joseph kinyaga vs republic 1987 tzca 41 7 october 1987

IK THJi! -COIRT OP APPEAL OP TAN/l^flA,." .aT Ta NuA I2 ® a lfc OMAR , _J . A . , HEALILA. Ag . J .A., .to d MAPI CANO. A g . J.A .) CHIMII'TAL APPEAL WO. 74 OP 1986 JOSEEH K I lJ I/iG A ........................ 'LPPHLLAKT V2RSTB THE R EP U BL IC ............................. .RESPOND::'KT (A p peal from the c o n v i c t i o n o f the High Court o f Tanzania a t Tanga) ( S i s y a , J . ) dated th e 14th day o f March, 1986 in C rim ina l S e s s io n s _Csse Ifo. 3 o f 1934 JUDGlO fT OP TE5J CO'UPlT The a p p e l l a n t J o s e p h K inysgs was charged w it h the o f f e n c e o f murder c o n t r a r y t o s e c t i o n 1^6 o f the P enal Code. It i s th e p r o s e c u t i o n e v id e n c e th a t the d e ce a s e d Hamisi A l l y was th e husband, o f P . ’i . 4 Mwajuma and the em ployer ox the a p p e l l a n t . A p p e l l a n t was engaged t o ta p palm wine in the p l a n t a t i o n o f the deccc-e-ad and. he was employed f o r two months p r i o r t o th e death o f the d e c e a s e d . A p p e l l a n t was the r e l a t i v e o f the d ecea sed and he used t o v i s i t the d e c e a s e d house sometime b e f o r e he was g iv e n t h i s j o b and l i v e d in a n e a r b y house In th e homestead o f the d e c e a s e d . P.V/.4 liwajuma s t a t e d in h er e v id e n c e th a t she was m arried t o ti..o d e c e a s e d and. had t h r e e i s s u e s the f o u r t h was in th e wonb when r husband was k i l l e d . In the c o u r s e o f t h e i r l i v i n g t o g e t h e r i: • .....■. had a n o t h e r woman whom he v i s i t e d a t n i g h t and sometimes would not r e t u r n home t i l l m orning. They qnnrr. 11 ed o v e r h i « 1 dv« T sir •‘••Ha d e c e a s e d would n o t l i s t e n t o her p r o t e s t s . E ventua lly she .c ,at she t o o should, take a nan in r e v e n g e . And she s t a r t e d s l e e u i r • the a p p ella n t. T his waa done a t n i g h t on the g ra s s o f the s h a a - t ; n e i g h b o u r s came t o know o f i t and i n f o m e d her husband who revon.^ w it h her and she promised she would n o t c o n t i n u e w it h t h i s ev:i She went and t o l d the a p p e l l a n t boat i t was n o t good th a t t h e / s h o u ld meet a g a i n , whereupon a p p e l l a n t , a c c o r d i n g t o h e r , r e t o r t e d th a t ‘‘ i f it i s n o t g'ood then I w i l l do what I know, you l e a v e th a t t o u o . I know what I am g o i n g t o do i : .y s e l f ;i. She r e p o r t e d what the a p p e l l a n t ec. id t o h e r husband5 who r e p l i e d , t h a t , he the a p p e l l a n t would n o t do anything* /? - 2 - A week l a t e r in the ev en in g o f 1 0 / 7 / 8 2 the d e c e a s e d end th e a p p e l l a n t , a c c o r d i n g t o her t e s t i m o n y , l e f t to g e t h e r :, from t h e i r homestead to go to shamba t o ta p palm w in e . At about 3 a.m. he was awakened from s l e e p by the c r i e s o f h e r husband "Mama S a i d '1 t h r e e t i m e s , '*1 am Isabs 3 s i d i ,!. She looked, f o r him f i r s t she said, she went t o th e hut o f th e a p p e l l a n t but d i d n o t f i n d him t h e r e then she went in th e d i r e c t i o n , o f the v o i c e o f her husband and found him on the groun d. The dece a se d then t o l d h e r * t h a t he h been c u t w i t h a panga b y J oseph the wine ta p p e r i . e . the a p p e l l a n t . 3he woke up n e ig h b o u r s P .W .l and P .V .2 and. t o g e t h e r th ey t o o k the i n ju r e d t o h o s p ita l. Her husband died, on th e way t o h o s p i t a l , -h e post-cjortera r e p o r shov/a s i x c u t wounds, on the back o f the head c u t t i n g through the s k u l l ; o' the back o f the n e c k J 1’ l o n g and muscle deeps on the l e f t w r i s t c u t t i n g th ro u g h th e b on es and a l l b l o o d v e s s e l s : on the r i g h t .middle f i n g e r and r i r i n g f i n g e r and on the l e f t l e g . Death was cert-i t.'ied by the d o c t o r r s b .g due t o f r a c t u r e o f th e s k u l l and hnctiorrhage. The a p p e l l a n t in h i s d e f e n c e adm itted having had l o v e a f f a i r i i t h P.W.4 the w i f e o f the d ecea s ed but contended th a t i t was 'she who ^educed him and would go t o h i s hut a t n i g h t t o c a l l hi;.! t o make l o v e on the . o u tsid e t h e ir huts. T his happened e v e ry tim e th e d ece a s ed would 1 _ away at n ig h t. On th e m a t e r i a l n i g h t th e y mot a g a in and were in th e act o f l o v e making when decea sed appeared w it h a ponga and luneea at the a p p ellan t . The a p p e l l a n t g o t up and s t r u g g l e d w it h the decease:! .