairman of the Kiwalani Yombo area, called Muslimi Mohamed Dada. He informed him that there was a problem in Kiwalani Matenkini area. A tenant of Ms. Mbembe stabbed himself with a screw driver on his stomach and his condition was not good. He and investigators in the forensic bureau went to the crime scene in Kiwalani. He met Mr. Dada, the Landlady’s daughter called Mwanaisha Salum, Ummy Athumani, the assistant to the Ten cell leader, Rukia Heri, a tenant in that house, and Latifa Mlete, the Ten cell leader of the Kiwalani area. They informed him what happened. They showed him the room where the accused was. He found the accused had stabbed himself with a screwdriver in his stomach. The screw driver was still in his stomach. His condition was not good. He was bleeding. He asked him why he decided to injure himself. He told him that he had quarreled with his mother, Rose Ndunguru (deceased). He assaulted her on 30th March 2024. The accused was hardly responding to his question. He ordered the police officers to take him to Amana Hospital for treatment. Additionally, he ordered an investigation file to be opened regarding that incident. The same was 11 opened to investigate why the accused injured himself and the reason for assaulting his mother, whose whereabouts were unknown. It was file ref, No BUG/CID/PE/77/2024. He assigned D/SGT Samweli, D/CPL Mariam, and D/CPL Peter to investigate the case. On the same date, 1st April 2024, he received information that good Samaritans had picked up a woman who had been abandoned at the Buza Sigara area along the Railway line to the Buza Health Center. He went to Buza Health Center with a team of investigators. He met the on-duty doctor, who informed him that good Samaritans had brought to the health center a female patient. The Doctor told him that in his investigation he noted that the patient was raped and sodomized, and her neck was broken. So, he decided to refer her to Temeke Hospital. He went to Temeke hospital with the team of investigators. Upon arriving at Temeke Hospital, the doctor took them to the patient they were looking for. They found her in bad condition. She was not able to speak. While they were there, he met a lady called Shakira ( PW5) who had come to the hospital to see the same patient. She told him that the sick woman was her aunt. He took her telephone number for further communication. Later, he received information that on 2nd April 2024, the sick lady was referred to MOI- Muhimbili because she had a fractured skull. Shakira kept him informed 12 about the patient's progress. On 8th April 2024, the accused was discharged from Amana Hospital and brought to the Buguruni Police Station. He ordered the investigators to record his caution statement, and later they informed him that the accused admitted that he assaulted his mother ( the deceased) and abandoned her at the Railway line in the Buza Sigara area. On 5th May 2024, at 8.00 am, PW5 informed him by phone call that the deceased passed away on that day at 5.00 am. He asked Shakira to come to his office. Then he ordered the investigators to open a file for a murder case. He ordered D/SGT Samweli to record the accused’s caution statement in respect of the murder case. Later on, D/SGT Samweli informed him that the accused admitted that he caused the death of his mother ( the deceased). Moreover, PW8 identified him before the court. In response to questions posed to him during cross-examination, PW8 told this court that when he arrived at the crime scene with the team of investigators, he interrogated the accused, who told them that he had assaulted his mother. He made that admission in the presence of Muslim Mohamed Dada, Latifa Said, Inspector Upendo, and D/CPL Mariam. 13 PW5’s testimony was also supported by that of PW3, who testified as follows: he is a resident of the Buza, Sigara area in Temeke, Dar es Salaam, a priest at the JCI Church, and a painter. On 1st April 2024, he saw many people heading towards the area where the Railway line passes. He was attracted to go there to see what was the matter. He joined the group of people going there. Upon arriving there, he saw the deceased lying at the edge of the Railway line. Her condition was critical. She was unconscious. He called the leader of that area, namely Lulu, who ordered him to take the deceased to the police station. A person who had a bajaji assisted them in taking the deceased to the police station, where they directed them to go to the Buza Health Center. He was with five other people, including Boniface, Nduguru, Frank, and Michael. He paid Tshs. 22,000/= for the treatment of the deceased. The deceased was admitted. When they were at the Buza Health Center, the accused came. He went to the Doctor who was attending the deceased. They saw the Doctor taking him to the room where the deceased was admitted. After a short time, the accused emerged from the room with a bag of clothes and was crying, saying in Swahili, “My mother, my mother.” He and the other people who took the deceased to Buza Health Center asked the accused to give them his cellphone number, but he told them that 14 he had forgotten it. Then, they left. At 6.00pm, the doctor who