19771214 TZHC Mwanza2

AT Mi\lMJZA. ~- ... ... . . . OHIGIW...L CRIMHll-lL C,\SE NO;, 154 ·op 1976 OF .I 'l''.-iE DI 3TRi'.::T C)iJR'I'- OF BUKOBA iJI ;'.t'RICT AT -BUK•JBA .· : .'. . .· .. , . ..,,. . BEFpr:E·: Ao. ~->.:.YO' E:;o~' 'lms:toEi'n MAGISTRATE ----~----------------- ----------------.=5- ; GDDLOV.S S/D: Slii-11,RI o· o o o ~ o.o o. o., o_o o o .,-_ APPELLANT versus ; RE~!?ONDENT . · .:· .' -:·CI·I:,RGE:-•'-lst co'unt:~ Attempted $Uicide·c/s 271 ..-:. ,... ·~·:?7:-~=~.! . . ·of: th°G -Penal Cod.ea.'.. . ._:: ·2~d .coJn·i f-. Stealing· by _a'.· person· ern~loyed t .. ·•· .. ·in Public :3;,,;rvice c/s 210· of ·:,·th~ Pena'.l -'Co'd~-~-- '. . .,,_,·. MFi,LILA, Jo: ... :·•. ·. ~ : . ,- :.:• ··_ .. :: .· . _T~~ p.P,p,el.].a;:it., C39dl9ve s./o Sumari. wa$ char_gBd at the District Court Bukobra .. wi.th',t0o· counts~ In .the f:i._rst. count )1.e was:·charg.ed with_, att'errip'h,'"~-- ~-Mi~irl.e ~ontr.ary. to s1.;cti'on 217. -the_· Penal Code'. of and in t_h1:; :s;,c·ond c::ount -witt/'s:t'ealing by S'.::l::-Va.nt conti~ry to . s~ct-ion· 2.7,0. o:( tn_e Pt:=naJ., Co_de~ · He vlas, f:0u·n_c1.· guii t'y on- bqth counts.·_. and s'entenc~d,, ..to ·24 months_ imririsonmen:i: ori the 'first count and five:' : years: _inipri_~;r{me~t on _the ~~c;:()pd_ ~ounto. 'The S,i.:ht_ences wer~ o·r'd:cr:ed· . to run :cont:urrcritly. .T)1is- .ap'pe~l 1:·s ag.ains·_t these_ findi°ngso · ·-.-: :-· .... . ·. -:.}.-'

. , .,. Ait .th~.-tri-al t'he .~v'.i.dence which· ·was lE'!d. shows that· the dram~.· :., i~ this; .ca~e s·ta~tecf_'on _13/8/76. ~.-Jh8n the· ·appet-j_ant 'wa's· fou·nct . \ '' ... mj;s"sing ,'.~t hi:s. office, nam~ly the Re0ionc:;r:•c6frir~i:3sj:bner's officfe ;: Bukoba.,• . where. h~ .w·.~$ wP.rkirig as. i\cC()\lntS: h.S··Si!?t~n't: _Gi-ad·e· Io_· J'iJs ·.:.: ·· . , he was :t;he hold~r· .o't _some keys· at the··of:ficef:the·}iead of this-. .departruc0t L;8:o, the _R,2gional 'hcc:;6\1nt"2ht :Mr_;· :J.6.mcs Patric Mling(~, . ; _; ( Pw. l;) . ;S,2.:1-t -is.om,e:body to fetch th·e ap.pel1ant , a~ his place. The '. :.f <. appelL.:1~t, was: .not ·.. iie~n at his home and all 'tnat WcS found were:···t1AT0I notf;?s_,. :o~~o: atjdr~s~;,;d_ ·1:0' tpe: R~gion~l I;dt,ciunti:int: i-nfdrmin.g him ·:of <_:'s;· · his decision to .. _ki!~: himself· and. also that he ·--would ..'•find the offiq$ keys on his tab],co .. The s,.:cond note was addressed to -his. friends- :> in.: which: h,2,,req\lested them to take his dead ··body to· his home· pla¢i%. some~-fh~r!;! in,_Arus_ha Region. for bur:j..al~ .. Th:-:se. two ·riote:$ 9r~atly;:, /; s~ocke<;i:;,,'c/,.e J1egional i-,ccountant. ·Ji·e ·therefore; reportecLtthe matt_l~r" at the Police Station. Until .late dur~ng tho evedng of that. qc:ir.... :_ the:,, c1pp,dlant had not been. tra~ed_o ___ ht about. 6 .. 30 pomo the appell2s1t was found by°·'

