DAR ES SLAAM: A PARADISE Business College lecturer, Godfrey Mwakitalima, will serve a 20- year prison sentence for demanding sexual favours from a female student in exchange for passing marks in her Entrepreneurship Skills exam.
This follows a ruling by the Court of Appeal, which recently dismissed Mwakitalima’s appeal against his conviction and sentence.
The Court upheld the findings of the High Court, which had confirmed both the conviction and the sentence imposed by the trial court.
In their judgment, delivered recently, Justices Rehema Kerefu, Paul Kihwelo and Gerson Mdemu found the appeal to be “without a semblance of merit” and dismissed it in its entirety.
During the appeal hearing, Mwakitalima, the appellant, argued that the High Court had erred in upholding both his conviction and sentence. He claimed that the prosecution had failed to prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt and that the sentence was illegal.
He also argued that the High Court had not properly considered his defence, relying on text messages that did not link him to the offence and that the case was fabricated.
In their decision on the legality of the sentence, the justices reviewed the law under which Mwakitalima was charged and agreed with the prosecution that the trial court’s sentence, upheld by the first appellate court, was appropriate.
Regarding the complaint that his defence had not been considered, the justices thoroughly examined both the trial court’s and the High Court’s judgments, as well as the records of the case.
They found this complaint to be without merit, stating that Mwakitalima’s defence—that his actions were part of a consensual romantic relationship with the student—was a mere afterthought.
“The appellant’s attempt to justify his actions as part of an ordinary love affair is nothing more than an effort to avoid the consequences of his behaviour,” the justices said. “Both courts below properly evaluated the defence and concluded that this argument was fabricated.”
On the appellant’s claim that the prosecution had failed to prove the case, the justices found the evidence presented during the trial to be conclusive.
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They were satisfied that Mwakitalima had sought sexual favours from the student,whose academic performance had suffered and that he exploited this situation.
The justices noted that Mwakitalima initiated the conversations and arranged a meeting at the Ilembula Guest House, where he was apprehended by officials from the Prevention and Combating of Corruption Bureau (PCCB) just as he was about to act on his sexual intentions.
“To hold otherwise,” the justices warned, “would undermine the administration of criminal justice and set a dangerous precedent.
The law is clear in its intention to protect individuals from those in positions of trust who abuse that power for personal gain, particularly through the exploitation of sex as a currency of exchange.” The justices also dismissed the appellant’s claim that he and the victim had been involved in a long-term romantic relationship.
They found no evidence to support this, concluding that Mwakitalima’s argument was baseless and unsupported by any of the text messages or conversations between the two.
Looking at the evidence, the justices firmly concluded that there was no indication of a romantic relationship. “This argument is unfounded and without merit,” they said.
“It is a desperate attempt to avoid responsibility for his actions.” The prosecution had presented evidence that, as a lecturer at Paradise Business College in Isesa, Sumbawanga, Mwakitalima had used his position of authority to exploit the female student.
The offence occurred on July 23, 2018, at the Ilembula Guest House in Chanji, Sumbawanga District, Rukwa Region.
The justices emphasised the importance of the legal provisions under Section 25 of the Prevention and Combating of Corruption Act, which are designed to protect vulnerable individuals from such abuses of power.
