19861121 TZHC Dar es Salaam

.... AT DAR ES SALAll1•1 APPELLATE JUTI.ISDICTION J-IIGH COtJRT CIUMIHAL AP·EitL NO. 91 OI:' 19G6 ORIGINAL CRHIINAL Ci:..3E N0.124G OF 1986 OF Trill DISTRICT OF IU.LA DIS'.:.7RICT AT :CISUTU Before Lyamuya Esq. Resident M~istrate JJ'u.1:'ARI f.ff1MISI @ H1illRAY & 3 OTI·IERS • ., ••., • " • • • APPELLA1"\J'l1S versus TIIE T.i"lTITED REPU3LIC RESPONDENT JUDGEMENT BA".J,TI 2 J. 2 This is an appeal from the order ofi,the Resident Magistrate's Court r_efusing bail to the appellant who is charged inter alia with being in possession of explosives. The learned Resident Magistrate held that section 148(5)(0) of the Criminal Procedure Act prohibits the grantin{,' of bail to a . ' person charged with being in possession of ammunitions. M:r.• Maira 1 learned cotu1sel for the appellant argued before me that section 148(5)(e) re f crre d to possession of explosives and that ammunitidns , were not explosives. The learned State Attorney who appeared for the Republic submitted that he had no objection to bail being granted because according to him a round of anununition was not an explosive according to section 2 of the ~plosives Act Cap.538. To begin with, when bail is refused in a subordinate Court the normal procedure is not to appeal but to apply for bail in the Iligh Court afresh. Tllis procedure was not followed in this case. Be that as it may, I will go into the merits of this appeal before me. I agree that the Explosivco Act excludes ammunition of small-arms in tho meaning of explosives. But the Arms and l'J.Jnmu.,,i-tion Ordinance Cap.223 unc.ler which the appellant was charged defines ammunition to include e.xplosivcso The effect of the definition section of the Arms and Ammunition Ordinance is that an ammunition is an a.x:plosive. Furthermore the word explosive is defined in the Concise · Orlord Dictionary, 5th edition thus; cxplosiv.e • •• somt:,ing tending to e:;cplode or cause explosion." It is common lmow1edge that a round of ammunition tends to exploc.lc or cause an explosion. If you fire a gun loaded • n Q O O 0 0 e COO 4,fl/2 ' . "' 2 with an ammunition~ the ammunition will explode. Simil2X'ly if you heat a round of amrm,mi tion it will explode because the ammru1i tion contains expl,.,slve material. From this I conclude that an rn;1muni-'cion is an e:;:plosiveo The question here now is whethe:r one should ignore the definition of ammunition contained in tho Arms and Armm.mition Ordinance and also ignore the ordinar-J meaning of an explosive contained in the Concise Oxford Dictionary on th~ one hanc~, and follow the definition of "explosi ves 11 to be found in the :El&:plosives Act on the other. I cannot see ::my justification f'o:r such a c01.u~se of action especially since the appellant is not charged under the Elcplosives Act but under the Arms and Ammunition Ordinance. If anything, one should take the definition of 11 rummmition 11 as contained in the Ordinance under wllich the appellant is charged. From the above I hold that in accordance with the Arms and Armnu..nitions Ordinance and in accordance with the definition contained in tho Concise, 0.?;:ford Dictionary, 5th Edition an ammunition is an explosiveo It follows from this holding that tho learned Resident Hagistrato was correct in refusing bail to the a11pellant because section 148(5 )(a) of the Criminal Procedure Act forbids the granting of bail to a person found in possession of e.,~plosiveso This appeal is therefore dismissed., \ JUDGE \. COURT~- Ruling delivered in Court. ♦ JUDGE DAR ES SALAAM 21st Ifovernber 2 1986