The Respondent sued the Appellant in the Land Tribunal at
Vuga in Civil Case No. 13 of 2019. The dispute between the parties was over a
piece of land situated at Mwera Mail Sita. It was the Respondent’s case that
the piece of land in dispute was purchased by him through his sister one Bi
Mwashamba Ali Juma in 1980 from the Appellant’s father Mr. Almas Karmali, now
deceased. The Respondent further complained that in 2016 the Appellant invaded
the piece of land in dispute by harvesting his crops and by pulling down his
structure that was being used by him as a garage. The Respondent therefore
prayed for a declaration that he is the rightful owner of the piece of land in
dispute and also for an order that the Appellant vacates the land in dispute
and pays him Tshs. 1,000,000/= compensation.
In his written defence the Appellant denied to have
committed any trespass over the piece of land in dispute. His defence was that
the piece of land in dispute is within his three-acre shamba that had
been granted to him by the Government and also that his father Mr. Almas
Karmali could not have sold the land in dispute to the Respondent because the
same did belong to him. The Appellant did also deny to have pulled down any
structure belonging to the Respondent. He therefore prayed for the dismissal of
the Respondent’s suit with costs.
After a full trial two assessors who were part of the panel
that tried the suit were of a view that the Respondent had failed to prove his
claims and therefore that the suit should be dismissed. However, the learned
Regional Magistrate and the chairman of the panel differed with the assessors
and decided for the Respondent. Being aggrieved by the judgment and decree
passed against him the Appellant lodged this appeal.