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56.The court further notes that both the First Applicant and the seventh
Applicant appealed their convictions and sentences to the court of
Appealwhich dismissed the appeals. The question of the legality of their
conviction and sentence, therefore, was enmeshed in the bundle of rights
and guarantees due to the Applicants which the court of Appeal could
have pronounced itself on during the hearing of the appeals. The court
of Appeal, therefore, which is the highest court in.tfu_ Respondent State,
had the opportunity to pronounce itsetf on the allegatiort pertaining to the
legality of the Applicants' sentences.
57. secondly, the court, recalling its jurisprudence, reiterates its position that
the remedy of a constitutional petition, as framed in the Respondent
state's legal system, is an extraordinary remedy that an applicant need
not exhaust before approaching the court.6 For this reason, the court
holds that the First Applicant and seventh Applicant need not have filed
a constitutional petition before approaching the Court.
court, therefore, hotds that the Application is admissible in so far as
relates to the allegations by the First Applicant and the seventh
58. The
it
Applicant. The Respondent State's objection is, therefore, dismissed.
59.The court, having declared inadmissible the joint allegations by all the
Applicants and having only admitted the allegation by the First Applicant
and the seventh Applicant will now proceed to examine the merits of this
allegation.
VII.
MERITS
60.The First Applicant and the seventh Applicant submit that their
fundamental rights under Article 13(6)(c) of the Respondent state,s
6
Application No. 053/2016. Judgment oI 28t0312019 (Merits), oscar Josiah v tJnited Republic of
Tanzania, SS38-39 and Application No. 006i2013. Judgment of 18/03/2016 (Merits), Wilfred'Onyango
Nganyi and 9 others v United Repubtic of Tanzania, g 9b.
18
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