Case Law[2019] TZCA 188Tanzania
James Burchard Rugemalira vs Republic (Criminal Appeal No. 391 of 2017) [2019] TZCA 188 (28 June 2019)
Court of Appeal of Tanzania
Judgment
IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF TANZANIA
AT PA R ES SALAAM
( CORAM: MZIRAY, 3.A.. KOROSSO. J.A. And KITUSI, 3.A.)
CRIMINAL APPEAL NO. 391 OF 2017
JAMES BURCHARD RUGEMALIRA ................................................. APPELLANT
VERSUS
THE REPUBLIC ..................................... ................................. RESPONDENT
(Appeal from the Ruling of the High Court of Tanzania, Corruption and
Economic Crimes Division, at Dar es Salaam)
(MatogoJOxJL)
dated the 30th day of August, 2017
in
Economic Cause No. 21 of 2017
JUDGMENT OF THE COURT
19th & 28thJune 2019
KITUSI. J.A.:
There are, at the Resident Magistrates' Court of Dar es Salaam at
Kisutu, pending charges against James Burchard Rugemalira, the appellant,
comprising of 12 counts six of which (7th - 12th ) being of money laundering
contrary to Section 12 (e) and 13 (a) of Anti - Money Laundering Act, No.
12 of 2006. Vide Miscellaneous Economic Cause No. 21 of 2017. The
appellant applied to the Corruption and Economic Crimes Division of the
High Court that he be admitted to bail pending trial. The High Court,
(Matogolo, J.) dismissed the application for being unmaintainable.
Aggrieved by the said decision of the High Court, the appellant
appeals hereto. In the Memorandum of Appeal lodged on 23rd October,
2017 the appellant invites us to:-
"(a) set aside the High Court's ruling and orders dated
3Cfh August, 2017 which denied him bail;
(b) declare that the particulars o f offence contained in
the substituted charge sheet dated 3 d July, 2017 do
not establish the offence o f money laundering;
(c) admit the Appellant to bail by providing to him
reasonable bail conditions.
(d) make or issue any other orders or directions that
the Court may, in the circumstances, deem fit, just
and proper ."
The foregoing tells it all, that is, in essence the ultimate reliefs being
sought are to quash and set aside the decision of the High Court in Misc.
Economic Cause No. 21 of 2017 and therefore admit the appellant to bail
upon reasonable conditions. We are also asked to make a declaratory
order regarding the propriety of the charge in as far as the counts of
Money Laundering are concerned.
Before the High Court, the application was by way of Chamber
Summons preferred under Section 148(1) & (5)(e) of the Criminal
Procedure Act, Cap 20 R.E. 2002, and Sections 29 (4) (d) and 30 (1) of the
Economic and Organized Crime Control Act, Cap 200 R.E. 2002. The
application was supported by the appellant's own affidavit filed on 3rd July,
2017. It is on record that prior to 3r d July, 2017 the charge consisted of
four counts only, that is to say; conspiracy, leading organized crime,
obtaining money by false pretences and occasioning loss to a specified
authority. This charge was on 3r d July, 2017 substituted with an amended
one that brought in the counts of money laundering referred to earlier.
On 13th July, 2017 the appellant was granted his application to file a
supplementary affidavit and he filed one. There was a counter affidavit in
response to the substantive affidavit but none was filed in response to the
supplementary. This, it was argued, connoted that the contents of the
supplementary affidavit had gone uncontroverted. The appellant has
maintained that argument to this point. What is the gist of the averments
in the affidavits?
The relevant averments in the substantive affidavit are contained in
paragraphs 7, 8, 9, 12 and 13 which we shall paraphrase as hereunder: -
7. That his application for bail at the trial court was
unsuccessful for the reason that the said court ruled that
it lacked jurisdiction.
8. That the applicant caused the application at the High
Court to be lodged.
9. That he believed the High Court has jurisdiction and that
the offences charged were bailable and further that he
has a constitutional right to bail.
12. That he has reliable sureties and undertook to enter
appearance in court whenever so required.
13. That he was ready and willing to comply with any bail
conditions.
The supplementary affidavit tells a long tale but we think relevant to
the application before the High Court as reflected in the Chamber
Summons, were paragraphs 7, 35, 36, 37 and 38. We shall also
paraphrase these paragraphs: -
7. That the charges of money laundering have been
added with malicious intent.
