The Court of Appeal of Tanzania has upheld a decision ordering a businessman, Mathew Pesambili, to pay Sh10 million in compensation for adultery to a senior government official, who was a District Executive Director at the time of the incident in 2021. The official, now a municipal director in the Lake Zone, had filed a case against Pesambili, who owns a shop, guest house, and bar in Inyonga village, Mlele District.
According to the appeal records, Pesambili and the government official's wife had been having an affair, which was discovered by the official in April 2021 through a text message on her phone. A meeting was arranged with Pesambili to resolve the matter, but he denied any wrongdoing. However, on May 11, 2021, the official received information that Pesambili was planning to meet his wife in Tabora, and he proceeded to the city with witnesses to confront them.
The confrontation at Star Lodge Kanyenye in Tabora resulted in Pesambili and the government official's wife being found naked in a hotel room, along with their child. The officials took pictures and recorded videos as evidence, which was submitted to the court. Pesambili denied the allegations, stating that he had not gone to Tabora that day and had stayed at his shop throughout.
The Tabora District Court initially ordered Pesambili to pay Sh300 million in compensation, including Sh100 million for enticement and Sh200 million for adultery. However, Pesambili appealed to the High Court, which reduced the compensation for adultery to Sh10 million and struck out the award for enticement. The government official then appealed to the Court of Appeal, which has now upheld the Sh10 million compensation award.
The Court of Appeal, in a judgment delivered on September 23, 2026, by a panel of three judges, stated that the High Court had erred in expunging the photographs and videos taken as evidence. The court ruled that Section 19 of the Electronic Transactions Act does not require the device used to take the pictures and record the video to be presented in court.
The judges, Shaban Lila, Dr Benhajj Shaaban Masoud, and Lameck Mlacha, found that the evidence presented proved that Pesambili had seduced and committed adultery with the government official's wife. The court also noted that the High Court had correctly reduced the compensation award for adultery to Sh10 million, considering that the amount awarded should be reasonable and not excessive.
The case has now been concluded, with the Court of Appeal upholding the Sh10 million compensation award. The government official had married his wife at the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania in Keko, Dar es Salaam, on December 12, 2012, and the incident occurred in May 2021, when Pesambili was found with his wife at the Star Lodge Guest House in Tabora.
Key points
- The Court of Appeal upheld a decision ordering a businessman to pay Sh10 million in compensation for adultery to a municipal director.
- The case involved a government official who discovered his wife having an affair with a businessman, Mathew Pesambili, in a hotel room.
- The Court of Appeal ruled that the High Court erred in expunging photographs and videos taken as evidence in the case.