was attending the deceased called him. he wanted the cell phone number of the accused to inform him that the deceased’s condition was deteriorating, and he was referred to Temeke Hospital. Later on, he heard that the deceased had passed away. Moreover, PW3, identified the accused before the court. In response to questions posed to him during cross-examination, PW3 told this court that he did not know the name of the deceased. The police officer did not provide them with the PF. He was just informed about the deceased’s death. PW4 supported the testimony of PW3 and PW5. He told this court that he is a clinical officer stationed at Buza Health Center. He received the deceased on 1st April 2024. He was brought to Buza Health Center by good Samaritan. Her condition was bad. She was not able to speak. Upon checking her he noted that she was raped and sodomized. She was very dirty. Her body had faeces and mud. The accused came to Buza Health Center looking for his mother, whom he said was lost, and upon showing him the deceased, he recognized her as his mother. The nurses gave the accused the dirty clothes 15 the deceased wore and asked him to bring her clean clothes. He took the dirty clothes and went out crying. Later, PW3 referred the deceased to Temeke Referral Hospital because her condition was critical. Moreover, PW4 identified the accused before the court. In response to questions posed to him during cross-examination, PW4 told this court that he did not tell this court the name of the patient he received on 1st April 2024, and did not mention the type of clothes that the deceased wore when she was brought to Buza Health Center. PW 7 testified that on 2nd April 2024, his boss, SP Geofrey Simba, assigned him to investigate the accused’s case. By that time the accused was admitted at Amana referral Hospital as he had stabbed himself with screw driver in his stomach. After being discharged from the hospital on 8th April 2024, the accused was returned to the Buguruni police station. He interrogated him on why he injured himself. The accused told him that on 30th March 2024 at 4.00 pm, she received his mother, the late Rose Augustino Ndunguru, at the Tazara Railway station from Ifakara, Morogoro, and took her to his room in Kiwalani Matankini. While they were in the room, only two of them he grabbed her by the hand and pushed her onto the bed. He undressed and raped her. Also, he sodomized her. Her mother started shouting. Then, he 16 hit her with a piece of wood. Her mother fell down and became unconscious. On that day, he spent a night with her in his room. On 31st March 2024 in the morning, he went to a Motorcycle/bodaboda stand at Kwalimboa, he met a bodaboda rider called Ibrahim Athuman. He asked him for his cell phone number and told him that he would call him because he had a sick person in his room. At 9.00pm, he called Ibrahim Athumani, but Ibrahim did not come quickly. Then he decided to look for another motorcycle. He went into his room, carried his mother, and boarded the motorcycle/ bodaboda while carrying her. He abandoned her at Buza Sigara along the Tazara Railway line. Thereafter, he returned to his room, and the motorcycle rider proceeded with his business. He arrived at his room, Kiwalani, at 9.30 pm. He found his ten-cell leader, Latifa Said Mlete, with her assistant, Ummy Athumani, and the landlady’s daughter, Mwainaisha Salum. Further, he told him ( PW7) that he stabbed himself with the screwdriver because he went to see her mother at Buza Health Center and found her in critical condition. He was arrested on 1st April 2024, by SP Geoffrey Simba and taken to Amana Hospital. Moreover, PW7 testified that in his investigation, he learned that the deceased was taken to Buza Health Center by good Samaritans, one of 17 whom was Adam Mwakatika. She was admitted to Buza Health Center, then referred to Temeke Hospital, and was finally transferred to MOI-Muhimbili. On 5th May 2024, his boss, SP Simba, called him at around 9.45 am. He informed him that the deceased had passed away and ordered him to record the accused’s caution. A new file for a murder case was opened.He took the accused from the remand to the office where he interviewed him. The accused was in good condition. He introduced himself to him and informed him of all his rights, including the right to call an advocate, a relative, or a friend to witness the recording of the caution statement. He recorded the accused’s caution statement a per the law in which the accused admitted that he injured, raped and sodomized the deceased, and abandoned her at the Railway line in Buza area. He admitted that he caused the deceased’s death. PW7 tendered in court the accused’s caution statement, which was admitted as Exhibit P1 after a trial within a trial was conducted, as the defence counsel objected to its admission in evidence. Moreover, PW7 identified the accused before the court. PW9, Dr. Alex Mashaka, examined the deceased. His testimony was that he is a pathologist working at Muhimbili National Hospital in the department of Pathology. On 13th May 2024 at 1.00 pm, he was on duty. His boss assigned 18 him to examine the deceased. The coroner’s order was brought