35. That the charges of money laundering are
misplaced because the particulars thereof do not
disclose that offence.
36. That going by the definition of money laundering,
there are no elements o f that offence in the
particulars of the charge as he, the deponent and
his Companyhave at all times acted transparently.
37. That bail is his constitutional right.
38. That the supplementary affidavit was in support o f
his earlier affidavit and application for bail.
At the hearing before the High Court Mr. Didace, learned advocate,
argued on behalf of the appellant and conceded that money laundering is a
non-bailable offence but pointed out that there is no money laundering in
this case because the relevant counts do not disclose it. He cited quite a
number of decisions on the legal requirements for a charge to disclose the
offence and adequately inform the accused the particulars and nature of
the offence. Secondly, he submitted, the counts of money laundering have
been introduced into the charge for an ill motive to see the appellant
continue to be in remand custody.
It was further argued by the learned counsel that since the
inadequacy of the charges and the malice in introducing the counts of
money laundering have been stated in the supplementary affidavit to which
no counter affidavit had been filed, the said averments must be taken to
be uncontroverted. Counsel moved the High Court to strike out the counts
of money laundering and admit the accused/appellant to bail.
For the Respondent Republic Dr. Zainabu Mango, learned Principal
State Attorney, submitted that money laundering is not bailable, citing
Section 148 (5) of the Criminal Procedure Act, Cap 20 R.E. 2002 (the CPA)
as amended by Section 19 of the Written Laws (Miscellaneous
Amendments) Act No. 2 of 2007 which introduced paragraph (iv). Then
submitting on the alleged defect in the charge sheet, the learned Principal
State Attorney pointed out that the proper court to address the matter
would be the Resident Magistrates' Court in terms of Section 234 (1) of the
CPA, and that the High Court would, only be seized of the matter when the
appellant is committed for trial before it.
On the issue of the alleged malice, Dr. Mango submitted that there is
no way the DPP would have figured out that the applicant was going to
apply for bail. This line of argument was, in our view, suggesting that the
DPP could not have amended the charge to include money laundering with
malicious intent to deny the appellant bail if he had no knowledge of the
said appellant's intention to present an application for bail.
6
The learned High Court Judge was of the view that the application
before him required the following issues to be resolved;
1. Whether the charged offences of money laundering are bailable.
2. Whether the High Court could, at that stage, assess whether or not
the particulars of the charge disclosed the offence of money
laundering.
3. Whether the particulars in the counts of money laundering (which
were three at that stage) established the charged offence.
4. Whether the High Court should grant bail.
5. On what conditions should bail be granted.
The learned High Court judge answered the first issue in the negative
holding that money laundering is not bailable in terms of paragraph (iv) to
section 148(5) of the CPA introduced by section 19 of the Written Laws
(Miscellaneous Amendments) Act No. 2 of 2007. As for the second issue
the High Court took the view that though it is vested with the jurisdiction
to try the case where the DPP does not transfer it to a subordinate court
under section 12(3) and (4) of Cap 200, it could not determine the
correctness of the charge when the matter is pending committal before the
Resident Magistrates' Court. It further held that the cases that Mr. Didace
relied upon on the point are all distinguishable to the case before it,
because in all situations the High Court was moved to exercise its revisional
powers. The cases cited, and eventually distinguished were Raza
Hussein Ladha & 9 Others Vs. DPP Misc. Criminal Applications No. 32
& 43 of 2014, HC DSM District Registry; Henry Kileo & Others V.
Republic, Misc. Criminal Applications No, 53 of 2013 HC Tabora District
Registry; Basil Pesambili Mramba & Another V. Republic, Misc.
Criminal Application No. 54 of 2008 HC DSM District Registry; Wilfred
Lwakatare V. Republic Misc. Criminal Application No. 14 of 2013 HC
DSM District Registry and; Republic v. Farid Hadi Alined & 21 others,
Criminal Appeal no. 59 of 2015 HC DSM District Registry (all unreported).
