By Special Correspondent, Dar es Salaam
The High Court of Tanzania, Mwanza Sub-Registry, has delivered a landmark ruling prohibiting the Prosecution from using anonymous or secret witnesses in all criminal proceedings, declaring the practice unconstitutional.
A panel of three judges—Fahamu Mtulya, K.S. Kamana, and W.M. Chuma—today nullified Section 194 of the Criminal Procedure Act (CPA) after finding that the provision grants the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) extensive and exclusive powers to seek witness protection without affording the accused an equal opportunity to challenge such protection. The Court held that this violates the constitutional right to a fair hearing for both parties.
The Court has granted the Government and the Attorney General (AG) a period of 12 months to amend the law.
A group of 13 advocates, led by Senior Counsel Constantine Mutalemwa, represented the petitioner, Godfrey Mjuni Martin Basasingohe, in Constitutional Petition No. 22482/2025 filed against the Attorney General (AG) and the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).
Among the key arguments presented was that the law conceals witnesses rather than protecting them, thereby creating a loophole that could allow a single individual to testify multiple times under different identities.
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