19860618 TZCA Dar es Salaam

IN '.i'HE COURT OF APPEAL OF TANZ/\_NIA · 1 .. :. . . ~ AT ;MWt\NZA CORAM: CRIMINAL APPE~L NO. 78 OF 1985 ...,:r·, KATABE KACHOCHOBA. !. APPEr_.,t;ANT. ·.· ·.. :~ ;..·•. ALD l THE REPUBLIC. • • • • l •• RESPONDENT (Appeal from conviction of the High Court .. --~-- of Tanzania at Tabora) (Rubama, J.) dated ·the 11th day of June 1, 1985 1 in ' Criminal Sessions;\ Case No. 5 of 1982 __ 1 ____ _ l l JUDGMENT OF ·1•HE COURT •. . ~ .. :, . MUSTAFA' ., ••• ' . . I The appellant was convicted of mur1er on pure1/'..i~,j-~~~_t.a~~l-:- ,--~: .:_·.: ..... , .. :,:.•:.:;-_·_:··, . . -·._ ..-··_.:::_/>->·.:. I ·,•i' • evidence. The appellant was) employed by one Ally ..Mal.el·a. : . . .-~o· gather . . .· •.. :::•:p::1:~:::::: w:::r:1:• t;::::•:::o':: ::r:::•:::.O::it;}it!/'.Ji honey. ·.- .: _'·./· · · · · l : · .. . . -· .. ,, I Sometime la+-er, in eatly Sep+-ember, 1980, t-he aJp~l:lant. . :. ... l was found in' a nearby village not far from the fo.t'est- -~·elling .. -·- · 1 . plast-ic buckets of t-he type ~sect by Ali Malel• +-o coi.l'ect: I . honey. When the appellant was found by P.W.3, a rela.t--i:ve· of I • . Ali Malela, the appellant- waJ wearing +-he clothes bel~~~ing to I .. . . I . . • . •' .. Ali Malela. Ali Malela could! no+- be found, -iespite a· 's. earch, and .., i+- was assumed by t-he relativ1es of Ali }\alela +-hat AH: ·Ma1e1a had iied or was killed. • Cl.•••• /2. /, J • l l I, 1 J 2 Kanoge. The appellant s+-a~ed that wi+:h +;he clothes of Ali Malela. i .. forest, and at a spot in +:he opposi+-i direct-ion of +-he vi_1:_:(age · _' ·:.' · ..:.... .t · i ...,'· .. ·... Kanoge, some bone remains were foundl If- was alleged that .. -+:hEi I remains were found some 3 or 4 miles Ifrom the site of +-J . I ~-~~~·where the appellant and ~a a M I alela had stayed to collec> honey1 . I :)-'.:<·\.L· : ·: :-, ~ ~ ......• . _.;.:.. ~· ., .,..-..; .. _.L I . The remains consisted of some Jieces of burnt bones, a i I hear+:, a kidney, a part of a Skull wi:'th some hair, and a 1piece .·: ·:·.- of cloth allegejly belonging to remains were part: of. some+-hing which ras burnt. ' Ali Malela. I Apparently the. · <>,. It was all so {~~_ .. r"f~e~~- .. ::. to by P.W.5 that on t_he spot there wa'r an .. imprint on +-he '1gro~·1f::,: ..- .. 1 7 ::~:,;~~;;::;;:;::::;::;;~:;:;:;:1:;::;;n::;;l;;:o::r~ i{:?{%'.;}l\: ". j "'" +:he Government Chemist st-at-ed t-ha-t: i+-.I could not be determined.:··;·::--·;·.--: • · . \ 1 . .•:., .. . ·.· ;-. l . -~ ..... '•' .. '· · whet.her the bones were human or o+-her/ise.No+:hing else was ~El_n_t ..;_.":(,:_:;_.. .-_· for anaylsis. f,1: '-'l·l'Y ! 1 .... . ·.. ' At the trial P.W,5 purported __ ij,__i p 7oduce a Kidney, a lhe~-~'.i:\:;· • . I • ·• and a par+: of skull with hair. No evi\:lence was led as +-O \~ho . _· .. · had kept these organs tof~ ov~z:- two ylars and where were \t:h~y · · .. I I ·.·· kept. In any even+ +-he +-rial judge c:opcluded ·that +-hey were .. human remains, c1nd +:he remains of Ali ~~·lela. \ I I I I! • • , • i·I • • • e • • /3 • • .ij 3 - t .. \ J No explanat:ion was forthcom~ng as 1-0 why 1-i;ies_e 01::_gans were not sent to +:he Government Chemisf., for analysis •. :···}he,·facility , }<t~-'- :, .. was available., and some bones wer~ duly sent: for. t.ha_'. _._pu_.t:'pose. The ju1ge and the assessors ~were sa+isfied H~~-i~_1i),>~~,lela J was dead, and +:ha+ +:he remains dis,covered in 1-he fo~e~.t· ~~;e': tho;e. ''::.'