Next, the High Court considered the issue whether it could strike out
the counts of money laundering. Again, it held that such powers could
only be exercised by the trial court, and since the appearance of the
appellant before that court was not for trial, there would be an appropriate
time for the High Court to resolve that issue when it eventually sits as a
trial court. It cited the case of DPP v. Ally Nuru Dirie & Another [1988]
TLR 252 which held that trial commences when an accused appears before
a court competent to convict or acquit him. Thus, the learned judge
considered the prayer to strike out the charge as immature because the
accused/appellant had not been committed to it for trial. Similarly, the
learned judge treated the allegation of malice as having been raised
prematurely before a wrong forum. It further held that in any event the
prayer to strike out the counts of money laundering was not among the
prayers presented in the Chamber Summons.
The appellant is unhappy with that decision and has appealed to us
on the grounds we referred to earlier. However, while the main
memorandum of Appeal wants us to quash the decision of the High Court,
declare the charges of money laundering defective and admit the appellant
to bail, the supplementary Memorandum of Appeal is, with respect, a
verbose account of things quite unrelated to the application for bail. We
are categorically saying so at this early stage so as to weed out the
materials that are unnecessary for the determination of the issues before
us.
At the hearing of the appeal, though represented by Mr. Pascal
Kamala assisted by Mr. Augustino Muga, learned advocates, the appellant
insisted to be given an opportunity to address us personally before his
advocates took the floor. Although we found the request to be out of the
ordinary, we allowed him to speak his mind regarding the appeal. We are
satisfied that the rule of practice which requires a legally represented
person to address the Court only through his advocate is merely a rule of
etiquette and decorum that does not, in deserving circumstances, take
away his right to address the Court personally. For the respondent
Republic, Dr. Zainabu Mango, Messrs. Tumaini Kweka and Faraja Nchimbi,
learned Principal State Attorneys assisted by Ms. Elizabeth Mkunde, learned
State Attorney, formed a team that fiercely contested the appeal.
The appellant had filed written submissions drawn by himself, but there
were none by the respondent. The best part of the written submissions,
just as it is with the Supplementary Memorandum of appeal, contains
protests by the appellant that he is an innocent man being persecuted.
Considering the unusual way in which this appeal was argued it became
necessary for us to keep the parties, especially the appellant, constantly
reminded of the governing issues that are for our determination, which
are:-
(i) Whether the learned High Court Judge was correct in holding
that the offence of money laundering is not bailable.
(ii) Whether the learned High Court Judge was correct in declining
to strike out the charges of money laundering on account of
alleged failure to disclose that offence.
We shall, with respect, ignore all those paragraphs in the
Memorandum of Appeal and all those arguments in the written submissions
which try to smuggle in evidence of the appellant's asserted innocence.
The appellant would have us believe that we have unlimited powers to
correct an alleged wrong or injustice, and he asked us to do so under
Section 4 of the Appellate Jurisdiction Act Cap 141 R.E 2002. However, we
cannot walk that path because doing so will cause chaos in the
administration of justice. The provision of Section 4 of the AJA which the
appellant considers as giving us such wide powers does, actually, limit our
powers to appeals and revision, and to be exercised when we are correctly
moved. This, we shall endeavor to demonstrate later.
First, we propose to address the issue of the alleged defects in the
charge sheet, the second issue. Our call here is not to determine whether
or not the charge is defective, but whether the High Court was right in law
in declining to determine that issue. Submitting on this point the appellant
referred to the averments in his supplementary affidavit that the particulars
i i
of the counts alleging money laundering do not disclose that offence.
Secondly, he referred to the averment alleging malice, that is that, the
charges of money laundering have been preferred for an ill purpose so as
to deny him bail. The thrust of his argument is that these averments were
not countered by the respondent so the High Court ought to have taken
them to be undisputed. Mr. Kamala chipped in by drawing our attention to
paragraph 57 of the supplementary memorandum of appeal. This
paragraph has 17 points, and the first is that since the assertion of malice
was not controverted by the respondent, the same should have been relied
upon by the High Court in striking out the substituted charge consisting of
counts of money laundering.
It was Dr. Mango who responded to this point. The learned Principal
State Attorney submitted that although the respondent did not counter the
accusations of defects in the charges of money laundering and the prayer
to strike out those charges, it does not mean that they were conceded. She
submitted that the contention alleging malicious prosecution was raised
prematurely. And further she submitted that the counter affidavit filed by
the respondent must be taken to have responded to both the affidavit and
the supplementary affidavit.
