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actually want them to appear on his behalf or because he did not have the means
to obtain their attendance. It was also desirable on the part of the Respondent
State's judicial authorities to provide, suo motu, sufficient information in this
regard to the accused, where he is indigent, in detention and without legal aid.
67. The Court therefore holds from the foregoing that the Respondent State
has
violated the Applicant's right to defence under Article 7(1)(c) of the Charter by
failing to ensure the appearance of his witnesses.
ii.
Allegations
of
insufficient evidence and inconsistencies in witness
statements
68.
The Applicant submits that the evidence presented at the trial court and relied
upon to convict him was based only on the victim's (PWa) testimony, who claimed
she was at home playing with a friend (PWs) and that the Applicant went to
PW2's house (the victim's mother) and told her to follow him to his house where
he promised to give her one hundred Tanzania Shillings (TZS 100); that halfiruay
to his house, the Applicant took her to a thicket where he raped her and
threatened to stab and beat her with a stick if she told anyone what happened.
69.
The Applicant denies having committed such a crime, affirming that on the day
in question, he was at the house of the victim's mother (PW2), together with three
friends to consume alcohol ("pombe" also known as "Gongo") at around 6:00 pm
to 7:00 pm. He then amended his initial statement and said that they had arrived
at PW2's house at around 3:45 pm, 45 minutes after they had left their own
houses.
70.
He disputes the Respondent State's claims regarding examination of evidence,
and prays the Court to re-examine the evidence, taking into account the doubts
he has raised over the statements of the Respondent State's Attorney.
***
f