Kafuruga Ngopole vs Manyoselo Mwambete (PC Civil Appeal No. 53 of 1981) [1988] TZHC 329 (29 July 1988)

H1 Gn COMT OP (pa) civii APP'iL NO.53 OF 1981 the dei2ion of the District COur of eungwe D3.atriat at Tukunt. in Civil Appeal N137 of 1979 and Masukulu Ptimary Court Civil Case No.51 of 1979 cfoe JA. iiwakibaba,. District Nagistrte) KFURTJGA NGOPOLE.•.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .IPPLL.ANT versus IJ1NYQSLO JUDGMENT 9 0 ,- The appellant married the ni.ece of the respondent in about 1951. In marrying her he paid seven head of cattle as dowry to her fa'ker, Apparently the woman lived with the appellant for about a month only when she doorted him to got married" to someone else. In 19 the appellant sued the respondent. for retu'n of the dowry. By them the father of the woman had diod and the isrnndent was his hoix, entitling the appellant to file the suit agin.t him. He. obtai- ned judgmeiit in his favour in the Primary Court of Iusuku1u. Howover, on appeal by the respondent to the District Court oi Ru:ngwe the Primary Court judgment was overturned mainly on tho ground that since there had been no divorce the suit for rot.rn of dowry wa protuio.,. Aggrieved by that decision the appellant cn.o to this cour. I. am satisfied that the District Court was ri ; ;ht in it dewision, Dowry is teturnablo only after the marrigo hri bo\ dissolved by court. Paragraph 3711 of the Law of Pcrsor]r - GN 0 I'. 279 of 1963 prodes that dowry is returnable on divorce. This court has a1ways held that view in several cases. An exa 1 p1e-\N is the oaso ofW NGMUMLNYI V " in wbich. Satn, J as he then wac, in citing paragraph 37A of the Law Persons to which I referred above, said 'bridewea1th may be required to be returned 'in case of divorce'. In the prosontcse there was no evidence of divorce and the award cannot be sustainod"" , In the case under appeal I would echo what Seaton, J saànd hold that as there was no evidence of a divorce the suit for reurn of dowry was not maintainable. The appellant had been il1advisod when he iiorod the suggestion of the first appolJato court that he ../2

• fit files a divorQo suit e t.h.teforc, has no merit.. aid J'.A. Nroso At Mbeya . JUDGE 9/7/88 : A cort.tfiod copy of this judgment is to be sent to District Court Rungwe at ukuyu to be road to the particr.. 0 ' J.A. Mros'o • 0 JUDGE' JAM/ATM 1tri, 00 -, • .0