The Appellant was convicted by the District Court of Kasulu at Kasulu on a charge of Rape contrary to sections 130(1)(2) C and 131(1)(3) of the Penal Code and was sentenced to imprisonment for thirty years as well as to suffer twelve strokes of the cane. Although the sentence was passed on 19.11.2001, it took up to the 2nd June, 2003, for the Appellant to lodge in the High Court of Tanzania at Tabora an application for extension of time within which to file an appeal against the decision of the trial District Court. He explained that he had been transferred from Kasulu Prison to Bangwe Prison in Kigoma and later there was another transfer to Uyui Prison in Tabora. He also said that the officials at Kasulu Prison were slow.
The High Court ruled that the Appellant should file an additional affidavit from the Prison authorities to show that they are the source of the delay by the Appellant in filing his notice of intention to appeal. It later dismissed the Appellant’s application on the grounds that it should have had an affidavit of the Prison Officer of Kasulu Prison to explain the Appellant’s delay in filing his Notice of Appeal within ten days, and that the affidavit on record from the Prison Officer of Uyui Prison was not sufficient proof that the Appellant was not the cause of the delay. Aggrieved, the Appellant filed this appeal faulting the learned Judge for relying on the bare statements of the State Attorney without a counter-affidavit in objecting to the Appellant’s application.