Tanzania Case Law

ELIUD ALEX 2025

Court

TANZLII

The court found that the transaction involved deliberate misrepresentation and deception by the appellant, who solicited and received funds for a vehicle that had already been sold to another party. The prosecution established all elements of obtaining money by false pretence, and the defence failed to raise reasonable doubt. The matter was criminal, not civil, in nature.

Source excerpt

• False pretence
• Obtaining money by false pretence
• Burden of proof
• Evaluation of evidence
• Distinction between civil and criminal liability

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68

Court

TANZLII

The dispute was purely civil in nature and not criminal; the trial court lacked jurisdiction to entertain the matter as a criminal case without exhaustion of civil remedies, rendering the conviction and sentence invalid.

Source excerpt

• Obtaining money by false pretence
• Jurisdiction
• Distinction between civil and criminal liability
• Exhaustion of remedies

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dunstan michael msenga vs levina john mushi 2020 tzhc 4299 19 august 2020

Court

TZHC

Second appeal dismissed after the court held that acquittal in a criminal case did not bar civil liability and the respondent’s evidence was weightier.

• Breach of contract
• Accounting for funds
• Standard of proof
• Distinction between civil and criminal liability
• Civil-appeal
• Accounting-for-funds

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jittu ally vs hanif adam 2018 tzhc 2534 27 april 2018

Court

TZHC

The District Court erred in law by upholding the order for compensation after quashing the conviction for theft, as compensation is a form of punishment that can only follow a valid conviction.

Source excerpt

• Theft
• Compensation
• Distinction between civil and criminal liability
• Appellate powers

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20160624 TZHC Dar es Salaam

Court

TZHC

The High Court dismissed a criminal appeal, upholding convictions for impersonation and obtaining by false pretences, but set aside the costs order.

• Impersonation
• Obtaining goods by false pretences
• Defective charge
• Role of assessors
• Distinction between civil and criminal liability
• Standard of proof in criminal cases

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20042004 TZHC Dr es Salaam

Court

TZHC

The facts established a civil contract for the supply of timber, not a criminal offence. There was no evidence of false pretence or fraudulent trick by the appellant. The conviction was therefore not supported by the evidence or law.

Source excerpt

• Obtaining money by false pretences
• Breach of contract
• Distinction between civil and criminal liability

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