In rejoinder, Mr. Kamala submitted that the appeal is against the
denial of bail as well as failure by the High Court to strike out the defective
charges. He insisted that the charges alleging money laundering were
defective because the particulars did not disclose that offence.
In determining this issue, we are not losing sight of the fact that if
we find merit in it, we are going to have to direct that the matter be
remitted to the High Court for it to decide on the alleged defects one way
or the other. We cannot, as the appellant wants us to, step into the shoes
of the High Court and strike out the charges. The law is settled that a
matter not decided by the High Court or a subordinate court exercising
extended jurisdiction cannot be decided by us, and that is the import of
Section 4 of AJA, which we now reproduce:-
"4-(l) The Court of Appeal shall have jurisdiction to
hear and determine appeal from the High Court and
from subordinate courts with extendedjurisdiction.
(2) For all purposes o f and incidental to the hearing
and determination o f any appeal in the exercise o f
the jurisdiction conferred upon it by this Act, the
Court of Appeal shall\ in addition to any other
power, authority and jurisdiction conferred by this
Act, have the power o f revision and the power,
13
authority and jurisdiction vested in the Court from
which the appeal is brought.
(3) Without prejudice to subsection (2), the Court of
Appeal shall have the power, authority and
jurisdiction to call for and examine the record o f any
proceedings before the High Court for the purpose
o f satisfying itself as to the correctness, legality or
propriety o f any finding, order or any other decision
made thereon or as to the regularity o f any
proceedings o f the High Court"
This is an appeal from the High Court, but we may only decide on
points that were decided upon by it, for ours is the duty to determine the
correctness or otherwise of a decision. In this case there is no decision on
whether the charges are defective or not. In many cases we have decided
on this aspect and we think that trend should be maintained lest we be
dubbed "The Bully Brother" as Prof. Fimbo refers to this Court in his book;
An Exposition of The Court of Appeal Decisions, TUKI, University of
Dar es Salaam, Page 167. In Celestine Maagi V. Tanzania Elimu
Supplies (TES) and Another, Civil Revision No. 2 of 2014, (unreported),
we said the following regarding our jurisdiction:-
'The powers o f the Court on matters arising from
the lower courts are only exercisable in two ways.
14
First, by way of appeal. And second by way o f
revision. This is provided under S. 4(l)-(3) o f the
Act. And ordinarily the Court would exercise
its appellate and revisional powers only after
the lower courts have handed down their
d e c is io n (Emphasis ours)
The decision of the High Court was based on these grounds; first
that striking out the charge was not one of the prayers in the chamber
summons. Secondly, the High Court was yet to be seized with the matter,
because the same was still pending committal before the Resident
Magistrates' court. The learned Judge distinguished the cases which had
been cited by the appellant in support of his case, in that in those cases
the High Court was sitting in its revisional jurisdiction.
To begin with, we cannot fault the learned Judge on the fact that the
prayer to strike out the charges of money laundering was not among the
prayers in the chamber summons, because that is the truth of the matter,
evident from that document. We take a chamber summons to be in an
application what a plaint is in a suit. In the case of ANTHONY NGOO &
DAVIS ANTHONY NGOO V. KITINDA KIMARO, CIVIL APPEAL NO. 25
OF 2014 (unreported), we stated in relation to this aspect:-
"Cases must be decided on the issues on record and
if it is desired to raise other issues they must be
placed on record by amendment In the present
case the issue o f dissolution o f partnership and sale
o f properties was not raised in the pleading. The
dissolution order was made after being referred by
respondent's written submission."
We are aware and it is settled that parties are bound by their own
pleadings. See, James Funke Gwagilo V. The Attorney General,
[2004] TLR 161; Peter Karanti & 48 Others V. Attorney General & 3
Others, Civil Appeal No. 3 of 1994, (unreported). It is also settled that
matters not raised or determined by the High Court cannot be determined
by this Court. There is a score of decisions supporting that position such
as; Diha Matofali V. Republic, Criminal Appeal No. 245 of 2015; Martin
Misara V. Republic, Criminal Appeal No. 428 of 2016 and; Mustapha
Khamis V. Republic, Criminal Appeal No. 70 of 2016 (all unreported).
