The main issue in this second appeal is whether the plea of guilty which the Appellant made when the prosecution read out to him the charge of incest by males, was so unequivocal that section 360 (1) (a) of the Criminal Procedure Act [Cap 20 R.E. 2002] (CPA) can be invoked to prohibit an appeal against the conviction that was entered following that plea of guilty contrary to section 158(1) of the Penal Code [Cap 16 R.E. 2002]. It was alleged in the particulars of the offence that at about 1:00 a.m. on 16th June 2014 at Mkoka village in Kongwa District, he had unlawful sexual intercourse with his own daughter, a fourteen-year-old Hosiana d/o Lesilwa. When he was called upon to plead to the charge after the substance of the same had been explained to him, the Appellant replied: - “Ni kweli ninakiri kutoka moyoni sitaki kusumbua mahakama” (Translated: “It is true, from my own heart I do not want to waste the court’s time”). The trial magistrate (M.I. Senapee-RM) entered a plea of guilty against the Appellant. Thereupon the public prosecutor outlined the facts to show how he had gained entry into the room where his daughter was sleeping and went on to commit the offence charged with.

