19910321 TZCA Mbeya1

I • , III '!if£ COURT OF Af>PEAL OF T.AliZANIA AT DAR ES SAL_Ap~ - _;, I .. ,r', • . ..• lgo~,. ~ , J,4,, ~ u , J.A., &,;d IvJA.RIG»10, M• ,J,4,L·-•--. · ··. -----ORD".JlUL APPEAL·NOt -77 OF 1990 / , / I BETWEEN I •· AllBIWO MA.S01qrn. • .... ·- .... • • ---- -----~o. •••• • • • • • .• • • • • . . • ·• RESPONDilN~ . ,I . --·-.{A.ppea.l.--from .the..oonvio.tion and. sentenoe ot • I'· , j .i •• the High. Court-.of - ~ ~ L .- ~...... .... ,_ .:.- .... , J.,.. .• U;[rema, PRM - EJ) dated the 15th ruzy of February, 1_9.89 - • I •I -( ,_ in ·. C.riJninal S_e,!!oions Cas~ lfo, 9 }4 of t~8· ·1-........ ...,._•• ...... . . . OF ~ID; COURT · .JUDGilill:JT . ....... .. ..... . ·: .· ... Kr• !..Oe Mrema. 1 the _P.r:i.ncipal Resid.eltt Magistr~te1 in the· ,e%81'Cise- , of ~1s e.xten.ded jurisdiction:, convicted -'i;he apP,ellant, "':WJO li:/~S01'1GE2A.1 . . . ,. . ~ . of the mu.rd.er of ane I ESTIIER zi.:uu:, at Chi ta ·Villa&e Kilanboro ·Dtstl'i.Q.t• . • • Being 41$satisfied with that t~e app~llaxr'li now appeals before us.· /' · In the eV~"'liz,g of 5th Ma.roh1 1985 tb.e deceased4w~. a.tta.oket. by sa· . i J ' peopl-e when she wa.s returning home. She raised ·an a.la.rm whioh.,Wa.S ' -~es~ond.ed to by her mother, PEILm.WA KOtw.A., (PW.3) who was :J;~ld. by 'the. _ ., deceased th.at the ap1)ella.nt was one of -~hose who had a.tta.olted-h.er.._:_...,,. . . , I .. PW .3 with the assis·ta.noe of two other people carried thei deoeased home 'lrhere the deceased .repeated the dying decla_z:a.tion to her brother, . NOm:RT GABBIEL- {PW;5)·~ The next morii.Tug · s!J.~. was ta.ken tQ ~- d.isp~a:cy ·and va.s attended to by the Ru.t'al Medical Aid1 mu~ UGALAMBELA., (PW.-6), lihi~e there, she_ was seen by the Villa~e Chaiman, EDW.AlU> CmNGL...~, ,I (PW.it) and the the.J'l .Llo~ing Ward Secreta.ry1 SYLV.Al1US N~, (PW.8). . . ~ -~ i-·.., ·,.,., . .,,. •· '·, ~ .. "· .... 1 . .:, . ~-,f-·· ~ f"'•)..· ~· ._ir;;,,l'."Ttl / ,,... .,... ' I . ·,·; : +."· . ,. ' .. ,(}/ . ': ·, 2 ..,,,.. \ ' ·P . '" , Both of these ·testified to the dyil1g declaration. She died on -'i.h,e ., . (' '. •.(.1~~...- 7th March before she was· taken to the Government B:osp~tal in Ifa.4:ara. ...'..... . . '{'. ,)."" ·where she had been referred to. '"l···, . ' .. ·•- , •. ~~- The a.ppellan:ii was advocated for by 1m. B.AHTOBAKI, lea.med Counsel, ·"" ~~;~ ; and the Republio/Respohdent had.the services of MR. UDURI, lea.med :,► ,;i~ State Attorney. :;( •, I~ Mr. Banturaki had five grounds of appeal. Re abandoned the fifth •.,;{ ,•,,.•-,f c""~,,.. ground and argued 1;.b.e :remaining four as two grounds. First he said that the conviction was b~ed solely on t.:.ie dying'd.eola.ration without ;my ... ...,. ., ·'...~ .. , ,~ corroboration. Then he attacked the learned Magistrate for having 4 . \ · _'''' j -~ed the burden of proof onto the appella:.1t. . : (F"·.. ~ ~ . ~-' t-1 .A.a tor the ctl':ing declaration Mr. Bantu.raki subnitted tha.'t I ,J:,.,;.