Dar es Salaam: Hearing of appeal against Zombe begins tomorrow

BY KARAMA KENYUNKO

A Government appeal against former Dar es Salaam regional crimes officer Abdallah Zombe and eight other police officers begins tomorrow.

The appeal was filed through the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) against a High Court judgment which acquitted Zombe and his co-accused of the murder charges they were facing.

Zombe and his co-accused were charged with the murder of three mineral businessmen from Mahenge, in Morogoro region, and one taxi driver, a resident of Dar es Salaam.

The deceased are Sabinus Chigumbi, alias Jongo, and his relatives Ephrahim Chigumbi, Mathias Lunkombe together with Juma Ndugu, the taxi driver.

The appeal will be heard by a panel of three Court of Appeal judges - Justices William Mandia, Nathalia Kimaro and Catherine Orio.

In the original murder case the accused allegedly in January 2006, at Pande forest on the outskirts of Dar es Salaam, committed the offence.

Apart from Zombe, the other accused are ASP Christopher Bageni, ASP Ahmed Makelle, Constable Noel Leonard, Constable Jane Andrew, Corporal Nyangerela Moris, Constable Emanuel Mabula na Corporal Felix Sedrick.

Others are Constable Michael Shonza, Corporal Abeneth Salo, Corporal Rashid Lema (who died before the trial commenced), Corporal Rajabu Bakari and Corporal Festus Gwabisabi.

On September 17, 2009 the High Court acquitted all the accused, saying that after the adduced testimony and submissions of both sides, the court was satisfied that the accused were not guilty of the offence they were charged with.

Judge Salum Masati, who was presiding over the case, said the accused were not the ones who committed the murders, adding that the killers were still at large.

Masati ordered the prosecution to find and bring to court the real killers.

However, DPP appealed against the judgment, arguing that Judge Masati was wrong to have discharged the accused.

In the appeal, number 254/2009 filed on October 6, 2006, the DPP forwarded eleven reasons for his move, claiming that, according to the testimony presented in court, all the accused were guilty.

SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN (11/12/2012): http://www.ippmedia.com/frontend/index.php?l=48914