registered trustees of redeemed assemblies of god in tanzania vs obed heziron sichembe another 2015 tzhc 2274 27 april 2015

IN THE HIGH COURT OF TANZANIA AT MBEYA MISCELLANEOUS LAND CASE APPLICATION NO. 63 OF 2013 THE REGISTERED TRUSTEES OF REDEEMED ASSEMBLIES OF GOD IN TANZANIA.....................................................APPLICANT VERSUS 1. OBED HEZIRON SICHEMBE 2. THE REGISTERED TRUSTEES v ................. RESPONDENTS OF TANZANIA ASSEMBLIES OF GOD (TAG) RULING. Date o f last order: 20/ 03/2015 Date o f Ruling: 27/04/2015 A.F. NGWALA, J. Three objections on points of law have been raised by Dr. Lamwai, learned Advocate for the Respondents. Mr. Mushokorwa the learned Advocate for the Applicant on his part has objected the arguments in support of those objections on the ground that Dr. Lamwai should have filed a Notice to that effect. With due respect to the Senior Advocate Mr. Mushokorwa, the court did not agree with his contention simply because the Lawyers, and especially practicing Advocates must keep abreast of the fundamental principles of Laws and Rules of Procedure in court. They must make sure that they know the most recent facts about rules of procedure in court which should be on their finger tips. It is obvious that the provision of law under which the application is taken is wrongly cited. There are inherent incurable defects in this application which renders this suit untenable in law. As rightly submitted by Dr. Lamwai there is a total non - citation of the enabling provision. The applicant has cited Rule 45 (2) of the Court of Appeal of Tanzania Rules, 2009 which is not applicable in this matter; in that it does not empower this court to grant extension of time within which a party can apply for leave to appeal to the Court of Appeal of Tanzania. The provision which should have been cited is Section 5 (1) (c) of the Appellate Jurisdiction Act, CAP. 141 R. E. 2002. As the said provision has not been cited, it goes without saying that this application is totally incompetent. It is now settled in law that wrong citation of the provision of law renders a suit incompetent. With the recent developments in the laws of this land it is a trite law that wrong citation of the law under which an application is made is 2 fatal and makes the relevant application incompetent. There is a chain of Court of Appeal of Tanzania decisions that settle this position. The few include the following:- 1. National Bank of Commerce vrs. Sadrudin Meghji [ 1998]TLR, 503, 2. Almas Iddie Mwinyi vrs. NBC and Another [2001JTLR; 83 3. China Henab International Cooperation Group vrs. Silvant K. A. Rwegasira [2006JTLR. 230. This objection alone suffices to dispose this application. The objection is upheld. Accordingly this application is struck out with costs for improper citation. A.F.NGWALA JUDGE 27/04/2015 3 Date: 27/04/2015 Coram: Hon. A.F. Ngwala, J. Applicants: Present For the Appellant: Ms. Getrude for Mr. Mushokorwa Respondents: Present For the Respondent: Mr. Lamwai C/C: Japhet Court: Ruling of the court is delivered in the presence of the parties. Court: Right of Appeal to Court of Appeal of Tanzania explained. ALA 27/02/2015 4