to him by D/CPL Peter, and there were two relatives of the deceased present, namely Oliver Ndunguru and Henry Zeno Mfupi. The deceased was Rose Augustino Ndunguru. She was identified by the relatives aforementioned. The relatives left from the mortuary. He checked the deceased’s body from the head to the toe and then dissected it on the stomach, the head, and the chest. He noted that the deceased’s head had scars on the left-hand side. The skull was fractured but had started healing. The brain was swollen. Also, the deceased had wounds on her buttocks and heels. He realized that the cause of death was severe traumatic brain injury due to blunt force with hemorrhagic brain contusions and brain edema. He filled in the postmortem report, in which he indicated the deceased’s cause of death. Finally, the deceased was handed over to the relatives for burial services. PW1 tendered the post-mortem report in court, which was admitted as Exhibit P2. In response to questions posed to him during cross-examination, PW9 told this court that the deceased had wounds in her buttocks because she had been lying on the bed for a long time without movement. The deceased had scars on the head and face. 19 PW9’s testimony was supported by the testimony of PW6, Erack Zero Mfupi, who testified that the deceased was his relative. The accused is his brother- in-law. He was informed about the deceased’s death by his sister-in-law, namely Shakira. By then, he was in Tanga. After receiving the information, he had to come to Dar es Salaam. Shakira told him that the accused injured the deceased. The relationship between the accused and the deceased was not good. The accused used to use abusive words to his mother. He used to steal his mother’s property. After the deceased’s death, they wanted to bury her within a short time, but they did not have enough funds to settle the hospital bill to the tune of Tshs. 6,100,000/= .So they had to raise funds to settle the hospital bill. On 13th May 2024, they managed to raise Tshs 1,000,000/=, which was paid at MOI- Muhimbili.Family members appointed him to go to the mortuary with Oliver Luciani Ndunguru, to identify the deceased. On 14th May 2024. The deceased was taken to Morogoro, Mugeta Village, by the Tazara Railway line for burial. PW 11, Dr. Enock Changarawe, testified that he is a medical doctor and psychiatrist at the Mirembe National Mental Health Hospital with more than 13 years of experience. On 14th February 2025, he received the accused, 20 Clemence Medard Mahela. A police officer brought him from the prison for examination to determine whether or not, when he committed the offence charged against him, he was in good mental health. He examined the accused with the assistance of the nurses and the social welfare officer. The accused was asked several questions, including details about the offence he was facing. If he had any signs of mental problems previously. The accused responded that he did not commit the offence charged against him, and had not suffered mental illness/ problem previously. They observed his behaviour, movements, where he liked to stay, and his mood. In his investigation, he realized that the accused has no mental illness. He composed his report and sent it to the High Court of Tanzania Dar es Salaam sub-registry. The accused was handed over to the prison officer. PW11 tendered in court the report from Mirembe National Mental Health Hospital ( exhibit P3) and identified the accused person before the court. In response to a question posed to him during cross-examination, PW11 informed the court as follows: He prepared the report in accordance with the law. The law requires that the accused be examined within 48 days. He stayed with the accused for three days. The accused did not undergo any tests. The accused did not inform him that he was experiencing a headache. 21 On the other hand, the accused was the only defence witness. His testimony was as follows: Before his arrest, he was staying alone in a room he had rented at a house owned by Ms. Mbembe.On the 2nd of April 2024, he was in Amana Hospital. He did not know how he got there, but when he regained his consciousness, he found himself in the hospital. He saw a police officer who chained him to the bed. Then he realized that he was stitched on his stomach. He continued with treatment up to 8th April 2024. When he was discharged and taken to Buguruni police station in a lock-up. After a short time he was taken to an interrogation room where he was interrogated on why he stabbed himself with a screw driver on his stomach. He told the police officers that he was not able to recall anything. They took him back to the lock-up. After three days, he was taken back to the interrogation room. They asked him again why he stabbed himself with a screwdriver in his stomach. He told them that he did not remember anything. They returned him to the lockup again. After some days, the police officers took him to the interrogation room again. They asked him the same question, and he repeated what he told them previously. Then they told him that he was pretending to know nothing while he killed his mother. He was shocked, and 22 told them that