Fuel shortages undermining judicial process

Fuel shortages undermining judicial process

By Correspondent

Owing to the on going rather controversial fuel shortages that are currently rocking the nation, police in Lindi are reported to have apparently failed to send a suspected counterfeiter to the court assigned remand facility and instead resorted to holding him at a district jail in Nachingwe.

Abdallah Ally (36), a resident of Mlola ward in the Lindi District Council, had appeared before Ruangwa District Court facing counterfeit charges after the suspect was apprehended with what are alleged to be fake bank notes worth some 110,000/-.

The police prosecutor Mganga Selemani Madali read the indictment before Resident Magistrate, Grasiano Mahengo, arguing that Ally was found in possession of eleven 10,000/- forged bills in the Kitandi Village of Ruangwa District on October 29 late last month at around 7.30pm.

Offering material evidence, he explained that four of the bank notes that the accused was found in possession of carried the same serial number, BF 1547948 while four others bore the serial number BF1547947 and the remaining two had the serial number BC2937831. As the prosecutor explained, possession of these fake bills is in violation of Section 398under the Criminal Procedural Act Cap 16.

The case, number 148/2012, will be mentioned again on November 14, later this month with the deferred date owing to the accused denial of the charges but since he failed to meet the set bail conditions he remains in custody.

Yet as mentioned earlier, due to the fuel shortages, Ally is been held at a different facility from the one the court ordered him sent to.

It was not clarified as to whether the suspect will be moved to the originally assigned remand post or be kept at the jail house he is currently been held in but indisputably, any foul play uncovered behind the fuel shortages that have handicapped economic and social undertakings, crippled the police system and even undermined judicial adjudication must be brought to court and they found guilty there of can be certain that no effort will be spared to fuel up and send them wherever the justice system finds fit.

 

SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN