19881104 TZHC Dar es Salaam1

Il--4 T.ttL HIGH COU-rtT OF ThNl'.iii.!da .ll.T i.Jh.i;{ .l!.iS Si-.Lh,,M l-C. Cl v11· i-..l:'i--~.t1.L NO. 16 OF 1987 Ni-.1.,:Ii-1.M K.1-,.T,1;.l\Gh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . APi:"ELLii.NT <J versus .11.BDti.L.i..i-iH J:<h!&.;;.KI •••••••••• :. •• o • • • • • • • Rl!:S PONDBNT JUDGM.i,t,;NT The marria~e Letween the }:;arties was dissolved in u petition filed by the a:i:,J,,ellant, lv1ariam Kc..t~n~a, llt;ainst hE-r husbo.n:.'., the resfondent, hbuull~h Ra.zuk. ihis U};:~e~l is not ab&inst the decree of.divorce but it is O.t;;;..inst the fin t upi,elli:.l.nt court's order which (kVe custody cf the chil...;.ren to the resi:,unJent c-.nJ tht: ordvr th"'t the U]:)}:;ellant will get one--eit5hth of the 11 L.lue of tht: m.;:.trimvni,:;,,l house. There w~s evi~dncc th.t the ~~rties h~tl live~ tc~t:ther from 1968 till .,2 wht:in thtJy f0rmc.(lly m.:..rri~u un1.h:r Isli..mic l'-'-w• Ther~ ure three chihtren vf the mar:ci.:.i.t,e whc ..... re nuw aged nin1:1b::.:n ye"',rs, so:.:vunteen yco., s .!.nu thirteen yt:1;...rs. The Jistrict ct.urt wus SL_tisfied. th:.. t theroe: w... s only 0n& he.use which W;.:S m(;j,trim0niu.l hc..me ... n..t it is th<:: hvuse .:...t Mwl.ln... nyamc..lc, in Lo.r es Sal~;-;,,m. Tht..t hvust: wus acquired uurinc; subsistence uf thl:l ma.rric...ce by the joint t:fforts uf the 1-urties. Thl:l vth.:::r hGusi.:: Luilt .:.t u villa2,:v in .t,ltc.,shi uistri•-t was f oun1.- tu b0 the 1--rup!:..rty of the r"'S}tmt::.ent 's moth0r. The first e;rcund uf uh.eul is th""t thE:: seniur Jistrict mueistro:.tte err1:Jcl in law and mis~iri:,cted himself c.,n th(:; f~cts when he 5r~ntecl the wife only one-eighth of the value vf the mutrim0nial hume. Mr. Lukwaro, 11:ln.rneu c0unscl fvr the apJ,ellant, ure5ecl tht: court tc tive the Liar es Suluum huuse t0 the n1~·rellant as her sh~re ·in the matrimvni&l ~ssets. So that the resp0ndent takes the house in·· Noshi. But, with rL:spect, there wt1s no eviu.ence to ?rove that the house 1 •.t,lwshi is thB resi:,un1.-ent 1 s :pr01,ierty or matrimonial ussot• On the c ontrcry, the evitence est.:..blishecl thi,,.t the h0use in Mos hi was c cnstructad for tht: res~onJent's mother. It is on lanu which was ~iven to the respo- nl..lent I s mother by h .r bruthc:'.t'. Th,:: respondent merely ma.Ge a contribution to assist his trH.1ther in the construction. So, that house w&s prc..p,..rly found not fornn.nt, v;;;_rt of the mutrimuni~l assets. Th,:;re w1..s li.lso o.llegc.tion that thu respondent a.cquired u ~uest :.~use, se~r~l butcheries and a restaur3nt. fh~ appellant w~nted ~sh-rein those 1--rvpcrties. Th~rc was ubsc.lutaly no eviul:ince th.:...t those were in exist<-<nce. Th~ resionJent s..:.hl he .uiu. ne;t cwn ~ny such :prop..:rties. He hau rented somt1 butchery from the Dur es Sc.l•~m City Cuuncil. Th1:1re w..... s no evh'.1:1nce to contruuict him 0n thl..t. Tht'l 1.