his mother was in Morogoro. She left for Morogoro on 15th December 2023. The police officer kept on telling him that he killed his mother, and that he should tell them the truth. There were about five police officers. Two of them were Peter and Samweli. Peter opened his shirt. He started touching his wound on his stomach where he was stitched, forcing him to admit that he killed his mother ( the deceased). He told them that, to his knowledge, his mother was not in Dar es Salaam. They took a stick and started beating him on his back. His condition was not good. They assaulted him and started pulling the stitches on his stomach. They forced him to admit the murder case. Then, he had to agree with whatever they told him. They finished interrogating him and then gave him a paper to sign. After that, they took him back to the lock-up. After some time, he was taken to Tabata school Police station’s lock-up. Samweli used to come to Tabata Shule police station with papers that he ordered him to sign. On 7th November 2024, he was arraigned in court for murder and was taken to Segerea prison. Moreover, being led by his advocate, the accused testified that he did not carry any woman and board a “bodaboda” as alleged by the prosecution witnesses. He denied knowing the “bodaboda” rider mentioned in Exhibit 23 P1. ( the Caution Statement). He told this court that in his room, there was only a mattress. He did not assault and or injure his mother and abandon her at Sigara area. The relationship with his mother was good, and did not quarrel with her. He used to talk with her very well. He did not rape and sodomize his mother ( the deceased). He had no grudges with his mother. He was the only son of his mother. His health condition is not good. He is suffering from loss of feeling ( numbness) on the right side of his body from the head to the toes. He started suffering from that disease in 2018. Numbness causes itching on the head. There was a time he became forgetful. His mother took him to the hospital. He was given some medicines which gave him some relief, but he has stopped taking those medicines for a long period now. His mother was staying in Temeke ABC, Dar es Salaam. He used to visit her. He did not remember the last day he communicated with his mother when she went to Morogoro. He knows Shakira. It is not true that he stole his mother’s property or uttered abusive words to her. His relationship with Shakira is not good. He did not know the reason behind the grudges she had shown him. 24 During cross-examination, his response to the questions posed to him was as follows: It is true that he recorded his caution statement at the police station in respect of the death of Rose Ndunguru. He explained to the police officer what had happened after being forced. Rose Ndunguru was his late mother. She passed away on 5th May 2024. He did not inform this court during his testimony in chief where he was on the 31st of March 2024, and 1st of April, 2024. He was staying in Kiwalani in a house owned by Ms. Mbembe. Mwanaisha is indeed the daughter of Ms. Mbembe, the landlady. During his testimony in chief, he did not tell this court why he stabbed himself with a screwdriver in his stomach. He met Samweli for the first time when he was taken to the police station. He did not know Samwel before. He has no grudges with Samweli. He had not presented any evidence to substantiate his claim about his illness. He indeed found his mother at Buza Health Center, and when she saw her, he started crying. At Buza Health Center, he was given his mother’s clothes for washing. He did not raise any complaints about the medical report from Mirembe National Mental Health Hospital because he was unaware of its contents. 25 In this case, there is no dispute that the deceased died an unnatural death. According to Exhibit P1 (Postmortem report), the deceased’s cause of death was severe traumatic brain injury due to blunt force with hemorrhagic brain contusions and brain edema. As alluded to earlier in this judgment, the crucial question in this case is who caused the deceased’s death/murdered the deceased. There is, admittedly, no eyewitness evidence of the murder of the deceased. Thus, the prosecution side relied on circumstantial evidence to prove the offence charged against the accused. In his defence the accused told this court that he was a tenant in the house owned by PW1’s family in Kiwalani area, Dar es Salaam Region, and did not dispute that on the 30th March 2024, he was in his room at Kiwalani area. According to the testimony of PW10, on the 30th of March 2024, there was a woman in the accused’s room who was yelling for help, saying that she was dying. PW1 testified that she asked the accused, who was yelling for help, and the accused told her that it was his brother’s wife, and they had resolved the problem. On 31st March 2024, PW2, with the assistance of the electricity light from the mosque bulbs and the house where the accused was staying, she saw the accused carrying a woman from the rear of the house at around 9:00 pm. He boarded a motorcycle carrying that woman, who looked very weak and helpless. On 26 the 1st of April 2024, PW3 picked the deceased