Arusha. The Court of Appeal has set free an aunt of a murdered seven-year-old child, Ms Mwasiti Abdallah, after it identified reasonable doubt in the evidence linking her to the murder.
In its judgment delivered on Monday, August 31, 2026, the court upheld the death sentence against Mr James Makuri, having satisfied itself that the remaining evidence proved his involvement in the murder of the child, Kaijage Odilo.
Kaijage, aged seven, was killed on March 14, 2021, in the Uwanja wa Ndege area, Madewa Ward, Singida Region, where his body was found abandoned.
A bench of three judges: Patricia Fikirini, Agnes Mgeyekwa, and Yohane Masara, delivered the decision acquitting Mwasiti and confirming James's sentence, in an appeal challenging a July 19, 2024 ruling.
Justice Fikirini stated that the court began by re-evaluating the evidence and determined that the child's death and its cause were established through witness testimony and medical evidence.
She noted that the court acquitted Ms Abdallah after identifying doubts in the prosecution's evidence regarding her involvement, stating the evidence fell short of proving guilt beyond any reasonable doubt.
However, the court upheld Mr Makuri's conviction and death sentence, ruling that the remaining evidence, after removing portions marred by procedural defects, sufficiently proved his role in the child's murder.
How the murder occurred
In the primary case heard at the High Court, Dodoma Sub-Registry, the prosecution lined up eight witnesses to prove the murder charge against Mr Makuri, Ms Abdallah, and a third individual who was not an appellant in this appeal (a 13-year-old girl at the time of the murder).
The first witness, Mr Abdallah Chande, who was Kaijage's uncle and guardian, told the court that on March 14, 2021, he received information from the second appellant (Ms Abdallah) that the child was missing.
He testified that upon returning home, he joined the search, reported to the police, and requested a missing child announcement to be broadcast on the radio.
He further testified that the 13-year-old girl was later arrested and, while at the police station, confessed to participating in the incident.
She led the police to the scene where the body had been dumped and implicated Mr Makuri as her accomplice in the murder.
It was alleged that Mr Makuri was subsequently arrested, and a search of his room uncovered a blood-stained t-shirt and a blood-stained hammer, which was allegedly used to strike the child on the head.
The fourth witness, Dr Yuna Hamisi, who conducted the post-mortem examination, stated that the skull and jaw were fractured due to blunt force trauma, with the cause of death being an intracranial haemorrhage resulting from head injuries.
The fifth witness, Social Welfare Officer, Ms Dorah Sikioni, testified that the 13-year-old girl (Sabrina) claimed she took the child to Mr Makuri, who killed him on the promise of payment from the deceased's aunt (Ms Abdallah).
Defence
In his defence before the court, Mr Makuri denied involvement in the murder, claiming he was tortured while in police custody and forced to confess to an offence he did not commit.
For her part, the second accused admitted her role, claiming Ms Abdallah had promised her money to have the child killed.
She then sought out Mr Makuri and informed the court that the child was struck with a hammer before his body was dumped.
Ms Abdallah denied any involvement, testifying that she participated in searching for the child and alerted the guardian, while denying claims that she met the second accused on the day of the incident or participated in any plot to murder the child.
After hearing both sides, the trial court found the appellants guilty and sentenced them to death by hanging, while ordering that Ms Sabrina, who was 13 at the time of the incident, be detained at the President's pleasure.
The appeal
Dissatisfied with the outcome, Mr Makuri and Ms Abdallah appealed to the Court of Appeal, alleging that the prosecution failed to prove the case against them beyond reasonable doubt.
Court ruling
Justice Fikirini stated that upon re-evaluating the evidence, the appellate court reached different conclusions for the two appellants.
Regarding Mr Makuri, they were satisfied that the evidence on record was sufficient to connect him to the murder.
She noted that the court considered, among other elements, Ms Sabrina's testimony admitting her role, her account of how the murder was executed, and medical evidence confirming the nature of the fatal injuries.
The court also observed that although Mr Makuri's extrajudicial statement was discarded due to procedural irregularities, his cautionary statement along with the remaining evidence sufficiently established his guilt.
The judges rejected the defence argument that the absence of DNA testing on the blood found on the t-shirt and hammer fatally weakened the prosecution's case, ruling that the remaining evidence independently proved the charge.
However, regarding Ms Abdallah, the Court of Appeal identified substantial doubts concerning the evidence implicating her in the crime.
The judges noted that in Ms Sabrina's initial statements, Ms Abdallah was not explicitly named.
Instead, references were made to titles like ‘Mama Mdogo’ (younger aunt) or ‘Mama Naa,’ without conclusive evidence proving those titles referred to Ms Abdallah.
"Not only were 'Mama Mdogo' and 'Mama Naa' not linked to Ms Abdallah, but nothing was recorded to prove those names referred to a single individual," the Judge stated.
The court also questioned why Ms Abdallah was not mentioned earlier when the second accused led police to the body and named Mr Makuri, despite later claiming that Ms Abdallah was the mastermind behind the murder plot.
The judges observed that the failure to name Ms Abdallah early on cast doubt on the credibility of the subsequent evidence presented against her.
She added that the prosecution failed to call the investigating officer as a witness, who could have clarified critical questions.
"The failure to call the investigator left several unanswered questions, weakening the prosecution's case," said the judge.
The judges quashed the conviction and set aside the death sentence imposed on Ms Abdallah, ordering her immediate release unless held for any other lawful reason.
It also confirmed the death sentence against Mr Makuri after being satisfied that the evidence proved his guilt beyond any doubt.
Register to begin your journey to our premium contentSubscribe for full access to premium content