The learned High Court Judge was very much aware of his duty when
deciding this point. We prefer to reproduce the relevant part;
"/ must make it dear that my reluctance to deal
with what the leaned counsel for the applicant has
asked this court to do is not abdication o f judicial
16
duty, but that the prayers were wrongly placed\
that is, they are not the right place and at the right
time."
Isn't this the same as what we said years ago in Attorney General V.
W.K.Butambala [1993] TLR 46? Here is what we said:-
"We must not be understood to mean that judges
should shy away from their function o f construing
the Constitution which is their proper duty and
legitimate province. But there must be occasion for
that. That is judicial power reserved for judicial
situations. When we are moved, we move into
judicial action and fulfill our responsibilities. Not
otherwise."
In view of the above position we firmly hold that the learned judge
was correct in declining to enter the arena at the time when it was not yet
his time to do so. What would be the situation, we ask ourselves, if
superior courts would act in the manner suggested by the appellant in this
matter? Certainly, there would be judicial anarchy which we must guard
against. In a book titled; The Appellate Craft, by J.E COTE, Canadian
Judicial Council, 2009, at page 16, the author offers this counsel to
appellate courts or Judges:-
17
"Solving an injustice in one case by inventing a
whole new doctrine is like burning down a hotel to
rid it o f mice: certainly expensive, likely to injure
people and totally unnecessary. A 69c mouse trap
would workjust as well."
We think we have demonstrated enough reason to agree with the learned
Judge, and we answer the second issue in the affirmative, that is, the
judge was correct in declining to strike out the counts of money
laundering. We now turn to the first issue.
The first issue is whether the High Court Judge was correct in
concluding that money laundering is not bailable. There was quite a scene
in arguing this point. The learned State Attorneys for the respondent
maintained that money laundering is not bailable under Section
148(5)(a)(iv) of the CPA. At the instance of the Court the appellant's
counsel and the respondent's Principal State Attorneys were required to
address what looked like a lacuna in the relevant law. The question was
that; in listing money laundering as an Economic Offence through Act No 3
of 2016, why didn't Parliament include it as among the non-bailable
offences like it did with offences involving trafficking of drugs?
18
Responding to the question, Mr. Kweka submitted that the Drugs and
Prevention of Illicit Traffic in Drugs Act was completely repealed whereas
the Economic and Organized Crime Control Act, Cap 200 was merely
amended. He further submitted that Section 148(5)(a)(iv) of the CPA has
not been amended by Section 36 of Cap 200, therefore it is still valid, and
pointed out that an amendment of a provision of a statute must be
express, not to be implied. For this, the learned Principal State Attorney
cited the case of DPP V. Aneth John Makame, Criminal Appeal No. 127
of 2018 ( Unreported).
Mr. Nchimbi introduced a rather interesting point. The learned
Principal State Attorney submitted that when the alleged money laundering
was committed, it had not been included as an Economic Offence. He
submitted therefore that the charges against the appellant in Economic
Crimes Case No. 27 of 2017 include economic and non-economic offences
which the DPP has powers to do under Section 12(3) of Cap 200. He
argued that the counts of money laundering in this particular case are not
economic offences therefore bail thereof is governed by the CPA. He
further submitted by raising a rhetoric, that would we say that by enacting
Act No. 3 of 2016 Parliament intended Money Laundering, a serious
offence, to be bailable? Mr. Nchimbi proceeded to provide the answer, that
considering the tone of Sections 4 of the CPA, it could not have been the
intention of the legislature to make money laundering a bailable offence.
The learned Principal State Attorney drew our attention to the fact that Act
No. 3 of 2016 amended several laws including the CPA but intentionally left
Section 148(5)(a)(iv) intact.
For the appellant Mr. Kamala submitted that once an offence is
designated as an economic offence the provisions of Cap 200 apply, and if
Parliament had intended money laundering to be unbailable it would have
stated so under Cap 200. Counsel submitted further that it is a cardinal rule
of statutory interpretation that if a statute does not prohibit something
then it must be interpreted in favour of the accused that the act in
question is permitted. Mr. Mugo submitted that the case of Aneth
Makame (supra) is distinguishable, then went on to argue that the
intention of the legislature in as far as money laundering is concerned must
have been to make money laundering a bailable offence.
