Wakilii

Rex v Kwenyema (Cr.A. 111-1934.)

East African Court of Appeal · [1937] EACA 169 · 1937 Conviction Quashed — Manslaughter Substituted AI-generated summary ↓ Download Pin to watchlist Add to matter
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
Criminal appeal from conviction for murder in the High Court of Tanganyika Territory
Decision
Appellant convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to five years' imprisonment with hard labour

Observed later treatment

No later-treatment classification is recorded for this judgment.

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AI-generated summary. This summary was generated by AI from the full text of the judgment. It may contain errors or omissions—always read the source judgment before relying on it.

Holding

Where a person feloniously fires at another in circumstances that would make killing that person manslaughter due to provocation, but accidentally hits and kills a third person never intended as the target, the offence is manslaughter. The accused witnessed his brother-in-law assault his sister with an axe, causing a head wound. This provocation was sufficient to reduce the offence to manslaughter regardless of whether the provoker or another person was killed.

Outcome

Appellant convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to five years' imprisonment with hard labour

Facts

The appellant saw his brother-in-law Sabaharo strike his sister Nakasanya on the head with an axe when she intervened to assist Sabaharo's other wife Mkondo, whom Sabaharo was beating. The appellant entered the house, seized a gun, and fired at Sabaharo. The shot missed Sabaharo but accidentally killed a third person. At the moment of firing, Sabaharo was boxing the ears of his wife Mkondo. The appellant stated Sabaharo had the axe raised when he emerged with the gun. Sabaharo admitted beating Mkondo with the axe and wounding Nakasanya on the head minutes before. The trial judge convicted the appellant of murder, finding insufficient provocation to reduce the offence to manslaughter.

Issues

  1. Whether the circumstances constituted sufficient provocation to reduce the offence from murder to manslaughter where the accused intended to injure the person who provoked him but by accident killed another person.

Orders

  • Conviction for murder quashed.
  • Conviction for manslaughter substituted.
  • Appellant sentenced to five years' imprisonment with hard labour.

Rules and key headnotes

Homicide — Manslaughter — Provocation — Transferred Malice
If a person feloniously fires at another in circumstances that would make the killing of that person manslaughter due to provocation, but by accident hits and kills a third person whom he never intended to hit at all, he is guilty of manslaughter.
Homicide — Manslaughter — Provocation — Witnessing Assault on Family Member
Where a person witnesses violent assault on a family member with a weapon causing injury, and acts in strong resentment causing death, the provocation is sufficient to reduce murder to manslaughter regardless of whether the provoker or another person is killed.

Cases cited (2)

  • Rex v Gross (1913) 23 Cox 455
  • Rex v Harrington 10 Cox 370

Full judgment

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The original judgment as reported. Read the original PDF before relying on any passage.

Rex v Kwenyema (Cr.A. 111-1934.) [1937] EACA 169 (1 January 1937)
Source: this page presents Wakilii’s issue analysis and metadata for a publicly reported Ugandan judgment. Any AI-generated summary is marked as such. Judgment text is sourced from the Uganda Legal Information Institute (ulii.org). Wakilii is not affiliated with ULII.