DPP against Ponda’s acquittal, advances grounds for appeal

FAUSTINE KAPAMA

Sheikh Ponda Issa Ponda

THE Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) has advanced four grounds of appeal to challenge the judgment issued by Morogoro Resident Magistrate’s Court, acquitting the Secretary of Council of Islamic Organisation, Sheikh Ponda Issa Ponda, on seditious charges he was facing.

In the memorandum of appeal, the DPP states that the trial magistrate erred in law and facts for failure to take into consideration the weight of evidence of electronic evidence when giving the judgment and for holding that charge sheet was defective.

The trial magistrate, according to the DPP, erred in law and facts when she ruled that Ponda had no intention of inciting believers of Morogoro to commit an offence on the day of incidence and that the prosecution failed to prove its case beyond reasonable doubt. Already Judge Edson Mkasimongwa has been assigned to hear the appeal in question on June 30, this year.

On November 30, last year, Morogoro Resident Magistrate- in- Charge Mary Moyo acquitted Sheikh Ponda of the charges after the prosecution failed to prove them beyond reasonable doubts.

During hearing of prosecution’s case, the prosecution led by Principal State Attorney Bernard Kongola, had called nine witnesses in attempt to prove the charges against the Muslim leader, who was defended by advocates Juma Nassoro and Abubakar Salum.

Ponda was arraigned in the Morogoro Court August 19, 2013, facing three counts of disobeying a lawful order and incitements to commit offences.

The prosecution had alleged that Sheikh Ponda committed the offences on August 10, 2013, at Ndege Primary School ground in Morogoro Municipality. He allegedly gave seditious statements, inciting the society in contravention of court directives.

According to the prosecution, Sheikh Ponda incited Muslim believers not to recognise Mosques Securities formed by the Muslim Council of Tanzania (Bakwata), whom he claimed were puppets of CCM and the government and if they show up they should beat them.

Such statement was allegedly against the directive of the Kisutu Resident Magistrate’s Court in Dar es Salaam, which on June 2, 2013, convicted him of one count of forcible entry to a plot situated at Chang’ombe area in Temeke District and given a suspended sentence of 12 months.

Apart from imposing such sentence, Resident Magistrate Victorian Nongwa, sitting at the Kisutu Court, had ordered Sheikh Ponda to refrain from committing any other crime and that he should be a man of peace and good behavior for all that period of time.

It was alleged by the prosecution further that on the same grounds in Morogoro Municipality, Ponda issued statements with seditious intention, saying the government deployed an army to Mtwara to contain chaos to citizens who were objecting to the building of a gas pipe.

Ponda was also quoted as saying that citizens who are 90 per cent Muslims were raped, killed and intimidated, but the government had not done so during a conflict between residents of Loliondo, who are 90 per cent Christians, that had opposed an Arab being given a potion of hunting block.