Rex v Saidi (Criminal Appeal No. 208 of 1945) [1945] EACA 30 (1 January 1945)

## COURT OF APPEAL FOR EASTERN AFRICA

Before SIR JOSEPH SHERIDAN, C. J. (Kenya), SIR NORMAN WHITLEY, C. J. (Uganda), and SIR JOHN GRAY, C. J. (Zanzibar)

## REX, Respondent (Original Prosecutor)

# SAIDI s/o MKALE, Appellant (Original Accused)

## Criminal Appeal No. 208 of 1945

### (Appeal from decision of H. M. High Court of Tanganyika)

Criminal Law—Murder—Mohamedan witness—Affirmation of—Indian Oaths Act, 1873, sections 6 and 13.

This case is reported to remove any doubt which may exist as to the proper practice to be followed in the case of Mohamedan witnesses.

### Appellant absent, unrepresented.

#### Todd, Crown Counsel (Kenya), for the Crown.

JUDGMENT (delivered by SIR JOSEPH SHERIDAN, C. J.).—The accused was proved to have killed the deceased with malice aforethought. The accused was a thief found running away with stolen clothes. A hue and cry was raised and he fatally stabbed a man who was trying to arrest him. The appeal is dismissed. The learned Judge has asked this Court for a ruling as to whether Mohamedan witnesses should be sworn or affirmed. Section 6 of the Indian Oaths Act, 1873, which has been applied to Tanganyika, provides that they should be affirmed. The learned Judge is also referred to $\text{Re}x$ v. Bitashubirwe bin Gujwire, 10 E. A. C. A. 78, in which the consequences of failure to administer an oath or affirmation are dealt with. (Section 13 of the Indian Oaths Act.)