Corrupt witness lying in Tribunal
I have a land case in the District Land and Housing Tribunal in which I am the respondent and have been defending the case myself. In the course of hearing, the claimant called a witness who is a total stranger to me and not even one of my neighbors. The witness lied in the Tribunal by stating that he witnessed me selling the disputed plot to the claimant because at the time of sale of the land to the claimant he was a cell leader of our area. I have discovered after his testimony that the claimant’s witness was paid TZS 1,000,000 by the claimant to tell lies and misguide the Tribunal. The case is coming for hearing soon when I will be giving my defence. What can I do to have the lie and corrupt evidence of the claimant’s witness expunged from the Tribunal record?
PL, Dar
The credibility of the witness who lied to the Tribunal can be impeached under section 164(1)(b) of the Evidence Act [Cap.6 R.E 2019] by calling, as your witness, a person who saw the witness being bribed by the claimant for him to tell lies. Your witness will be required to prove that the claimant’s witness was bribed and all what he said was a lie. If the Tribunal will be satisfied that the witness received a bribe to tell lies, it shall accord no weight to such evidence but it will not expunge the evidence from the Tribunal’s record. The Tribunal cannot expunge the evidence it recorded on account of the fact that the evidence was given by a dishonest or corrupt witness. Corruption affects only the evidential weight to be accorded to the testimony of the witness and not the admissibility of such evidence. You can thus take your witness to the Tribunal during the next session for him to prove that the claimant’s witness was bribed and he lied to the Tribunal.