_.:,::- •. . of Ali Malela. :· ...... ... ;" The circumstances implicating +he appellan1- were: ! . -~:··: .-): i 1. That he was las!- seen wi!f-h Ali Malela when Ali Malela was alive. I I ..:•:: j1::' ':i, ; j 1 1 :1·,I 1 I 2. That he was found wil-h Ali Malela's clo1-hes, and : .' :1,. ,. blanke1-. I J, .. ~ .• ' .... •... ... . . ·:•: ., ,: l1 1 II I ·3. Tha·t -he was selling >he-las•ic buc1ce1-s o.f Ali Malela. l .r·. I ·I 4. That he had !-old a lie, in I-ha+ he said he had l~ft Ali ' 1 Malela going in 1-he direc 1-ion of his village Kanoge, · · whereas Ali Malela's remains were found in the ..oppoJite .:.-· ..-.. ,:<, direc>ion. i The appellant denied 1-he charge, and said no+hing in defence-::· ..-,;.:··. ··_\/-<,a;>LX-t?-:{ .-.<:-:: .-;-;. :·:._.'.\:_··.:. · . . ~ . ' In 1-he firs+- place, we are not sa1-isfie::I +-ha+: +he de,:i'th· .'of'.'Ali . ·";· _;/~\:./·.':(:-:)/~·--:.:;/::\: /:...·. ·. ... l , . ·:·. ·:.:.· ... Malela had been conclusively provedi We can see no reason·;~y:\<·.: .._.. . ! , ·,.,: ·::~-~~-- : .. ·. -::}' A ·- ~-~ •1· • the Kidney and hear+: and par1- of +:he skull wi1-h hair were no:t.:;t. ~. ~~ ·.:'.j?: ··.;~~, i ,:; I, sent t-o +-he Governmen1- Chemist- for analysis and 1-0 discover ·ff.-, ...): .. ·. they were human remains. \ I1-. may well be 1-ha1- t-he hear+- \and Kidney were human rem_a··d;·?~• . ..... · as found by 1-he judge. Bui- 1-ha+ evidence is no~ conclusive, and· .. -·---I. ·. ·.·• I ,. bet+-er and more conclusive evidence ~n 1-hal- respect- was available· :• . l . and for reasons which are not- clear ~o us, was not- produced. I......./ I,I 4. • ! ~ l!m: II: ,1 , le I l I J ' .J. ·- ,-I ..I I I j i'I I I 4 We are not prepared t.o accept a lcy i:ian:.a ·-;i•e~: ~l'iat +he ki:iney and heart and part- of a skull we_,: hufuan rerna·i~s-·1n .+-he ... .- circumstances. And nat-urally we cannot. therefore -conclude .+-hat. . . . :, those remains were wit-hout doubt. those of Ali J1alela·, · who had ·..,.'.·::. been killed and bur_nt. Eve'n if, for. t-he sake of· ·argument-, the remains were hwnan and were +-hose of Ali Malela, t.her~ is . : .•. st.ill insufficient evidence t-o est-ablish +-hat the . . ~ appellant must. have killed Ali Malela and burnt his cofpse._·,-:, ·.. ·t ·.. The appellant might have come across the ::lead body and t.aken off the clothes and t-he plast-ic bucket-s and told lies in order to suppress discovery of wh~t- he had done. Or +-he appetl,?nt. · ·... mig~t. have stolen the art.icl!s. These possibilities canno{ ··: . .: a· be _ruled out, and in fact are perhaps equally consist-e~-~·'.·wit-h.' _t-he ac_t of killing, as alleged against. t-he appe:j.lant.~ ._- .. · ' : , . . . -·-t Taking these fact-ors in~o account-, we are not ::~f:~\~:~~tt: /:. . -'·<>:: :,? .·, :::i::~ ::::"::::::.:r::: :::: ::: :::::: :;":/::r~tf:tt{;/\X:(;:ll:" "'"'"'"'"'"' We allow the appeal, quash +-he convict-ion an:i se+: ..aside'.'the. .. . ....... • •• 1. ,• • sent-ence of death iinposed, and' or:ier +-ha+- +-he appellantt.i,/ :.: ..r ._... . released forthwith unless ot-herwise det-ained. :_. . DATED at MWANZA this 18t-h, day of June, 1986. A. MUSTAFA JUSTICE OF APPEAL L. M. MAKAME JUSTICE OF APPEAL • .I 5 - R.. H. KISANGA JUSTICE OF APPEAL I certify that: this is a t-rue copy of t-he original. q;// (J. H. MSOFFE) DEPUTY REGIS•rRAR • ...• .. . \ ":: .. I. • ...__.,,.. --