Shaba (left) poses with counsel and his sister
The High Court in Mzuzu has quashed the conviction and set aside the sentence of Wonderson Shaba who was convicted by the First Grade Magistrate at Rumphi in July 2024. He was answering the charge of indecent assault which is contrary to Section 137 (1) of the Penal Code.
Following his arrest and full trial, the lower Court sentenced him to two and half years (30 months) Imprisonment with Hard Labour.
Aggrieved by both the conviction and sentence, Wonderson Shaba sought the services of the Legal Aid Bureau for his appeal. Senior Legal Aid Advocate Kelvin Nyasulu, with the assistance of Legal Aid Officer Lovemore Ngwira, took up his case.
Chief among the six grounds of appeal was that the First Grade Magistrate erred in law by convicting Shaba against the evidence before him from the victim who vehemently refused to have ever been indecently assaulted by the Appellant on the material day.
The alleged victim, who was 18 at the time, did not even report the incident to the police. For a case of this nature to be established, the law requires that, among other things, there be a complainant (victim) on one hand and the perpetrator on the other. On appeal, Counsel Nyasulu argued that in the circumstances, there was neither complainant nor perpetrator. This meant that the prosecution did not prove one of the crucial elements of the offense.
The other element which was not proved was the prohibited act itself. Since there was no complainant nor perpetrator, this meant that the ‘indecent assault’ itself was not occasioned on the alleged victim by the alleged perpetrator. The State did not discharge its burden of proving the case beyond reasonable doubt.
With the grounds of appeal put to the Court, Counsel Nyasulu made a prayer that the conviction of Shaba be quashed and the sentence be set aside.
The State did not object to the grounds of appeal and in response to the petition, agreed with all the grounds that were raised. Having been moved by Counsel's submissions, Justice Kishindo quashed the conviction and set aside the sentence leading to the acquittal of Wonderson Shaba.
Before his conviction, Wonderson Shaba was in civil service, working as a Deputy Head Teacher at Mzungutwa Primary School in Rumphi district. He lost his job following his conviction. Now that he has been acquitted, he is expected to return to his job.
After the Court’s pronouncement, Shaba and his family members were in tears of joy.
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