about his conviction. Should we also assume, as alleged by the Appellant, that the
Chief Magistrate is also from the North or had connived with the Prosecutor to
ensure that the Appellant is found guilty of the charge? I very much doubt it. But
because of all this one can see that the Appellant is not a man who should be
taken seriously in his evidence. What he has submitted has no bases at all and he
has not demonstrated where some of his accusations are grounded.
I need to mention lastly that the appellant’s original appeal only covered the
issues of the sentence being excessive. However, the court felt that there would
be no harm to allow the appellant to adduce additional areas of appeal in court.
The court has dealt with all the material issues and at the close of the day find
that the conviction must be confirmed.
On the sentence being excessive, this court holds a different view. Indeed there
are aggravating circumstances in the case. It was reported that the complainant
suffered swollen cervix and had contracted sexually transmitted infections as a
result. Again the fact that the complainant had been sexually abused on several
occasions is an aggravating circumstance. In the case of Joseph Ndubuisi Nwangu,
Nyirenda, J. (as he then was) considered a sentence of 13 years to be appropriate
where the child had been defiled several times by the appellant.
In the circumstances a sentence of 8 years for repeated acts of sexual abuse is not
excessive. I must find therefore that the appeal must fail entirely.
MADE in Court this 3rd day of September, 2008.
13
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