-o.istrict court :prq:e rly fc.,unJ th:..t tho:: he.use ut Mwunt.:.l'.lya.mulu w.:.i.s the only mutrimuni~l asset ~c4uir1:i<l by the ~urties~ '.I.' he qu~stiun nuw is whether the uistrict court erred in eivin~ the u~:pellunt one-eighth vf th1:1 v~lue uf the house. I a.erec with Mr. Lukwaro thut the Islamic luw 0n inh~ritunce which ~ives u wiJuw one-eighth cf the ••••• /2. .. - 2 - huslluntl•s 1-'ropBrti-<::s s.huulu. not ue' topfuse2. with too wifu•s share o! niu.trirnonio.l assi;;ts when a m;..rric.e;e is Liissolv1:1J.. The wife's share wht;n the murrfo.Le is LLissulved is i;c,v,.. rn1.;;d by section 114(2) of the Lilw of Marrfo. 0 e ilct which stc.tes as follows·: - "In exercisine; the }ICWer conferred by subsection (l), the court shall h~v~ ree;~rJ - (u) to the custc.m of th~ community to which th~ ~rties belonis• (b) to the 1.;;Jttent of the contrituti<..,ns m,1.Je. by each pl.rty in mc.,n~y, i,r,Jp rty ur wvrk t0w1.,.rus the 0 cquiri~g uf the ussets. (c) to uny Ubuts 0winc iy 0ith~r ~~rty which were ccntr~cted for their jo_nt b~nufit; un<l (<l) to the llf:i\.:tls ·uf th.a inf&nt chilJren, if .:my, of the ~nu subj~ct tu theov cvnsitlerutiuns, shell incline t0wurus equ~lity of J.ivisivn. 0 lt will aH_.e.:..r frvrn the foree<.:ine r,rovision thut each ccs(:: is .c(.;nsi~ereci as its fc.;.ots in ordt)r tc deciue how much ea.ch p.:::rty to a murri.:.2,E:i shall t,'1:::t when the murriat,e is Jissulv~cl. Bo, when the lei:.lrned beniur <l.istrict @ut,istrate ~uve the u1,,:1:-,ellunt wife only one-ei~ '·th of th~ value of the huuse, t uuk into c0nsi..:eru.ti0n the wife's contribution in the acquisition uf the hvuse. It was incleetl not eusy to clecide exactly how much tu e;ive her. The lec.rnell clistrict maeistrute was of the view th~t one-eiehth wuulJ be a f~ir share. He also cited the cQse c.,f Ha\otl Mohamed. v. blly &efu Court of h):,1,eo.l ·Civil i~i.,J,:e&l No.9 of 1983 ( unre:fi~rtecl). In th... t c~se, the Court of .A i.;veal hel\l tho.t ~ wif E., 's contribution in cluine h~uoehold work is c0nsi<l.ereu us contribution in the ocquisitiun of the matrim~nial nssets unJ th:.t entitles her to get a sh"'re in thust: i:,r-u:i,,, rtit:s. In thut cc..se, th;; -.dfe J.icl not get, h&lf of th~ assets t;1Cquired during the subsistence of the mt;..rriu(se. In the i,,rusent cc,se, tht!re w..,s cltillr tJVic:l~nce th<--t th.: rc:spc.n~,:nt h-' <l secured louns fr0m the T"'nz-nia Huusing .D._.nk .... nu funC.S fr0m 0th0r SQUrc~s tu finunce the c0nstruction uf the mll.trimonia.1 h0use. The ap1,e-· llant•s financial cvntribution was not uscert~in~d. She hatl, however, • muue c<-ntribut ions by w::,;.y uf SUJ,it:rvisin1.