Awadhi Abrahamani Waziri versus The Republic; Criminal Appeal No. 303 of 2014: Court of Appeal of Tanzania at Arusha (Unreported).
- Evidence
- Witnesses – Contradiction of witnesses-effect.
- Defects in prosecution case – Effect.
- Criminal Procedure
- Charge –evidence on record does not support charge-Effect.
Held:-
(i) It is trite law that where evidence is inconsistent or where it is contradicted it cannot be relied upon.
(ii) Where the testimonies of witnesses contain inconsistencies and contradictions, the court has a duty to address the inconsistencies and try to resolve them where possible, else the court has to decide whether the inconsistencies and contradictions are only minor, or whether they go to the root of the matter
(iii) The importance of proving the offence as alleged in the charge hardly needs to be over-emphasized. From the charge, the accused is made aware of the case he is facing with regard to the time of the incident and place so that he would be able to marshall his defence.
(iv) All the defects in the prosecution case lead to the conclusion that the evidence did not measure up to the requisite standard both in relation to credibility and reliability.