BY KUSEKWA KUSEKWA
The High Court of Arusha has acquitted one Hamis Ibrahimu, who was serving a 20-year term in jail for unlawful possession of zebra meat, which is government trophy, valued at US Dollars 1,200 (about 3,120,000/-). The court noted he was tried and convicted without consent to prosecute from the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) as required by law.
Judge Ayubu Mwenda nullified Ibrahimu’s conviction and sentence by the Arusha Resident Magistrate’s Court after noting the absence of the consent from the DPP in trial proceedings. The judge explained that it was a settled principle in Tanzanian criminal law that for economic and organised crimes, the consent to prosecute from the DPP was a mandatory jurisdictional prerequisite and not optional.
“Accordingly, the appeal is hereby allowed, the conviction is quashed, the sentence is set aside and the entire proceedings are declared a nullity. The appellant should be released unless lawfully held for other reasons,” the Justice Mwenda declared in a judgement delivered recently.
During the trial, the prosecution had alleged that on June 8, 2018, the appellant and another accused person, were found in unlawful possession of zebra meat without a valid permit from the Director of Wildlife.
However , the Judge noted: “In the instant case, a careful record reveals no indication that such consent was obtained or ever presented before the trial court. This omission is not a mere procedural lapse; rather, it goes to the root of the court’s jurisdiction to entertain the matter,” the judge explained.
According to the Wildlife Management Act and new regulations issued by the Tanzania Wildlife Management Authority (TAWA), possession of an animal or part of an animal, including meat, hunted or obtained illegally, falls under the economic and organised crimes law, which usually attracts severe penalties.
