JIBRIL EKAL EKIDOR V. REPUBLIC

JUDGMENT OF THE COURT

[1] On 17^th November, 2010, Jibril Ekal Ekidor (now appellant) was charged before the Senior Resident Magistrate’s Court at Lodwar, with the offence of defilement contrary to section 8(1) as read with section 8(2) of the Sexual Offences Act. He was also charged with an alternative charge of Indecent Act with a child contrary to section 11(1) of the Sexual Offences Act. Following the trial in which seven (7) witnesses testified for the prosecution and the appellant gave a sworn statement, the trial magistrate delivered a judgment in which he convicted the appellant of the alternative charge and sentenced him to serve 15 years imprisonment.

[2] Being aggrieved by his conviction and sentence, the appellant lodged an appeal in the High Court in which he challenged the judgment on several grounds. Upon hearing the appeal, the High Court dismissed the appeal but found that the trial magistrate erred in convicting the appellant on the alternative charge when there was suf…