19870915 TZHC Dodoma

... . m THE HIOH ~ - fANZUIA AT 't.().i.lOMA ... AP~TE JUru:SLJI001toN· -,· . .., (PC) MA.TR •. CIVIL _A.PEAL RO •. '). OF 1 ~ {From the decision of the District Court of•Mpwapwa l>iist.rict at ~wapwa in Ml,triIOOcial CivU Appeal No. 37 of 1982,_ Original 7.oisa P,rim3.ry Court Ma.tr. Civil Case No.i 15 of 1982) - . _; ·. · · - : . JULIA Mll.ZENGO .. .. .. .. .. •.• .. .. ·•. . APPlitUTE .. .. .,. .. .. .. .. .. .. Versus .Jl!. CKSON'. LEG.ANG.A . J'.U D GM ENT SAMATrA I J = This is an ap~al from ~ d.ecision of the '.District Cour.:t of Mpwapwa District whereby a decision of th.a Primary Court of Zoissa 4 issolving the parties' marriage was set asi 4 e, Eta.ving given the case anxious an4 , I· hope, careful consi -"erationJ I have reache-" the~settle 4 opinion that the appeal must be allowe4J. The appellant baser1 her prayer for a .:iecr6G of 4 ivoroe on the groun 4 that quite often the reapon 4 ent usei to subject her to violence,_ In his evi 4 ence the respon4 ent asserte 4 tha.t he beat up the appell_ant.v only on one occasion; he asserle 4 that .i:li ~ ·so because she.....provokerl him. The prinary coltlr.t . ~nalyse 4 the evinence at length . an-"-oa.me to the conclusion, among other-a, t~at the appellant ha"I establishe-" that the respon4 ent ha~ assaulte;:i her on three (separ~te) ocoasions, '+1}le l)istrio~ M:3.gistrate W&S unahl.e to uphold this_ fin"'-ing, In his

opinion, the . appellant ha"' prove;:i only two in,s'ta.noes of e.asaul't • The magistrate went on to say:: "•. • The basic question in this case was wheth~: If a-husbanrl. is quil ty of assaul ~ing his wife tWioe1 woul-'1 that· (on its own) entitle a-oo'U!'t te holrl that the ma.:rriage has irreparably foun"' ere"' an-'1-oonsequ.ently tear the· mar~age vows apart? In nw oonsi'1 ere~ view, I think \It : 2 I:.: it wouJ."' not. A4¢tterl1y* no persons ha.S:.any-right to assault his or her spr.ilue ~-{although 66 · o.f th$ ~.i .Aot. speaks- of the ;nflictio~. ~f c6r~ral ·~hnient )~ • • • '' I. I. ' .. However, :i; rio not t1linlc that . if .i . a' persoh•' ts. toun~ : ' iuil ty ,_. ~ of assa.w.ting his epcuse _twice, ··a.n.-1 suoh assaul-t~_\U'O r;o:ti. • ' I . ' sari ous, that' wouJ..., make a ooiu-t of. la~ .9ondh.i! e tM:t . . . the marriage ha,s irrepaxa~ly brol,<:en / 101-rn,. .As it was . rtghtiy: ooe~d ·by ~r~ be~~~-li~J,._ (as ha t~e~ was);- "Married . . couples have to put tip with . ali. veJiatio~; .. ~- the quarrels, an,, ·the troubleef ~hich are· or:i:i.$.f!:,Y inci.:ients _of marrie"'. life; They have taken each for better an.:i for WO?"se. They IIIllSt put up with temperament an4 ,lefeot_s o~ chara- cter of each other. :J3trt there: rray come a time when .:i efects of character o~ tem:p~rament may he such as to amount to c~elty/ but it all Aepen.:is on the facts of