{ the construction, purch;:.e:,ng ,. the bu:J.lu.int; muteri;..ls in ... dJ.ition tu her· nvrmul house work. ~he c0uld not, in thcs~ cirumstc..nces 1 i::;et hl:llf uf tht:: vulue of the house. When the UJ..,j,.i1a:ll""nt left the matrimonicl hom1:, there wo.s a house which was cumi,leteo. anu thC4t is where the fo.mily was livinc• The U},!'ellunt is entitled to u share in that h0use. Any uth<a:r hcuse which ma.y h.:.ve been constructeu ufter the a.1,1,ellant left the matrimc.inial hc;me (mes not form i,c.1rt uf the. matrimoniu.l assets, I do not ar;ree that .... - :f. - the aVi_,ellant is f;Dtitletl tu the whole h. use us thc.1.t is the only h0u::.E:: which the res}:.;unuent c.,wns anc.1 he live::13-· iJ: that house. The ~res1,,"nJ.ent h<-<s s1_;ent mt.:ch more in the acq_uisi£ion of the huuse than ihe o.p~ellant's smull contributi0n which w~s m~inly by way cf work 1.10nt:i in her cu1,i:.city c.s ~ hvuscwife. ln th<;J finul o.nc:lysis, I -!-incl., like the distiict c0urt, th~t th~ u~~ellunt 1s sh~r~ in the hcu~e is 0ne- ~1thth of the v~luE:: uf th~t h~u~e. The h~usd will bo v~lu~<l ~nd the ~f~ol unt b~ }iui~ un1::-ei~hth uf its v~lue. . 'l1 he:: s~cunu ~rl-un~ of 1..;.:i,, 1_,,1<.:,l is 0n tht:-: custudy of thC:.: chilJ.ren. The ~~~(::llunt's cum~l~int is thut the jfstrict court should not have 0 iv1::n cust0ily of th1:: chilu_rt::n to th1:: rcs},onu.ent- m~rely b~c ... use of the respvnJent•s uet·ccr fint.n·ciul p0sition. I think thc.t w,.:-:.s not the m.;..in J_:,oint cvnsiL.cI't:1.1: These chilur<::n h1...v1:: be0n with their futher ♦ the rcS}?vnu.ent, since they Wt:re burn. 'fhc: u.p1--ellunt locketl aftc:r the chilJren u.urin 6 the fow shurt :i,,"rious when the r--spon~ent uttenJed c0urses. But fur most of the time und even Qfte~ the uvpellnnt l~ft the matrimoniul home in 1981, the chil~ren h~ve been with the respon~ent~ Two uf th&se chiltlr.en ... re in sec undury school. The third one is in ~rim~ry school. The res~unuent pays for their educution and m~intenan~e. Tht:n-e hus be'-'n no ,evidtm<Je ur cuniJ;lc:..int thct the rospc,n<..1ent has neglected the chil<..i.rl::!n. In the cfr•umstunces, the welfnre of the children sill be better taken care uf if they remain with the respondent. Mr. Lukwi:..rG 0 rguect the third e;rc;,untl of appeal tho.t th.:: trial ~ ourt erred in n0t ~iving the ~f~ellant the h0use in Dar es Sala~~~• Sc that th~ respontlent coulu keep the h,. use at Moshi.. I h.:-..ve_ ulroo.dy held, like the lower cuurt 1 th"' t the evi-.ie::nce E::st..:,blishe<l th~ t th~ h1.. use at Mos hi u0cs not b<:!lung to tht: r s1,;0ntlent. It belones to his moth--r. Th.:..t is not m~trimoni~l ~r~}~rty. In the final ~n~lysis unJ f0r the r&~sons siv~n 1 this a~1eal is <iismiss1-:J. I me.kt: n0 oru.,.r fc,r c 0s ts c,s this w.:.i.s a l'-'B"'l uiJ matter. SGDo W. Jo N.11.INl, JUiJGE u.1-1h .M:i B1-d...i1.n.M ~th ~cvbmb~r, 1988 ~uhula for the a~pellunt~ h~s~Gndent present~ This is to Ct-rtify that this is the true certified copy of the original. \ ~- ll.BPUTY ~GISTRAR