godfrey msengi vs republic 1980 tzca 101 27 may 1980

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF TANZANIA AT DODOl lA (CORAH: M u sta fa , A g .C .J ., M wakasendo, Jo A. and Makame, J .A . ) r- ,1 I ■- — ,............................................ r ,,,.'" ." " "" " CRIMINAL A P P E A L NO. 14 OF 1980 n E T W E E N GODFREYMSENGI „ „. . „ . „ „ „ . APPELLANT A N D THEREPUBLIC . „ . . „„ „ „ „ . „„ „ „ „ . „ „ . RESPONDENT ( A p p e a l from th e c o n v i c t i o n o f t h e High C o u r t o f T a n z a n i a a t S i n g i d a ) ( L u g a k i n g i r a , J . ) d a t e d the 10th d a y o f M arch, 1980, ■ in CRIMINAL SESSIONS CASE NO. 48 OF 1978 JUDGMENT OF THE COURT MUSTAFA, A g .C .J .:. The v i l l a g e r s of K o n k ilan ge v illa g e decid ed to chase o u t some r e p u t e d c a ttle th ieves. The d e c e a s e d was supposed t o be one o f them. On the 22nd D ecem ber, 1977, the v i l l a g e r s c o lle c te d th e deceased and two o r three of the other reputed c a ttle th iev es and e s c o r t e d them out of the v i l l a g e . In th e course of the jo u rn ey the d e c e a s e d panicked and r a n o ff. A number o f v illa g e rs c h a s e d him, caught up w ith and b e a t him m e r c i le s s ly w ith stic k s. He was battered to de a th , h is head was a mass o f b r o k e n bon e and f l e s h and b l o o d , and h i s stomach s p lit open. He d i e d of h a em o rrh a ge and shock. T w e lv e v illa g e rs w e re charged w ith the o ffen ce of m urder. The R e p u b l i c e n t e r e d n o l l e s fo r fiv e , and the tria l ju dge a t the tria l h eld that three of the a c c u s e d had no c a s e to answ er. That l e f t fou r accused, b e in g Accused 2, Accused 3, A c c u s e d 4 and A c c u s e d 5, as th e y w e re so d e s c r i b e d at the t r i a l cou rt. Accused 2 was a cq u itted after the tria l, Accused 3 and A c c u s e d 4 w e re c o n vic te d of a ssa u lt and d isch arged sin ce t h e y had b e e n i n custody f o r over one y e a r . Accused 5, is the a p p e lla n t in th is a p p eal. He was c o n v ic te d of m u rd er and sentenced to de a th . ,.../2 - 2 - The o n ly e v id e n c e again st him i s h is e x t r a - j u d i c i a l statem ent to a J u stic e of the P e a c e , w h ic h he h as n o t ch alle n g ed at the tria lo He r e m a i n e d s ile n t and made no d e f e n c e a fter the p r o s e c u tio n case ended. The r e l e v a n t parts o f h is statem ent r e a d : "We e i g h t p e o p l e w e r e s e l e c t e d t o c h as e away th e d e c e a s e d b e c a u s e he was a c a t t l e th ie f The d e c e a s e d . .„ took to h is h e els. We d e c i d e d t o p u r s u e him . We w e re a l l a n g r y and we a l l b e a t him . I h i t the d e c e a s e d on th e head w i t h a s t ic k once. H a v in g be e n b e a t e n th e deceased d ie d . We th e n r e t u r n e d homt;. . . . we r e p o r t e d t h a t we had k i l l e d th e d e c e a s e d . " As we said e a rlie r, the b o d y of the d e c e a s e d v.'as = r.^ss of battered fle sh and b o n e . The t r i a l ju d g e h e ld that the e x t r a - j u d i c i a l statem ent amounted t o a c o n fessio n o f m urder. We have exa m in e d the c irc u m sta n c es and we agree w ith the tria l ju dge on t h i s m atter. We a re s a tisfie d that the a p p e lla n t was r i g h t l y co n vic te d of m urder and we f i n d no m e r i t in the a p p e a l w h ic h is d ism issed . DATED a t DODOMA t h i s 2 7th day of May, 1980. A. MUSTAFA ACTING CHIEF JUSTICE Y. M. M. MWAKASENDO JUSTICE OF APPEAL L . M. MAKAME JUSTICE OF APPEAL I c e rtify that th is is a true copy o f the o rig in a l. / /( 1[-j ■1-ueC o ( L . A. A. KYANDO ) DEPUTY REGISTRAR