from the Tazara Railway line. He took her to Buza Health Center together with other good Samaritans, where she was attended by PW4, who told this court that he received the deceased in a critical condition. The accused went to Buza Health Center looking for his mother. Upon being shown the deceased, he declared that she was his mother. He was given the deceased’s clothes, which were dirty, for washing. On that very day, the accused went back to his room with dirty female clothes. Let me interpose here. Logic dictates that those clothes were the ones he was given at Buza Health Center. Additionally, PW7 tendered in court the accused’s caution statement (Exhibit P 1), which was admitted in evidence after conducting a trial within a trial. In exhibit P1 the accused the admitted that he raped and sodomized his mother in his room on the 30th March 2024. And when his mother started shouting, he hit her with a wooden stick on her head, and she kept quiet. The following day, 31st March 2024, he took and abandoned her at the Railway line in the Buza area, where PW3 and other good Samaritans rescued her. I am aware that it is always desirable to seek corroboration in support of a confession that has been retracted or repudiated before acting 27 on it to the detriment of the accused. [ See the case of Dickson Elia Nsamba Shapwata and another Vs. Republic, Criminal Appeal No. 92 of 2007 (unreported)]. In this case, Exhibit P1 is corroborated by the testimonies of PW1, PW2, and PW3, as previously elaborated upon in this judgment. I am aware that the standard of proof in criminal cases is beyond a reasonable doubt and that if the court decides to rely on circumstantial evidence, then the same should irresistibly point out that the accused person caused the death of the deceased and exclude other persons. [See the case of Sikujua Iddi Vs. The Republic, Criminal Appeal No. 484 of 2019 (unreported)]. The aforementioned legal principle is tested by examining the chain of events and evidence presented to the court. Suffice it to say that the chain of events I have elaborated in the analysis of the prosecution evidence connects the accused to the deceased’s cause of death without leaving any scintilla of doubt. This is vividly evident in the prosecution’s evidence. Starting from the undisputed fact that the accused was a tenant at PW1’s house through the testimony of PW10 who testified how she heard a woman yelling for help from the accused’s room and PW2 who saw the 28 accused on the 31st of March 2024 carrying a woman who looked very weak and helpless, to the testimony of PW3 who picked a woman abandoned at Railway line, took her to Buza Health Center, and later on the accused went there and recognized that woman ( deceased) as his mother, creates a clear chain of events which shows that the accused caused the deceased’s death. Not only that, the accused’s attempt to kill himself shows that he wanted to avoid the responsibility of what he did, bearing in mind that as per the testimony of PW11 and exhibit P3 ( a Report from Mirembe National Mental Health Hospital), the accused had no mental illness, thus he was able to foresee what would befall him after causing the death of his mother. In the upshot, I am satisfied that the prosecution evidence irresistibly points to the accused as the one who caused the deceased’s death and excludes other persons. The testimonies of the prosecution witnesses, as summarized herein, align closely with the contents of the accused’s caution statement (Exhibit P1). This is not a mere coincidence, but rather a testament to the fact that the prosecution witnesses are credible. 29 Additionally, the accused’s act of stabbing himself with a screwdriver on his stomach just after coming back from where he had abandoned the deceased shows that the accused had a guilty conscience. I have considered the accused’s defence. In my opinion, it is a sham. It did not shake the prosecution's case at all. The critical analysis of the defence case shows that it supports the prosecution's case. For instance, the accused testified that he was a tenant of PW1’s family, and PW1 was staying with the accused in the same house. The accused occupied a room at the rear of the house. This supports the testimonies of PW1, PW2, and PW10. The accused admitted that he went to Buza Health Center and found his mother admitted there. This again supports the testimony of PW3 and PW4. The accused admitted that he stabbed himself with a screw driver. That supports the testimonies of PW1, PW2, PW5, and PW6. From the foregoing, the circumstantial evidence adduced by the prosecution witnesses proves beyond a reasonable doubt that the accused murdered the deceased, Rosemary Augustino Ndunguru. Thus, I hereby convict Clemence 30 Mendrad Mahela of the offence of murder contrary to sections 196 and 197 of the Penal Code. Dated at Dar es Salaam this 4th day of April 2025 B.K.PHILLIP JUDGE SENTENCE: The sentence for a convict of murder is only one, that is, death by hanging as per section 197 of the penal code. Thus, I hereby sentence the accused person to death by hanging. Dated at Dar es Salaam this 4th day of April 2024 B.K.PHILLIP JUDGE 31 32 33