Mwakigile v Mwamakula (PC) Civ. App. 123-D-69; 4/11/70;Makame J.

 

Mwakigile v Mwamakula (PC) Civ. App. 123-D-69;       4/11/70;Makame J.

      The appellant successfully sued the respondent for a cow which under the “Ukubamba” custom among the Wanyakyusa, the father   or brother of a deceased married woman slaughters during the mourning. The respondent appealed to the district court and won. There was evidence that the appellant was not the original husband of the respondent’s daughter. The daughter was married by the appellant’s brother and when the latter died the wife stayed with the appellant for some time. The appellant did not establish that the lady became his wife – that he legally inherited her in accordance with paragraph 80 (and paragraph 62 to 64) of the Law of Persons, G. N. No.279 of 1963.

                  Held: (1) “The preponderance of probabilities points to the fact that for the most of time the deceased was sick the appellant too no trouble and did not pay the expenses incurred at various hospitals including Muhimbili.”  (2)  “If the appellant really felt he had been wronged he would first have sought an explanation from the respondent as to why the deceased was being buried at the respondent’s village and not at her husband’s place as the Nyakyusa custom requires.” (3) “The appellant’s attitude is perhaps illustrated by his arrival after the burial despite the fact that he was merely five miles away and his leaving soon afterwards with        his deceased brother’s child. The respondent bore the hospital and funeral expenses and the appellant cannot be heard to assert that       he has a claim on the traditional cow which the respondent said he        in any case was duly slaughtered during the funeral.”  (4)  Appeal dismissed.