THE Court of Appeal has nullified the proceedings, including the death sentence imposed on a resident of Morogoro Region

Justices Nathalia Kimaro, Stella Mugasha and Richard Mziray reached such a decision after noting some irregularities in the proceedings of the High Court which conducted the murder trial.

The irregularities, according to the justices, related to the trial court’s failure to properly guide court assessors when exercising the duty. In the trial the High Court had wrongly allowed court assessors to cross-examine the witnesses instead of asking questions as contemplated by law.

They pointed out that in the case, fair justice was not done because the assessors went outside their limits and assisted the parties (prosecution and defence) instead of assisting the trial judge.

The justices reminded trial judges that it was their duty to control and guide the assessors in playing their role and should not let them exercise authority over matters which were not concerned with them.

“Non-compliance with the procedure prescribed as was done in this case results in fatal irregularities which cannot be cured. The proceedings were a nullity. We have no option but to declare the trial a nullity,” they declared.

Using the powers conferred upon them by section 4 (2) of the Appellate Jurisdiction Act, the justices proceeded to quash the proceedings from the time the trial started to the stage of the judgment and the sentence that followed.

“We order the trial to start afresh before another judge with different assessors. The offence is alleged to have been committed on January 10, 2006.

The appellant has been under confines for a long time. This is 16th year in custody. It is important the case is determined the earliest possible time,” they ruled. Testimony of witnesses shows that Constantino Kagonja, the appellant and Haji Mbogoya, the deceased, knew each other as were friends and business partners. On the material day one Abdallah Kayumu was with the deceased at his house.

The appellant went to that house and told the deceased that he should go and see the paddy rice for sale. Kayumu and the deceased had met earlier in the morning at a market where they usually buy rice.

They parted company for sometime because the deceased had other personal matters to deal with. It was when they met in the evening at Kayumu’s house when the appellant went there to inform the deceased that he could and inspect the rice which he had. That was the last time for Kayumu to see the deceased alive.