-• ~~, co.r.ro'boration was required a.s a matter of practice. He said tha.t \when '··-'~. ~-, . >. .. the deceased wa.s a-'.;taoked it was alreaey dark and so it was not 1 condlloive to proper identification. Mr. ICa.dll:ri replied that the . . .,--11'11 i -\· rep·eated mentioning of tb.e appellant as ·iile assailant to four different '\. ~.;: :•:A"•,• 1. . :~~,.s proseau.tion Witnesses suffice ·to allaJT any doubts of mis.ta.ken identity. .. ...;)-1:. ---- ---· .. :'•··.•'i.- •• ,;-;t: I" .; ;._ u and more s~ ~ the appellant was not a st_ra.nger to the deceased. In . . .: .. ., :! ' ' .. ....... a.ddition Mr. Kadur:L drew our at-'.;ention to the fact that -'uhe lea.med . ·: ' ' . 1Iagistrate adequately warned the assessors and himself of the· dangers .:, . .. '-' ~-· ~. ., :. .•. of· connoting on· an uncorroborated dying declaration. To this I>ir. Bantu.rald . - ,:.: reiterated. what had been_ submitted. before the lea.med Magistra.te. that ··..·.: / ~.; :: ,.;._ ·, ...... .. • ... J ,t,11•• ~- . z,epetitio?l does no·t prove the s-'i;atement to be true but is only evidence #• ..,. {, ··, ..... ...~, •. . . "'1,' '~~ - ...... of_ 0onsis.ten9y (Pius .. J ~ s/o 4,kuJnu v1 R, ( 1954) 21 I;lOA 331) • . • • J ..· ,,.,:. . ·- ( .·;' It i$ our well considered opinion tha·t the appeal stands. or falls ~ .... ,--:), . -:}: ...... - ,: ,.-,.·... ~ ~ the ismie of the dying declaration. So we.intend to dispose of that ·, rt-• } .. ~ . ,~ ·. .. 'Z.::: .:rra > . ·--::; ;:~i •· ,, -~~. •, ., ··'-'~- I .•• J3 -:~~iii · • ..(v'~~ . ··~,. "~- ... ,~., . / 4 {. the decision of the Court o~ t..ppeal for l;a.stem Afrioa in Pius Ja.:sww,a s/o AJ9mn¼ v 1 Rs repetition fis evidence of co11sis•i;enoy bu.t not a / I I· guarantee of accw.·a.cy. That case also decided that th01.18h corroboration is not a rule of law, it is nevertheless unsafe to base a. oon"\'iotion on an wcorrobora.ted d,y:i.llg declaration~ This Court was asked to find corroboration.in the evidence of . i.~~ -M.ill-•llJ ~·. the appellant himself. ITc admi·tted to have seen a. w.oman lying dow on the grass as he was retu.niing home t!lat eve11i..,g while three I.len, including BLASIUS C!i:IGUI.ffiI (PW ,,7) 3 were sta:.1cling beside her. But this, ,·;~· ' . -1~ f in our opinion, does not corroborate the.dying declaration tha.t it ,,t-~~~ -~ was the appellant who at·~a.cked the dGccasGd. On the contrary it Illc\Y give an explana;tion why ·tho deceased mentio11ed; him. The a.ppollant said I that he was asked by PW• 7 what his name ·--- .. - --- -----· was. a.1d that he gave it to him. ------- . '4 . Then he wa.s ordered to beat the wonum whom he could not identify" wt \;:~) ,. he rc;f'used a.,d ran a.was• i- i . :. •, ~is raises a. so:;:-ious douM in our m:inds whioh booomes even more I poignant and nagging w.b.011 not an iota of oviclcnce has been adduced to .~-~ suggest a motive for a. boy of 1iftecn to fa.telly attack a. divorced ,rcxnan and a mother of three children. We are not sc\Ying tha.t motive is nGoessar;y to prove a crime. -Ilowever, its establishment certainly olinohes snippets of evidence. should be sot- free is othorwiac la.mui. 1991 • ••••/5 . . . ... - 5 ··--,:;~r~ llilJ:/J,IE JUS~ICE OF AP~ l.. .s .L .R.tJ•IAIIWiI JUSTICE OF ~ D.,P. Ml..PI<WTO Ag• JUSTICE OF ~ a truo oopy oi. the original• JJ.J~. /.J-.-f ..J J 1 • ··{L-.B.· m.EGEYL.) SENIOR t.-. .· DEP"LJT'I ... , REGISTRJ;R ' . -. .. ,·. . I