19851202 TZHC Dar es Salaam

IN THE HIGH COURT OF TANZANIA · .AT DAR ES S.ALAJ\M APPELLATE JURISDICTION HIGH CC>URT CRn~INAL APPEAL NG. 78/84 ·ORIGIN.AL CRIMINAL CASE N0.454 vF' 84 OF THE DISTRIC~ CuURT CF KISUTU DISTRICT AT DAR ES SAL.A.AM Before MPEREL~ Y.S. Esq., District Magis1rat~ Sen,i.Q..r ·ABDALLA YUNUS • , ........ , ••••• , •••••• • • • •. • • •, .Appellant · ,•ersus THE UNITED REPUBLIC ••••• , •••• , ••• • • •• • •., • •, Res_pond.e:n.t (trigin~l Pl'oeeoutor) JUDGEMENT Maina 1 J. Abdallah Yunus ie appealing against his conviction for robbery with v,olenoe and the sentence of seven years imprisonment imposed by the district oourt at 'K isutu, ·Brief ly1 the proee-.ution evidence was i'ls fo: ..:.;.. i~S. On the aight of 4,5.1964 at about 8 p.m. PW l Ruth XasaJ!lbala was wal'~ing f.ro■ l( inondon:L Bus Stand towards her house when she w<'::.; nttao'ced by tw• men, One of them was .the appellant whom the appel+ant. :-1cnlil~ . ,· .. as they · hmd been in the same school befpre. The appellall.t' fore,ibl.y tootc the wrist watoh from the oompla::inant's hand- by'•pu1ti11.:'.?, the leather ....., ... . ' stra,P and. iore it away. The appellant's . companion r stole Ruth's bag which contained oaeh shs. 2,000/c and ·other items. Both tlhe appellant and his oompanion ran away. The incident was witnesses by PW 2;, Hauan Usali who arrived in the 'scen·e dr:. ving a oar. He reoosnized. the app~llant from the head lights of his oar. After the . appel·lant had. ru.n away, PW l Ruth reported to Police and in the mean1tme PW 2 Hassan gave a ohaee in his oar and he sought the eaeistanoa of a militiaman, PW 4 Ibrahim Juma. Both witnesses found the appellant in possession of the wallet. They arrested him and ■ ent him to the Oyster Bay Police Station whe~s PW l Ruth identified the cash WflS missing and the appellant told the _witnesses th.at his oompanion had run away with the money, The appellant's defence was that he had t3en drin'~ ing beer aad that he was drun1('. tvhen he was arrested. . II. As the iearned tri~l ~agistrate pr~perly directe~ himself, ,.· the .case'rests on the 1dentification of the appellant. It wa~ beyond dispute that PW 1 Ruth and the appellant had been in the same ~chool. There was no doubt therefore that the complainant very well and she identified him. Rut.h's evidence \vas supported by that of PW.2 Hassan who ivas an eye witness and PW 4 Ibrahim who,: with PW 2 Hassan, arrested the appellant a few minutes after the robbery, and the appellant was in possession of the complainant's wallet. There was no reason to disbelieve that evidence. Having believed the pr6seoution evidence, the trial magistrate quite properly rejected the defence. The evidence against the appellan·t was .in my view I overwhelming and the conviction was inevitable. 1 The aentenoe is the minimum under the l~w. In the rosult, this appeal fails and it i·· rlismissed in its entirely. I~'-'~ l'\/\Ji.11. IA(,..__. W.J. tlAIN.A, ,.. JUDGE Dar es Salaam 2nd Deeember, 1985 Muocadam for ~he appellant Chiza, State Attorney, for the Republic.