67. The Court notes that “a fair trial requires that the imposition of a sentence
in a criminal offence, and in particular, a heavy prison sentence, should be
based on strong and credible evidence”.13 The nature or form of admissible
evidence for purposes of criminal conviction may vary across the different
legal traditions but it must always have sufficient weight to establish the
culpability of the accused.
68. As far as the use of the visual identification is concerned, the Court recalls
its position in Isiaga v. Tanzania that:
(…) when visual identification is used as a source of evidence to
convict a person, all circumstances of possible mistakes should be
ruled out and the identity of the suspect should be established with
certainty. This is also the accepted principle in the Tanzanian
jurisprudence. In addition, the evidence of visual identification must
demonstrate a coherent and consistent account of the scene of the
crime.14
69. The Court further recalls that “it is not an appellate court and as a matter of
principle, it is up to national courts to decide on the probative value of a
particular piece of evidence”.15 Accordingly, the Court “cannot assume the
role of the domestic courts and investigate the details and particulars of
evidence used in domestic proceedings to establish the criminal culpability
of individuals”.16 The Court only intervenes when there is a manifest error in
the assessment of the national courts that would result in miscarriage of
justice.
70. In the instant case, the records before this Court show that the national
courts convicted the Applicant on the basis of evidence of visual
identification tendered by three (3) Prosecution Witnesses (PW). The courts
13
Mohamed Abubakari v. United Republic of Tanzania (merits) (2016) 1 AfCLR 599, § 174.
Kijiji Isiaga v. United Republic of Tanzania (merits) (2018) 2 AfCLR 218, § 68; Werema and Another
v. Tanzania (merits), supra, § 60.
15 Ibid.
16 Ibid.
14