sbmeone in Ed.uc·ation Of:tic::e at Blik.oba ·, and taken to the Ragional Accountabt who took him £or treatment at Bukoba Governm,~nt Hospital ·as h,~ appeured to be extremely' ill. As tl,e app_ei1'arit had indicated the loss of money in· his notes, arrange-,1ents -w~'r-e rt,pd,~. to huve his accounts midi ted and "this was done by the Regional r;;tern-31 Auditor on 17th Augu.$t, 19760 •When · Ed•-.,a.r:d Ok:010 -Pw..::2 . cheCk.--:!d th.~s-. 'a:.:,:: .)1.J.r:ts. he fouri.i:\;:.shortages, ·?nd ..... 1 on failing· to ,.-,it an explanation from th(:: appellant,. the case was handed '-- over to th2 Policeo ii.t his trial the appellc.,nt denied st-==aling tht~ monc3:!y but he tolcl tl1,: court the circ,;•·.1stunces of ilow the loss came about that th,,, •:to;·,-.::y wus stol,?n cit his offic2 ,·;h'-'n h,;:! arrived 'from th,:: ba:1k. This explanction••• /2 ( 2 This explanation was rejected J:iy·the:magistrate who found him guilty and imposed the sentences as indicated. I will first d~al with the charqe bn the first count. I do not think thtre-Ts-any m-iri:t in· the ;pi;>eaU against conviction on the first C·Y..mt for th,~ evidence :,ad more than proved that the appellc:nt utts:.>r,1pted .to take his ow.n. li£e by taking an ovP.r dose of malarial tablets • . In fact the appfll~nt admitted as much, and as such ti1is ap<!al --f~" dis1i1i~s-·l-~d. . - -,, - . - I ;..;ill t:10\-c turn

b:, the o:.":'7enc,,:.:of_;_'stealin,·: as a Public S .:rv0.:1t in the 2~d count. I think that the pros~cution could have led batter evidence to -~s"t;~~"l:?lish this cha.1'.'ge in which t:1.,:.: principal witness was the Rligion:ri;:I:rit~~tnr1l. ,_,,i,iqith;:.--.. Ij_.1;~;: Ed\Jg~cl, Ok:c_l-9 :.()?w,. 3}... This 0 witness us it ,,,,.jre stnrt<~d in the2 micldl~ 1 h.: did not aay or tell the court th,s (;;!)ta,ct c.r::i0i.mt __ 9,;f losp _t]"ic:1:t he - foµn.;:h. I~11 he did was to give a s~ri~s of figures. He told the trial court that when h~ wa&" askt~d to check . ·the ap;:->0.llnnt' s_:·,a~counts P he did so on 17/8/1976 and that this Ch0~~ took th~ whole day. In th~ course of the check of th.~se acco·, ,nts h-:, ·-§J1sLd ,.J)y:d:. J:<,!. ro~pd ___t]1_P.-!= .. tl,:~ :_l:lpp1il_l ant should have had, shs.170,698/90 made up of cash in the form of unclaimed wages, impr2st P · -],iqui-d: c:9.sh_,, rev(mµ_~:. c.o_lil.}~<;:,:t_i,on,. ilnd: ;f.Joating imprest. He went on to say that the c.ash in- hand riaa--- -€6.:. ..halaric<~ ·with what8vcr balance that there was after the documented exp0nditure. It was on this po:L~.t:..th3t -t;.h:e_ "evid~n~Ei 0:f this: -~i1.tri~s'.i\i~as totc11ly con::us2d. He told th~ "trial'.· had banked. during the cou·Ft 0 that:;the amotint of rnon-2y which the appello.nt. ri?iavantp·2riod. was shs. 73 1 967 /80 shown on t pay-in-slips and letters of

