Wednesday Aron vs Republic (Criminal Appeal No. 98 of 1986) [1988] TZHC 43 (27 July 1988)

IN THE HIGH X T T SI OF TAi' 1 « AT TaBO R a HIGH COURT CRIMINAL APPEAL NO. 93 OP 1^86 ORIGINAL..CRIMINAL CilSE NO. 33 OF 1 9 6 5 OP THE D I S T R I C T COURT OF KASULU D IS T R I C T AT KASULU B e fo r e ; I . a , mCHUJUCKO. . . E s q . S E N I O R D I S T R I C T MAGISTRATE WLDN ZSDAY a RON ......................................................................APPELLANT vei’sus THE REPUBLIC ............................................................................ RESPONDENT CHARGES s t e a l i n g by servant c/s 271 and 2b 5 o f tne p en a l Code Cap. 16 V o l . l o f the laws. J UDGiiiEN T . KO ROSSO. J . This i s an appeal f i l e d by the a p p e l l a n t who was charged and ©onvicted by Kasulu D i s t r i c t Gourt f o r an o f f e n c e o f s t e a l i n g by servant c/s 26 5 and 270 o f the penal Code. The A p p ella nt was sentenced to 3 yea rs imprisonment. He i s now ap p ea lin g a g a in st c o n v ic t io n and sentence. most o f the f a c t s in t h i s case are not i n d i s p u t e . I w i l l t h e r e f o r e , b r i e f l y r e f e r to the undisputed f a c t s . The A p p ell a nt was a shop-keeper o f tne shop o f Nyumoigwe V i l l a g e Kasulu. O n 23/l/^5s the v i l l a g e suspected the conduct | f the A ppell a nt in r e l a t i o n to the business o f tne shop. The y j - l l a g e had requ ir ed the ^ppel-Lant to hand o v e r the keys and the shop to the v i l l a g e by 24/1/35. On the morning o f 24/l/^5, t h e v i l l a g e shop was found to have been broken in to p r o p e r t y s t o l e n therefrom, accor ding to tne evidence o f one Renard Kukuru ( p w . l ) t h e s t o le n items froiu the s t o r e were found to have been 27 kilograms o f sugar, I p a i r o f k ite n g e and 19 metres o f j i n j a m a t e r i a l s . On 3/2/35, the house o f f k e A p p ella n t was searched and items l i k e 5 oundles o f s i s a l

rope, 27 p e n c i l s and a p i e c e o f k i t e n g e l i k e t h e s t o l e n k i t enge were found and s e i z e d by one No. 22 32 D/C John ( P w . 2 ) • On 19/3/85, Giady Ndyamkama (Ew. 3) a C o o p e r a t i v e I n s p e c t o r t o o k s t o c k o f t n e p r o p e r t y and cash b e lo n g i n g to t h e shop. Tw, 3 had checked a number o f books o f account i n t h e p o s s e s s i o n o f t h e a p p e l l a n t and a c t u a l l y used by hlui i n c o n e c t i o n w ith t h e shop b u s i n e s s . One Mr. Mtaki, s e n i o r S ta t e a tto r n e y , re p r e s e n t in g the Repub lic supported the c o n v ic t io n . On t h e a v a i l a b l e e v i d e n c e I d o n ' t see how t h e c o n v i c t i o n < 34 x 1 b e a l l o w e d to stand. I n the f i r s t p l a c e , except f o r a p i e c e o f k i t e n g e found i n t h e .a p p e ll a n t s house, th e o t h e r i t c ^ s i n th e n a t u r e o f p e n c i l s and s i s a l rope were not amongst t h e i tem s r e p o r t e d t o have been found s t o l e n on t h e morning o f 24/1/85 n o r was t h e r e e v i d e n c e th a t t n e s i s a l rope and p e n c i l s were amongst t h e it e m s sto c ke d i n th e v i l l a g e shop. There was no e v i d e n c e t i ia t th e A p p e l l a n t had n e v e r bought a k i t e n g e o f t h a t kind e i t h e r th e v i l l a g e snop o r anywhere e l s e . I t i s l i k e w i s e , n e t e w o r t l y t h a t t h e i n c i d e n t o c c u rr e d on 24/1/35 and t n e searoh i n the house o f t h e a p p e l l a n t s house was made on 8/2/85« I f t h e p i e c e o f k i t e n g e would have been s t o l e n PJFCperiyj I wonder i f th e a p p e l l a n t would have kept i t i n h i s house; e s p e c i a l l y a f t e r he had been suspect. c c o r d i n g t o t h e ev id e n ce o f one Giddy Ndaymkama (pw .3) check ing he had made on 19/3/85 r e v e a l e d a s h o r t a g e o f p r o p e i t y v a lu e d a t shs. 41, 346/= and a l s o a s h o r t a g e o f t h e suiu o f Shs. 7, 590/35, However, t h e r e i s no e v i d e n c e to e x p l a i n 2

why t h e p o l i c e came to v i s i t th e scene on 3/2/35 a f t e r a l a p s e o f about two weeks from the d a t e o f t h e i n c i d e n t . T h e r e i s no e v i d e n c e as t o why t h e s t o c k - t a k i n g was aad e on 19/3/35 a f t e r a month and some tw e n ty f i v e days from t h e d a t e o f t h e i n c i d e n t . Th er e i s no e v i d e n c e as to who had been running th e shop from 2h/1/35 t o 19/3/35. I f the A p p e l l a n t had not been r e s p o n s i b l e f o r sh op -b re ak in g as th e ch arg e would seen to i n d i c a t e , the a p p e l l a n t couldnt have s t o l e n t h e 27 k i l o g r a m s o f sugar, 1 k i t e n g e and 19 m e t r e s ; j i n j a m a t e r i a l because t h a t s h o r ta g e was d i s c c u r e d a f t e r t h e shop b r e a k i n g i n ".the absence o f t h e e v i d e n c e as to who ran t h e shop between 24/1/35 and 19/3/35. The s h o r t a g e o f p r o p e r t y and money cannot be a t t r i b u t e d to t h e a p p e l l a n t . On t h e f o r e g o n e grounds, I would quash t h e c o n v i c t i o n and s e t a s i d e t h e se n ten c e o f 3 yea rs* I t i s hereby o r d e r e d that t h e a p p e l l a n t be f o r t h w i t h r e l e a s e d from c u s t o d i a l confinment un les s d e t a i n e d f o r o t h e r l a w f u l purpos es no t connected w it h t h i s ca se. A p p e a l a l l o w e d . 27/7/38 JUDGE.