The Appellant was the applicant before the High Court in
Misc. Civil Cause No. III of 2004 applying for orders of certiorari and mandamus
against the Respondents. The Appellant is a teacher by profession and during
the 1998 teachers’ certificate verification exercise, she was found to be
lacking a certificate from the National Examination Council certifying that she
graduated from Nachingwea Teachers Training College. Consequently, on 8th
April 2003 she was terminated from employment for lack of requisite
qualifications. She thus lodged the application before the High Court
challenging the termination through the prerogative orders.
On 10th August 2005, the second, third, fourth and
fifth Respondents raised a notice of preliminary objection to the effect that, ‘prerogative
orders cannot be sought alongside or alternatively to ordinary remedies.’
Based on the said submission, the High Court on 11th May 2009 upheld
the preliminary objection and struck out the application for being incompetent.
Aggrieved, the Appellant sought for leave to appeal to the Court of Appeal,
which was granted on 3rd May 2011 and on 9th March 2015,
after lapse of almost six years, she lodged this appeal. Again, the second,
third, fourth and fifth Respondents raised the point of preliminary objection
to the effect that, ‘the Appellant’s appeal is untenable for abuse of court
process’.
Prior to the commencement of the hearing of the appeal on merit,
the Court, suo motu requested the parties to address it on the propriety
“or otherwise of the appeal and specifically on the validity of the certificate
of delay dated 14th January 2015.