transfer produced at the trial as Exh. N, O 3nd P. All this•ctid n?t make any sense to me because all these it-2ms i.e. liquid cash and:.unc::luim,~d wogc:s could not have b,.::cn on the side of eiltpenditure, :'.I thought that these items could have been itemised on -::he r,·!venue side. ··'. ~..Hot-J,;'v~r :,..· ... : ·mf on· .. ::Ji;irt,. rriy checlcini; of th~ figu.ics:" r:'ev~a:Yecl that . ~ •' ·; i ~ . . . . . .. ,-: . ; . ,. . . . ·. . .; . the d1.fr0rencc b,-,tween the ·cash ··which the ap:)ellant snould have-'., haa-- · Leo '.-,hs-.\--;:d,_69$/80. a_~d _ thd ~-6·· ~;:i;n'.~d eocpepcii tu'.r~~:~:s i ·Litri:t'sed by;,-~.>: Mro Ok-~16·j,...,~c<"·::d-f.s-"~137,310/3-0 is shso33,382./==~'··i3ut"lf·on,,: looks at:· 0 th<::.- chargi·::tri lri,,{ ;;e~ond count"·one ·sees that" the 21mount· i:nVol ved 'is--, sh's:.-43; 131/10 1-ihicl; the ~priell'Gn·t: is - aneq1)d _:to h·a:\r,,F --~t-ol~tl. _ Th . ~r-2 is thus u di;·_::' !i0·1ce ·of about --·shs ■ -10, b·O"O/-== 1:)etwe(?n:·;tht('·two·t,figu·rcs :. and th,~r12·':Ls .'.no· '12xplan",3tion regarding t:his'·-di:ff..:::rercc"eo . At" the -- -~-- hearing. ,oi this appe\11, the_ learned State l,ttorney Mr. Rwechur.-g_ui::a -- did not ;att;~mpt_. c1ny expla·n-ation· aoart ,f'.r_om ;s:a)_ing tha.'t t-h8 appellan.:t did not o/f~r any exp1an?tt~on on this;·cfiff'-=re:~ce·~-'.-all he sai-d w;is , .. that the" ap.pel.lLln"t must "•be

"iesponsiSF0 -b;eca.use· -h~<'/ offered ho expla~-i1.1tion for t'h2~: loss._ of \.hfs S\.frn of_ :m6ney.:· Tt mii :b·6 U-{a"t. there· -Wc:l.S i:ndc;Uf a loss in the:_- ap~x1lluf,t 1)s .-~ccounts /·p_ut: thI=· ev"i"?enc·~ ot>E:d"."ard Okelo dfd tiot disclos~ th,; ·a .ou:-if'of'· 10-ss' or; how-'•ft C3J11~/ -aboutd·,'.In- the '§0conhl 'cdunt, it Wi:l.S '116 - to 't:h;~ pros ,2~ution·: ·t_o :Jr~ve' lo~s . and·: afso thut :from th-..i: ., -., surroun2i111g 'ci.rt:u'in.stai-icEis this' ·1oss mus·'t'-"have beeh caus'ed-' by theft . on ,thi~ ·aopdll:qrit •s par't. As: Indi"cat2d su'ch' ev1d.ente ,i·s lacking-, -· ac:cord"i :gly 1:t _aiib\"' :the"·ap~"iC=al a·;·ains"t" c"bri'.rit.·1:ion· lfh the-:seconct:· r.ot:~,t' ti(Uash th,:.! c:o\,~,;ic•tlo.n-, so2t. as.ide the ·s_;f{t .ihc'~, but as' the app~Hant -~l.~as be~n 1n pdsq.n for -ni6re th"ari" nihe nici"rilhs ,· i -:r: Jdu-c-e the -~enten·ce· "impbsGd on th-e~--~k~· ~bunt. to such c1n_·'e~tent ti.·s will· rcs_lilt in his imin~dia'te rel.e-ase from_ pris~n uhless J-:ie _is othe·rwisc fawfu·i'_:\r detained. - . - : '- • I • • • • : • • • •. • • .. .-. •, • • • : ::: •