Dar es Salaam: Lwakatare, Zombe ruling out today

Written by FAUSTINE KAPAMA.

THE outcome of two cases, one involving Abdallah Zombe and eight other police officers and the other concerning political figure Wilfred Lwakatare, will be known on Tuesday when the Court of Appeal and the High Court, respectively, would deliver their rulings.

Justices Edward Rutakangwa, Mbarouk Mbarouk and Bathuel Mmila of the Appeal Court would rule on whether the appeal by the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), challenging acquittal of Zombe and his colleagues on murder charges should be rejected.

When the case was called for hearing on April 22, this year, advocates for the police officers requested the panel to “strike out” the appeal because there was no proper notice of appeal filed.

The defects of the notice of appeal were pointed out by a member of the bench, Justice Mbarouk.Justice Mbarouk said the notice of appeal states that the decision sought to be challenged was given to Court of Appeal Judge Salum Massati, which was not the case. A team of trial attorneys had requested the panel to allow the DPP to amend the notice, but the defence strongly opposed.

Zombe and the ex-police officers were charged with four counts of killing of three mineral businessmen -- Sabinus Chigumbi and his relatives Ephrahim Chigumbi and Mathias Lunkombe from Mahenge in Morogoro Region and Juma Ndugu, ex-taxi driver at Manzese in Dar es Salaam.

The four people were cruelly killed one by one by the police using a gun on January 14, 2006, at Pande Forest in Kinondoni District in the city. Lwakatare trial, High Court Judge Lawrence Kaduri is expected to rule on a number of issues, including the procedure adopted by the DPP to drop the terrorist charges against him and few minutes later re-institute them before another magistrate.

The judge would also decide on the request by the defence to dismiss the charges against the Director of Defence and Security of Chama Cha Demokrasia na Maendeleo (CHADEMA).

Lwakatare and one Joseph Ludovick are charged with conspiracy to commit offences of malicious administering poison and kidnapping. Other counts are arranging and participating in a terrorist meeting. Lwakatare is facing extra count of allowing his house to promote terrorism.

Before the High Court, advocates for the accused are challenging the decision by the DPP to drop charges filed under PI No. 37 of 2013 by entering nolle prosequi certificate and later reinstituting the same charges under a different number PI 6 of 2013.

But the trial attorneys claim that the DPP had acted within the ambit of the law and for interest of justice to drop the charges and re-institute them in appropriate manner. They had submitted that case number 37 of 2013 was dropped based on good reasons.

The state attorneys had alleged that the case in question was filed in a wrong register of cases triable by subordinate court and that the lower court had committed an error of allowing the accused to enter plea to the charges, while it had no jurisdiction.

Source: Daily News (08/05/2013): http://www.dailynews.co.tz/index.php/local-news/17190-lwakatare-zombe-ruling-out-today