the case"• (See the case of Mc Ewan V Mo .:~wan (i94,6) lo8 Sol. Jow:-; 198 ). -Simila.J'ly, it is common groun-" to expect misun..,erstanrling in the ma.rrioA life - whioh ma.y cuJ.minat0 in person asaaw. ting his or her spcu.Aee · If such inci" ent s occur - an4 a person twice asaaul t ' his Gr har spcusa - I ..:io not think that that alone woul_-'l be -suf~icient to justify a reasonable tribunal. to conclu.., e---tha. t the marriage vous ha,ve been torn apart beyon-" repair. A narriage bon~ or contract ( for that matter )... samti ty as ±t is shoul ~ not be set asi ~ a ligh:tly;-in the~absence of evi~enoe that the same has foun.:t ercl bayon~ repair". While I entirely agree Wi tl,1 the l>istrict Magistrate that a marriage bon~ shoul .:i not be set a.si ..:ie lightly, I a.m..unaple to slaa..'~ his VieW that the primary court stra.yo 4 into an er:ro·r •iii hol ~ing, as i-t ..,i 4 1 that the appellant ha.:t esta.blishe.:i that she ha.:t be.en subjecte-'I to-violence on .,._••~ three occastins. The primary oourt ta fif:r1 ing was foun 4 e-'I upon the evi-lenco of· the appeP 3.llt as corroooratert by the teatimocy of Tha4 eyo Mkoi, .,,; J,; a Church· Counoillor~ who tol 4 the trial court-.that- the. ~pon"'ent a~1Ilii..tta"' before the Church _C.ounoil to have assaul te"' the appellant on three ;:; I • . . , . occasions• ! also ;iisagree with the l>istric.t M.:lgistra_,te on his

finaing that thepartie~• .mirr:Lage has not irreparably broken "'own. There oan be no ~oubt that at ·least on two of the three occasi.ons the a.seaul ts were serious ones. One of thoe~ occasions was.referre~ to by a member of a locai Reconciliation .:Boa.r, Afom.so Shauri. The witness tol .:i the trial court this,: . 11 Nakumbtlka ..m.:i ai n4 lye . al iyekuja. kushtaki kwamba amepigwa na Dwana ·wake (m,.:,aiwa). :Bwa.na wake.... akaitwa akaja ha:po ak.a.kana kwamba l;lakumpiga ika.bi'1 i huyu m4 ai a.pate barua aja kwenye hosP,i tali ali vyokuja a.kachunguzwa aka.onek:a.na alipata naumi'Vil. kwenye mkoho W-cl. ku.lia na alivimba kwenye Be.g-a na jicho la-mkono wa. kulia lilikuwai lek:t.m u n.:iipo 4 hapo a.ka.kubali m-"aiwa kwa.mba kweli alimpiga nfai•• •" The secon"' occasion was when; ac4o:i-.:iing to .the appellantis ert"'ence (which was not ch<:1lenge~ on the point),• :t;he a.ssaul t was perpetrate,:i when the a_ppellarrb was nine months pregnant,. -In .Jl'f/' opinion, the :prinary court was right,. when these assaults are co:nsi.:iare4 in the light of the general a.tmospher~--prevail±ng at the natrimonial home {.iqt!lOl.'i be"' by the appellant in he~ evir1enoe~~ to a limite4 extent a~nri.ttc~ by the respon4 ent),_to _ ho1 4 t as it 4 i;1 , that the partiesi marriage ha.:i irreparably broken .:iown~- The ill-t~eatment whica the respon.:ient h~s been subjecting the

appellant to--oa.nnot, ~n nzy- oonsi 4 ere~ opinionr be 4 escribo.:i. as the reasonable wea.r an.:i taai., of ma.rrie 4 life~ The law .:i9es not expect a. wife to ·put _up with the kin.:i of-ill-treatment the respon 4 ent has been subjecting the appellant ." to, I woul,., allow the a.:ppeal. • - The appeal is allowe 4 1 the ·~ecisi.on of the -"istriot oourt is recalleA an4 ~hat of the primary court restore.:i • · The appellant . . will have her costs in this Court as well as in tho two courts below. :S. A~ SA:MATTA ..... ·'""i ,; ,., .,. . . . . . . . . . . . . ,11 •• I ' t' ..... .• ' 4 J

ORDER ... ..:, It is. .orlererl that this ju:=igm@t be-~-~ \o, the. l>ist.rici ' ~ra:te., llho :i,.s ha:r.'elU -~i:r~e,. to ,reali 'the.~ ~-th~~_pa.rties•

DODOMA i5e9~1987