Evidence presented before the High Court showed that on the night of the incident, the deceased was asleep in a bedroom with the appellant’s aunt, Hollo Jibenya, when the appellant entered the room armed with a machete.
Arusha. The Court of Appeal has dismissed an appeal filed by Rashid Bugali, upholding the death sentence imposed on him for murdering his wife, Magreth Kidiga.
The appellate court, sitting in Shinyanga, affirmed the sentence of death by hanging after finding that the High Court had properly convicted the appellant of murder.
In its judgment delivered on February 19, 2026, a panel of three judges—Shaban Lila, Issa Maige and Latifa Mansoor—held that the prosecution had proved beyond reasonable doubt that the killing was intentional and not an act of self-defence as claimed by the appellant.
Bugali had been sentenced to death by the High Court on October 5, 2022, after being found guilty of murdering his wife on August 6, 2018, at Ngongwa Village in Maswa District, Simiyu Region. The charge was brought under Sections 196 and 197 of the Penal Code.
Background of the case
During the trial, the prosecution called five witnesses and tendered three exhibits to support its case.
Evidence presented before the High Court showed that on the night of the incident, the deceased was asleep in a bedroom with the appellant’s aunt, Hollo Jibenya, when the appellant entered the room armed with a machete.
The aunt testified that the appellant ordered her to leave the room before repeatedly attacking his wife with the machete. The deceased sustained multiple cuts to the head, neck, back and arm, resulting in heavy bleeding.
A medical examination conducted by Dr Richard Shija established that the deceased had severe injuries, including deep wounds to the back of the neck and head, which led to excessive blood loss and ultimately her death.
The prosecution further presented a caution statement in which the appellant admitted to cutting his wife with a machete before fleeing the scene. He was arrested a month later in Shinyanga Region.
The motive for the attack, according to the prosecution, stemmed from a dispute after the deceased allegedly took Sh300,000 from the appellant.
Defence and appeal
In his defence, the appellant claimed he acted in self-defence, alleging that his wife had attacked him with a heavy piece of wood after stealing the money and transferring it to her mobile phone account.
On appeal, his counsel argued that the High Court had failed to adequately consider the self-defence claim and urged the Court of Appeal to reduce the conviction from murder to manslaughter, contending that there was no intention to kill.
However, State Attorneys opposed the appeal, maintaining that the evidence showed the deceased was asleep and unarmed at the time of the attack, and that the appellant was the aggressor.
Court’s determination
In its analysis, the Court of Appeal noted that there was no dispute as to the cause of death or the identity of the assailant, as the appellant had admitted cutting his wife with a machete.
The key issue, the judges said, was whether the act amounted to self-defence.
The court held that for self-defence to succeed, there must be imminent danger and the force used must be proportionate to the threat faced.
In this case, the judges found that the appellant entered the bedroom at night armed with a machete and inflicted multiple injuries on the deceased, particularly on vital parts of the body such as the head and neck, demonstrating an intention to kill.
The court also took into account the appellant’s conduct after the incident, including fleeing the scene, as further evidence of guilt.
Consequently, the Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal in its entirety and upheld the death sentence imposed by the High Court.
