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Tanzania: Court Clears Rage of Theft
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The Citizen (Dar es Salaam)
28 March 2008
Posted to the web 28 March 2008
Bernard James
Former secretary general of the defunct Football Association of Tanzania (FAT) Ismail Aden Rage was yesterday cleared of a conviction and three years jail term imposed on him in 2005.
Rage could not hide his joy after the Court of Appeal cleared him of stealing 50 footballs worth Sh500,000.
The decision means that he automatically retains his post as vice-president of the Tanzania Football Federation (TFF). It had remained vacant since December 2004.
Appeal Court Judges Daniel Lubuva, John Mrosso and Salim Mbarouk observed yesterday that the prosecution had failed to prove that Rage had stolen 50 out of the 600 footballs he is alleged to have received at the then Dar es Salaam International Airport.
"We are of the opinion that in the absence of proof that 600 footballs had been received by Rage, the appellant could not in any way be convicted of the theft of other 50 footballs.
"We believe too that had the Kisutu Resident Magistrates' Court and the High Court analysed the evidence in the manner we have attempted, they would have found that the prosecution had not proved the theft beyond reasonable doubt," the panel maintained.
Overwhelmed by yesterday court's decision, Rage told The Citizen outside the court: "I'm so happy that I do not have proper words to express my joy".
He had already spent one year in jail before being released on a presidential new year pardon in the year 2006.
Upon arraignment in court in 2005, the prosecution alleged that the appellant had between February and March 1999, when he was the FAT secretary general, stolen 50 footballs worth Sh500,000.
He and four others were charged with 13 counts. These included stealing, uttering a false document and falsely obtaining money.
In a 98-page judgment, the Kisutu resident magistrate's court found only Rage guilty of the offences and sentence him to three years imprisonment. It also ordered him to refund the money to the government.
Aggrieved by the conviction, Rage appealed to the high court. But Justice Thomas Mihayo dismissed the appeal in its entirety on three counts of stealing and allowed the appeal on the remaining counts in September 2005.
Rage considered that he had not been fully vindicated and resorted to advance his grievances by way of a further appeal.
The trial court heard that in February 1999 a dozen boxes believed to contain 50 footballs each were received in Dar es Salaam from Dubai through Inammula Holdings Limited.
It was alleged that the boxes were flown to Dar es Salaam and Rage collected the boxes which were supposed to contain 600 footballs.
A storekeeper had testified to have received from Rage only 550 footballs. Having found that 600 footballs were received by Rage, the trial court concluded that the appellant must have stolen the 50 footballs and proceeded to convict him of theft
By Bernard James
Former secretary general of the defunct Football Association of Tanzania (FAT) Ismail Aden Rage was yesterday cleared of a conviction and three years jail term imposed on him in 2005.
Rage could not hide his joy after the Court of Appeal cleared him of stealing 50 footballs worth Sh500,000.
The decision means that he automatically retains his post as vice-president of the Tanzania Football Federation (TFF). It had remained vacant since December 2004.
Appeal Court Judges Daniel Lubuva, John Mrosso and Salim Mbarouk observed yesterday that the prosecution had failed to prove that Rage had stolen 50 out of the 600 footballs he is alleged to have received at the then Dar es Salaam International Airport.
"We are of the opinion that in the absence of proof that 600 footballs had been received by Rage, the appellant could not in any way be convicted of the theft of other 50 footballs.
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"We believe too that had the Kisutu Resident Magistrates' Court and the High Court analysed the evidence in the manner we have attempted, they would have found that the prosecution had not proved the theft beyond reasonable doubt," the panel maintained.
Overwhelmed by yesterday court's decision, Rage told The Citizen outside the court: "I'm so happy that I do not have proper words to express my joy".
He had already spent one year in jail before being released on a presidential new year pardon in the year 2006.
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