On 23/05/2011, the OC – CID of Mugumu police station received information from two intelligence officers of Tanzania National Parks stationed at Serengeti National Park, that there were persons selling elephant tusks to a person putting up a hotel in Mugumu Township.
Acting on the information the OC – CID instructed 5 police officers to accompany him to the hotel. Where they conducted a search and recovered four pieces of elephant tusks from the room occupied by the appellant and his wife. On further interrogations the appellant told them he had purchased them from Kasika John Juma and Lameck James and directed the officers where the two were residing. The police officers conducted a search on their respective rooms and found nothing, on interrogations the two admitted to have sold the trophies to the appellant and that they had bought the same from one Mwita John Chacha.
The accuseds were then charged with those two offences. This was a second appeal against an unsuccessful appeal to the High court at Mwanza against conviction and sentence by the appellant. The appellant and three others who were acquitted by the trial court, the Mugumu District court in Serengeti, were accused on two different offences.
The first count was against the appellant alone on unlawful possession of government trophies contrary to section 86(1) and (2) of the Wildlife Conservation Act No. 5 0f 2009, read together with paragraph 14 (d) of the first schedule and Sections 57 (1) and 60 (2) of the Economic and Organized Crimes Act Cap 200 R.E 2002.
The second count was against all the accused on unlawful dealing in government trophies contrary to Section 84(1) of the wildlife Conservation Act No. 5 0f 2009, read together with paragraph 14 (b) of the first schedule and Sections 57 (1) and 60 of the Economic and Organized Crimes Act Cap 200 R.E 2002.
The appellant was found guilty on the first count and sentences to 8 years imprisonment. And all the accused were acquitted on the second count.
he appeal was allowed, the decision was quashed and the verdict of guilty was set aside. The court remitted the matter to the trial court for retrial before another magistrate with competent jurisdiction.