The High Court Sub-Registry in Morogoro, Tanzania, has acquitted former police corporal Shadidu Kago, who was serving a 20-year prison sentence for sabotaging the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) by cutting copper cables. Kago was also charged with stealing railway property and trespassing in a restricted area. The court quashed his conviction and ordered his immediate release after identifying serious contradictions in the prosecution's evidence.
According to court records, Corporal Kago was charged alongside two co-accused persons on six counts. The first five counts applied exclusively to him, while the sixth involved his co-accused. The charges included sabotage of essential services, endangering railway safety, causing financial loss to the Tanzania Railways Corporation (TRC), stealing railway property, and trespassing in a restricted SGR zone.
The prosecution alleged that on May 18, 2024, at Kingolwira in Morogoro Region, Corporal Kago cut copper cables along the SGR line between kilometres 181 and 183, belonging to the TRC. The alleged act was said to have endangered public safety by potentially disrupting power supply and causing train derailments. The prosecution also alleged that Kago caused TRC a financial loss exceeding Sh22.9 million and stole railway property valued at more than Sh9.17 million.
At the conclusion of the initial trial, the Morogoro Resident Magistrate's Court acquitted Corporal Kago on two counts for lack of sufficient evidence. However, it convicted him on three counts, sentencing him to 20 years in prison for sabotage of essential services, alongside fines and alternative custodial sentences for theft and trespassing. His two co-accused were acquitted on the sixth count after the prosecution failed to prove their guilt beyond reasonable doubt.
Corporal Kago lodged an appeal on 15 grounds, arguing that the trial magistrate had misappraised the evidence, relied on a repudiated caution statement, admitted unreliable identification evidence, and failed to reconcile major discrepancies between the charge sheet and prosecution testimony. The High Court Judge, Aisha Sinda, consolidated the 15 grounds of appeal into key legal issues concerning conflicting evidence, the admissibility of the caution statement, and procedural delays.
The High Court found that the prosecution evidence contained irreconcilable contradictions over the date of the alleged offence, with witnesses giving conflicting accounts of whether it occurred on May 18 or 19, 2024. The court also identified serious unresolved discrepancies in the chemical composition and description of the seized cables. The judge further found that the identification parade was defective, with witnesses contradicting one another over the suspect's position.
In concluding the judgment, Judge Sinda said the cumulative effect of the substantial errors raised reasonable doubt that could not be remedied. She held that the trial magistrate had erred in law by finding that the prosecution had discharged its burden of proof. Consequently, the High Court allowed the appeal in its entirety, quashing all the convictions and sentences, and ordered Corporal Kago's immediate release unless he was being lawfully held on other grounds.
Key points
- The High Court acquitted former police corporal Shadidu Kago due to serious contradictions in the prosecution's evidence.
- The court identified discrepancies in the date of the incident, type of cables seized, and identification procedures.
- Corporal Kago was serving a 20-year prison sentence for sabotaging the Standard Gauge Railway by cutting copper cables.