• the pang: f e l l down and he picked, i t up and i n f l i c t e d the aforem entioned, i n j u r i e s on him, t h i n k i n g t h a t he was a l l the time u s in g the b la d e but i i burned o u t he was u s in g the sh a rp e d g e . The appo.Tiant paid w + i e ^ r i v . ^ hi,,-, cv- and. no more. Mr. Mramba learned. Counsel fox* the d e f e n c e argued th a t i t we.- a o c i d e n t a l d e a t h ; the a p p e l l a n t c o u ld n o t have intended, t o k i l l . ~':. c was s u r p r i s e d in the a c t w it h the d e ce a se d w i f e and he g o t up to do what he could, in th e c ir c u r a s t o n c e s p r e v a i l i n g a t the tim e. Of th e two s t o r i e s , tt.c p r o s e c u t i o n and the d e f e n c e , on the o f t h a t n i g h t , we a re more i n c l i n e d t o b elie v e th a t o f t h e d e f e n c e in z :> f a r as th e a p p e l l a n t and. jp.Vf.4 Mwajuma were found making l o v e . wo t h i n k th e "Makati*1 s t o r y ra fetch ed . It i s n o t l i k e l y t h a t Kwiguua sh ou ld be t o l d b y her husband t h a t what she was d o in g was bad nnu she sh ou ld r e a d i l y a g re e t h £ t i t was a bad t h in g and p r o c e c d e o t o b ell her paramour t h a t what t h e y wore d o in g was bad as i f none o f them was unaware o f i t b e f o r e ; and ';he t h r e a t s o f the a p p e l l a n t th a t he knew /o - 3 - 4/hat he wptild d o , in answer t o t h i s a d m on ition from ^wajuma. A ll th is , t o us i s j u s t an eye wash, i t i s n o t whet one would e x p e c t o f a woman b e n t on r e v « n g e . We do a c c e p t th a t Mwajuma was r e v e n g e f u l and as the a p p ella n t sta ted in h is d e fe n c e she was the one s e d u c in g him i n o r d e r t o t e a c h her husband a l e s s o n in t r e a c h e r y . The a l l e g e d dying d e c l a r a t i o n o f th e d e ce a s e d th a t he was c u t w h ile b en din g down t o p i c k up palm l e a v e s (m a k u ti) i s n o t c o n v i n c i n g as th e w hole s t o r y or g o i n g o u t t o g e t h e r a t n i g h t t o cu t palm l e a v e s and t o tap palm v in e is suspect. P .W .l s a id t h a t palm wine i s n o t tapped at n i g h t so d id a p p e l l a n t th e wine t a p p e r , a g re e in h is d e fe n c e th a t he would no'c go out a t n i g h t t o t a p palm w in e . And. a t any r a t e one would n o t e x p e c t the a p p e l l a n t who had j u s t l e a r n t o f h i s e m p l o y e e 's g o i n g s on w ith hi;., v i f e t o accompany him on a b u s i n e s s t r i p in the bush which l a s t e d f o r n e a r l y n i n e hours i . e . f r o m 6 p.m. t o 3 a.];!. And. why should t h i s s t o r y be forth com in g . It i s t o ou r mind t o keep Mwajuua away from t h e s e two p e o p l e so t h a t when she l a t e r comes a lon g to t a l k about them, her e v id e n c e s h o u ld have an a i r o f detachment and i m p a r t i a l i t y ; sc. the s t o r y goes t h a t she was j u s t a s l e e p when i t a l l happened. Be t h a t as i t may, what i s c r u c i a l in t h i s c a s e are the blow s that d e c e a s e d r e c e i v e d from the a p p e l l a n t on th e l a t t e _ b own a d m iss io n in h is d efen ce. These b lo w s f o r r e a s o n s g i v e n were n ot c o n s i s t e n t w i t h s e l f - d e f e n c e n o r were th e y a c c i d e n t a l l y i n f l i c t e d , th ey were t o o many and to o .sever© t o a l r e a d y unarmed man and could, o n ly have b e e n i n f l i c t e d u n la w fu lly and w it h m a lic e a f o r e t h o u g h t . In th e r e s u l t we f i n d t h e g u i l t o f th e a ccu sed has been proved beyond re a so n a b le doubt. We u phold c o n v i c t i o n o f th e a p p e l l a n t and d i s m i s s th o n .:.:o r,'\ . BATUD a t TA5GA t h i s day o f O c t o b e r , 1987. A. li. A. OI'iAii JUS TIG. , OF A P K i'L L ., i’l. lL'Ai .m La Ag . JUSTICE OF APPEAL :0. P . MAPIGAHO Ag. JUSTICE OF APPEAL . / 4. - A I c e r t i f y that t h is i s a t r u e copy o f th e o r i g i n a l . ( J . K. M30FFE)