Q&A – 9 August 2010
Selling of pangas, knives on streets
I have on many occasions seen people having in possession and sometimes selling spears, bows and arrows, knives and pangas along the streets of Dar es Salaam. These sellers even approach you in your car with these items and offer to sell. Are these activities legal?
DF, Dar
Roads and streets within a city are public places. We wish to inform you that the sale and possession of those items you have mentioned on the roads is both unlawful and illegal. This is not only because the sellers do not have valid licenses to sell the items but also because the items are dangerous weapons in their nature.
Under the Local Government (Urban Authorities) Act, selling of the said items is classified as dangerous or offensive trade. It is also an offence to be in possession of any of these items in a public place, unless the items are required by the possessor for lawful purposes.
Abuse of police powers
For the past four months I have been arrested more than five times by the officer of a particular police post in my area on flimsy and vexatious allegations by my neighbor, who is unmarried and a rich business woman. There have never been any charges against me and instead I end up spending the night at the police station. I have since found out that the woman is having very close relations with one of the officers at the station. How can I stop these arrests? Can I get a Court order to stop the police from arresting me?
FL, Musoma
You have not informed us what the source of conflict is between you and this woman. There surely has to be something she alleges that is causing all this friction. It might be a good idea to find out.
You mentioned getting a Court order to stop these arrests. There is no such blanket Court order available otherwise everyone everywhere will be moving with such an order! It would be against public policy.
The alternative is to report the matter to the superiors of the police officer who has been arresting you. If your problem is not resolved you can still lodge a complaint with the Director of Public Prosecution’s office who will resolve your problem.
The matter does not end here. If the higher authorities will conclude that the police officer has been arresting you for no good reason or because of his relationship with the woman, you still have civil recourse against the police officer, for abuse of office powers. His tortuous acts, if proved in Court, are actionable and there have always been damages recoverable by the victim thereof. In other jurisdictions the misuse of power by the police officer is called misfeasance in a public office.
Terms of contract at back of receipt
I boarded a bus from Morogoro to Mwanza. Upon reaching my destination, I found that the contents of one of the five suitcases that I was carrying, were totally destroyed by water. Most of the items were electronic items and very valuable. I informed the office of the said bus but was informed that it was clearly stated at the back of the receipt that I travelled at my own risk and that the bus company was not responsible for any damage or loss of baggage. Can the bus just limit its liability by putting such a one liner? I had not even seen the back side of the ticket? Is there anything I can do?
HM, Morogoro
The law specifically requires that if a person or a company wishes to exempt itself from liability, it should specifically inform the party who it is entering into a contract with, of that exemption.
In your case, you can not be considered to have been put on notice on such exemption while you were never informed prior. Further to that, the terms were written on the receipt, not the ticket, and by then it is very likely that you had concluded the contract of transport.
We are convinced that you can recover for the loss that you have suffered by instituting a civil suit against the bus company.
Debt and civil prisoner
I have failed to pay a debt because the money I borrowed was used in some other project. The Court ordered me to pay the amount with interest and damages of 100M shillings. The lender is now threatening to imprison me for failure to settle the order of the Court. Can I be taken to jail simply for not paying the amounts? This failure to pay is surely not equivalent to a criminal offence? Can the lender bully me like this?
MM, Dar
You must first realize that you did take the money and did not use it for the purpose you borrowed the funds. If the lender is a bank, you must understand that it is the bank’s depositors’ money that has been lent to you. , Unless there are details you have not provided us with, we do not see any bullying here by the lender.
When it comes to civil imprisonment, the law is clear in that every decree for the payment of money, may be executed by the detention as a civil prisoner of the judgment debtor or by the attachment and sale of his property, or both.
Prior to being taken as a civil prisoner, the decree holder must deposit into Court subsistence allowance for the upkeep of the prisoner whilst he or she serves the sentence. Such a civil imprisonment sentence is for a maximum of six months.