On information filed in the High Court at Mwanza, the Appellants were together with two others, charged with the offence of murder contrary to sections 196 and 197 of the Penal Code [Cap 16 R.E. 2002]. At the Preliminary Hearing, the first and second Appellants pleaded not guilty but after the narration of the memorandum of facts, the learned Counsel who represented the two Appellants and their coaccused, informed the trial High Court that the two Appellants were offering to plead guilty to the lesser offence of manslaughter. Tthe learned State Attorney who was representing the Republic had no objection to the proposed change of plea. When the charge of manslaughter contrary to section 195 of the Penal Code was read to the Appellants, they both gave a similar response that: “It is true, I killed but without the intention to”. The trial court found the Appellants guilty and each was sentenced to serve fifteen years in prison.
During the hearing of the appeal the the court sou motu raised two issues of law, which we wanted them to submit on as a preliminary matter. Firstly, the record does not show if the two Appellants were individually or collectively asked whether they agreed, or disputed the facts as a whole or any part of the facts narrated by the learned State Attorney. Secondly, learned trial Judge did not proceed to convict the Appellants before imposing the sentence.