RAJABU NURBHAI

IN THE HIGH COURT OF THE UNITED REPUBLIC OF TANZANIA ARUSHA SUB REGISTRY AT ARUSHA MISCELLANEOUS CIVIL APPLICATION NO. 217 OF 2023 (C/F Probate and Administration Cause No. 1 of 2022) IN THE MATTER OF THE ESTATE OF THE LATE RAJAB ABDULALI NURBHAI AND IN THE MATTER OF APPLICATION BY RASHIDA RAJAB NURBHAI FOR EXTENSION OF TIME WITHIN WHICH TO FILE INVENTORY AND ACCOUNTS IN RESPECT OF THE ESTATE OF THE LATE RAJAB ABDULALI NURBHAI RULING 30/07/2024 & 02/08/2024 MWENDA, J.: This application has been brought by the applicant under the provisions of Rule 109 (1) of the Probate Rules, GN No. 369 of 1963 read together with Section 95 of the Civil Procedure Code, Cap 33 R.E 2019. She beseeches this court to be granted the following orders: I) That the court may be pleased to extend time within which to file inventory in respect of the Estate of the late RAJAB ABDULALI Page 1 of 5 NURBHAI for a period of six month counted from 3rd December, 2023. ii) That the court may be pleaded to extend time within which to file accounts in respect of the Estate of the late RAJAB ABDULALI NURBHAI for a period of Four Months to be counted from 3rd December, 2023. iii) Any other relief that the court may deem fit to grant in the circumstances. This application is further supported by affidavits deposed by the applicant and one WILLYBRIGHT MAMKWE, the advocate who is alleged to be managing the deceased's companies. In the said papers, the reasons for delays are stated. During the hearing of the application, which was done orally, the applicant was represented by Mr. Abdallah Issa Ally learned counsel from M/S Maro and Company, Advocates. While submitting in support of the application, Mr. Abdallah stated that when the applicant was appointed as an administratrix of the estate of the late RAJAB ABDULLALI NURBHAI, she was required to file an inventory within six months and true accounts within eight months from the date of that order. However, according to the learned counsel, the applicant could Page 2 of 5 not commence her task due to discrepancy in names which appeared on the Letters of administration, which took three weeks to rectify. It was the learned counsel's further submission that the applicant also discovered that the deceased had interest in Companies such as Troica Developers Limited and Cement Centre which were not covered in her petition for letters of administration. Besides, she also discovered that the deceased had interest in landed properties other that those mentioned above which has no titles, the act which forced her to struggle to secure new titles. On top of that, the applicant deposed that some of the discovered properties have dispute over their respective ownership. She described the location of the said landed properties as being at Simanjiro District, Namanga Area in Loliondo District, Arumeru District, Moshi District and Mkuranga District. The learned counsel further averred that the applicant is still identifying shares in different Companies to collect and distribute the same to the beneficiaries. According to him, the time to file the inventory expired on 03/12/2023 while the time to file true account expired since 03/03/2024.The learned counsel opined that the reasons for failure to file inventory and true account as stated above are sufficient to warrant extension of time to the Page 3 of 5 applicant to go on with identifying, tracing and later distribute the deceased's estate. Based on the reasons submitted herein, he concluded while beseeching the court to grant the prayers in this application. Having considered the oral submissions by the applicant's counsel, the issue for determination is whether there is good cause for delay. It is settled that an application for extension of time can only be granted upon the applicant adducing good cause or sufficient reason(s) for delay. This established principle can be discerned from what was clearly stated in MUMELLO V. BANK OF TANZANIA [2006] E.A. 227. In that case it was stated as follows, that: "... an application for extension of time is entirely in the discretion of court to grant or refuse and that extension of time may only be granted where it has been sufficiently established that the delay was due to sufficient cause." See also the case of HASSAN BUSHIRI V. LATIFA LUKIO MASHAYO, Civil Application No. 3 of 2007 (CAT-unreported). Having gone through the affidavit and submission made to this Court, I have noted that the applicant has advanced good cause for delay in filing the inventory and true account. The reasons are self-explanatory in that Page 4 of 5 she is still collecting the properties of the deceased and fending the deceased's interest in the properties subjected to disputes over ownership. After all, refusing to grant extension of time under these circumstances would do no good to the beneficiaries as it would deny them their rights to inheritance. Eventually, the application is hereby granted. The applicant is given six (6) months to file inventory and six (6) months to file true accounts of the estate from the date of this order. It is so ordered. Page 5 of 5