In the District Court of Shinyanga, the Appellant was
charged with and convicted of the offence of rape contrary to sections 130 (1),
(2) (e) and 131 (3) of the Penal Code [Cap 16 R.E. 2002]. He was found to have
had carnal knowledge of a girl aged 10 years who, for the purpose of disguising
her identity will be referred to as “SM” or simply “the victim”. Following his
conviction, the Appellant was sentenced to life imprisonment.
Aggrieved by the conviction and sentence, he appealed to
the High Court. In its decision, the High Court upheld the conviction but
reduced the sentence of life imprisonment to thirty years’ imprisonment.
Aggrieved further, he has preferred this second appeal.