How ex-convict waged lone legal battle to avoid 97 years in jail
Dar es Salaam. Kelvin Luambano’s story reads like a script from a Hollywood crime and justice thriller. In 2013, he was convicted and sentenced to 97 years in jail for crimes that ranged from armed robbery to murder, but five years later he walked out a free man – and how he pulled this off is a story line that would keep movie lovers glued to the big screen for hours.
Faced with convictions for nine criminal cases and one murder case – and nearly 10 decades behind bars – he would have given up.
But while in prison, the desire to be free again developed in him the love for law books, and copies of various judgments and opinions – known by legal experts as the List of Authority - that had been delivered by various High Court judges.
He had a strong feeling this was his best shot.
The beginning of the 38-year-old’s awe-inspiring story was a day in November, 2010 when he was arrested, and later arraigned at the Kisutu Resident Magistrate’s Court in Dar es Salaam.
Here, he faced nine criminal cases numbered: 226, 227, 228, 231, 233, 235, 236, 237 of 2010, and one criminal case number 83 of year 2011. On top of that, he had a murder case number 12 of 2010. Some of these cases involved armed robbery.
“Since some of the cases I was facing were not bailable, I found myself on my way to Keko Remand Prison,” said Luambano. He recalls that the cases were so complex that most of his relatives no longer wanted to be associated with him.
In the murder case, for instance, the prosecution convincingly put forth the entire case, complete with witnesses and exhibits, before the heavy sentence was delivered.
Yet he vowed innocence.
Believing that he was innocent in the eyes of God, he never lost hope.
“I spent my time thinking of an appeal at the High Court…Seriously, I never thought that I could one day be charged for murder; but I take that as one of the ways through which my trust in God could be strengthened…I learnt the importance of knowing the law; to be patient; to be faithful and to do good,” he said.
With only O-levels, he had to start almost from scratch to dig deeper into law books where he hoped to find an avenue that could lead to a successful appeal.
Granted, this was a long shot at freedom. He took it, anyway.
Holed up in jail, he studied A-level, and within a year enrolled for a diploma course in 2015, which he successfully completed.
“In jail, things are different. But my objective was to study. We had teachers in there, some of whom had been convicted and some who were still suspects. They taught me,” he recalls.
“So, I would receive examinations in printed form, and take them from prison, then they would be delivered to the relevant authorities,” he said
Luambano became a bookworm.
By 2014, he said, he was fully-equipped with the technical know-how of how the legal system works as well as the arguments that he would advance to counter the Magistrate Court’s ruling before the High Court.
Things began to unravel.
It was time for him to take the bull by its horns. So, two things would take place simultaneously.
“I kept attending one case after another at the Kisutu Resident Magistrate’s Court, while also working on appeals for one case after another at the High Court,” he said.
In 2015, he successfully appealed and was set free in criminal case number 223 of 2010 in a Criminal Appeal Number 231 of 2013.
The Kisutu Resident’s Magistrate Court had handed him a 30-year jail term for the case.
In 2016, he also successfully appealed – through Criminal Appeal Number 227 of 2014. In the original case, he had been handed 67 years in jail. “I personally prepared all the appeals with the help of my fellow inmates, Samu and Makuka,” he said.
After staying at Keko Prison for some time, he was shifted to Segerea where he also became the law expert aiding fellow inmates on how to successfully lodge appeals.
“I helped a number of inmates, including those who were convicted of drug-related cases…I advised them to stop engaging in criminal activities before teaching them how to appeal against their conviction…I also taught them how to make money through income-generating activities when they are finally set free,” he said.
His aim, he said, was to ensure that inmates are able to change and live Godly lives.
“Through my teachings and legal guidance, some of the 500-plus inmates who managed to make it out of the prison managed to successfully appeal against conviction and as we are talking, a number of them are now preaching the Word of God as evangelists, pastors and sheikhs,” he said.
Life after prison
As soon as he was set free from prison, Luambano became a preacher of the Word of God.
He is of the view that prison is a good place for those who seek to change their habits for the better.
“I have a different story to tell and mine is that as a God-fearing person, I want the youths to understand the dangers of seeking quick monetary gains,” he said.