The first issue calls upon us to pronounce ourselves on whether bail
in money laundering is governed by the CPA as submitted by the
respondent's learned Principal State Attorneys or Cap 200 as submitted by
the learned counsel for the appellant. It is a question of statutory
20
interpretation and, fortunately, it is not a new territory. The narrower
premise of this issue requires us to discover the intention of the legislature,
that is, whether it was its intention that money laundering be bailable or
not?
We are aware of the common rule of statutory interpretation that
when the words of a statute are unambiguous, then courts have to go by
what the letter of that particular piece of legislation says. This is the
essence of our decision in Republic V. Mwesige Geofrey And Another,
Criminal Appeal No. 355 of 2014 (unreported). We cited this case in
another unreported case of Resolute Tanzania Limited V.
Commissioner General, Tanzania Revenue Authority, Civil Appeal No
125 of 2017, reproducing the following passage;
"Indeed, it is axiomatic that when the words o f a
statute are unambiguous, ''judicial inquiry is
complete". There is no need for interpolations,
iest we stray into the exclusive preserve o f the
legislature under the cloak of overzealous
interpretation. This is because courts must
presume that the legislature says in a statute
what it means and means in a statute what it
says there."
21
However, there lingers some doubt in the case at hand whether, as
we have shown a while ago, bail in money laundering, which is now an
economic offence, should be considered under Cap 200 or under the CPA.
Parties have taken different positions and, we see this scenario as requiring
us to discover the intention of the legislature. In Ngassa Kapuli @
Sengerema V. Republic, Criminal Appeal No. 160 ”B" of 2014
(unreported), we took the following view:-
"The purpose o f statutory interpretation is to
discover the intention o f the legislature ."
We said an almost similar thing in Chiriko Haruni David V. Kangi
Alphaxard Lugola & 2 Others, Civil Appeal No. 36 of 2012 (unreported);
"The traditional wisdom is that the search for
legislative intent is central to statutory
interpretation."
In the latter case we further held that the intent should be ascertained
from the words, but went on to list down other things that may help in the
discovery. These are:-
"1. Historical background
2. Statement of objects and reasons
3. The original Bill as drafted and
introduced
4. Debates in the legislature
5. State of things at the time a particular
legislation was enacted.
6. Judicial construction
7. Legal dictionaries
8 . Commonsense"
(Emphasis supplied).
Mr. Kamala has submitted for the appellant that any economic
offence such as money laundering is dealt with under Cap 200 and further
that if that law does not expressly provide that money laundering is not
bailable, then it is bailable. Mr. Kweka maintains that if the legislature had
meant to make money laundering a bailable offence it would have
expressly stated so by removing it from Section 148 (5) (a)(iv). Mr.
Nchimbi's argument is that the charge sheet shows that money laundering
appearing in the 7th , 8th , 9th , 10th , 11th and 12th counts has been preferred
under the Anti - Money Laundering Act No. 12 of 2006, not under Cap 200.
The thrust of his argument is that they are to be dealt with under the CPA
as provided for in Section 4 of the CPA. Further he submitted that the
legislature could not have intended money laundering to be a bailable
offence because it is a serious one. This last point was conceded to by the
appellant's counsel when we wanted him to comment if there was anything
in the charge sheet suggesting that money laundering has been charged as
an economic offence. He responded that there was no such indication.
We propose to deal with this issue in two fronts. First, to determine
whether Parliament intended that money laundering be a bailable offence.
Secondly, whether money laundering in the instant case is an economic
offence. In the first front we think a bit of historical background to the
enactment of the Anti - Money Laundering Act No. 12 of 2006 will shed
some light on the intention of the legislature.
Before 2006, money laundering was defined under The Mutual
Assistance in Criminal Matters Act, No. 24 of 1991, Cap 254. Section 2
defined Money Laundering as;
''Money - laundering offence" in relation to the
proceeds o f a serious narcotics offence, means an
offence involving-
(a) The engaging, directly or indirectly, in a transaction
which involves money or other property, which is, in
terms o f the Proceeds o f Crime Act;
24
(b) The receiving, possessing, concealing, disposing o f
property, which is proceeds of crime in terms o f the
Proceeds o f Crime Act."
