Arusha. The Kigoma Subordinate High Court has acquitted former Kigoma Ujiji Municipal Director Athuman Msabila and former council treasurer Frank Nguvumali, who were previously sentenced to 20 years in prison.
Msabila and Nguvumali had been found guilty of document forgery and money laundering.
Ten other officials, including staff from the regional finance department, were also charged with offences such as falsifying records to mislead authorities about public funds, including money allocated for training and development projects, as well as laundering Sh463.5 million.
Other defendants in the case included Aidan Mponzi, Tumsifu Kachira, Ferdinand Filimbi, Salum Saidi, Mosses Zahuye, Joel Shirima, Jema Mbilinyi, Kombe Kabichi, and Bayaga Lucas.
Appeal ruling
The four convicted officials—Msabila, Filimbi, Saidi, and Nguvumali—appealed against their convictions from the Kigoma Resident Magistrate’s Court. On February 9, 2026, Judge John Nkwabi ruled in their favour, quashing the convictions and sentences.
The judge said the prosecution had failed to prove the charges beyond reasonable doubt. Convictions related to forgery under sections 333, 335(a), and 337 of the Penal Code, as well as money laundering under sections 12(1)(d) and 13(1)(a) of the Anti-Money Laundering Act, were overturned.
Judge Nkwabi noted that key evidence, including warning statements and audit reports from the Controller and Auditor General (CAG), had been obtained unlawfully and was therefore inadmissible. The court found the statements were taken outside legal timelines and under circumstances that did not ensure voluntariness.
The judge also noted that prolonged detention without provision of basic needs affected the defendants’ psychological freedom, further undermining the validity of evidence. Audit reports were discredited for not adhering to professional public finance auditing standards.
Case background
The case concerned allegations that Sh27.4 million went missing from Kigoma Ujiji Municipal Council accounts between December 2022 and January 2023, linked to unclear financial transactions.
Court records show that during a visit to Kigoma on September 20–21, 2023, then Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa identified alleged mismanagement. He formed a special committee on October 5, 2023, to investigate, though the findings were not submitted to the courts.
Following the Prime Minister’s request, the CAG conducted a special audit in October 2025. Prior to this, the 11 officials were arrested and presented in court on November 7, 2023. They initially faced eight charges, including forgery of requests for Sh42.4 million for budget training, falsification of audit reports worth Sh18 million, abuse of office, money laundering, and causing government losses of Sh129.4 million between June 2022 and June 2023.
The prosecution presented 20 witnesses and 29 exhibits, including payment documents, to substantiate the allegations.