It was the Proceeds of Crime Act, Cap 256 RE 2002 which created the
offence of Money Laundering under Section 71(3). The said Section
provided;
"71-(3) A person shall be guilty of the offence o f money - laundering
if, and only if, he -
(a) Engages, directly or indirectly, in a transaction, whether in or
outside the United Republic, which involves the removal into or
from the United Republic, of money or other property which is
the proceeds o f crime; or
(b) Receives, possesses, conceals, disposes of, brings into or
removes from the United Republic, any money or other
property which is the proceeds of crime,
while he knows or ought to know or to have known that the money or
other property is or was derived or realized, directly or indirectly, from
some form o f unlawful activity ."
Then the Anti- Money Laundering Act No. 12, was enacted with the
following preamble;
"An Act to make better provisions for prevention
and prohibition o f money laundering, to provide for
25
= • the disclosure o f information o f money laundering ,
c, "
to establish a Financial Intelligence Unit and the
National Multi - Disciplinary Committee on Anti -
Money Laundering and to provide for matters
connected thereto."
This Act widened the definition of money laundering and listed down 25
predicate offences. The Proceeds of Crime Act was amended by the
Written Laws (Miscellaneous Amendments) Act No. 2 of 2007 which
provided that money laundering carries the meaning ascribed to it in the
Anti - Money Laundering Act. In addition, this Act defined ''serious offence'
under Section 4:-
"Serious offence means money laundering and
includes a predicate offence ."
The Anti - Money Laundering Act was amended by Act No 1 of 2012 which
gave it more teeth including the power of the DPP to prosecute a person
for an offence committed outside the United Republic, as well as to
prosecute foreigners.
In view of the above, we accept Mr. Nchimbi's argument that money
laundering is a serious offence, and that in not expressly providing that the
offence is not bailable, Parliament could not have intended it to be bailable.
We do not share with Mr. Kamala the view that the omission to
26
categorically specify money laundering as non bailable should be
interpreted in favour of the appellant. We say so because Section
148(5)(a)(iv) of the CPA has not been amended to remove money
laundering from the list of non-bailable offences.
We think it is harmless to also observe that the appellant has sort of
shifted the goal posts. Before the High Court, Mr. Didace for the appellant
had submitted that Money Laundering is not bailable. His trump card was
that the charges of Money laundering had not been disclosed, an argument
which, if successful, it would secure the appellant's bail. We think the first
limb of his submissions was correct and the appellant has not convinced us
otherwise in this appeal. As regards the second limb, we have already
found that the learned Judge was correct in declining to determine that
issue.
We turn to the last consideration, which, having concluded the first
part of the issue in the way we have done, will not change our final
destination. The question is whether the counts of money laundering have
been drawn under the Economic and Organized Crime Control Act, Cap
200. Obviously, the answer is that they are not, and when the attention of
counsel for the appellant was drawn to that fact, he conceded. This turn of
27
events, in our view, makes the submissions and prayers by the appellant
and his advocates, all the more unmaintainable. We conclude this point by
holding that the appellant's bail cannot be considered under Cap 200
because he has not been charged under that Act. Even then, we are
satisfied that Section 4 of the CPA provides the general rule that all
offences are treated under the CPA unless the exception is expressly
stated. The provision of Section 4 is to this effect;
"4-(l) All offences under the Penal Code shall be
inquired into, tried and otherwise dealt with
according to the provisions o f this Act.
(2) All offences under any other law shall be
inquired into, tried and otherwise dealt with
according to the provisions o f this Act\ except
where that other law provides differently for the
regulation o f the manner or place o f investigation
into, trial or dealing in any other way with those
offences ."
We also note that the application before the High Court cited Section
148 (1) & (5) (e) of the CPA and Sections 29(4) (d) and 30 (1) of Cap 200.
We wonder then, why does the appellant argue that the CPA is inapplicable
while the same was among the provisions that were cited by himin moving
the High Court. We reaffirm our decision that the provisions of the CPA are
28
applicable in this case and the learned High Court Judge rightly held that
the offence is not bailable under Section 148 (5) (a) (iv).
All that said, we find no merit in this appeal and, accordingly, we
dismiss it.
DATED at DAR ES SALAAM this 27th day of June, 2019.
R. E. MZIRAY
JUSTICE OF APPEAL
W. B. KOROSSO
JUSTICE OF APPEAL
I. P. KITUSI
JUSTICE OF APPEAL
I certify that this is a true copy of the original.
S. J. KAINDA
DEPUTY REGISTRAR
COURT OF APPEAL
29