In 2005 the Appellant and Respondent started living together
under one roof and got blessed with four issues. Later their relationship got
sour to the extent of parting ways. The Appellant filed Matrimonial Cause No.
37 of 2016 in Kyela Urban Primary court claiming for divorce. The primary court
ruled that there was no marriage between the parties, but proceeded to grant
custody of three children to the Appellant. The Respondent appealed to the
District Court of Kyela which upheld the decision of the primary court in its
entirety. Since both the primary court and the district court never adjudicated
on division of matrimonial assets, the Appellant went back to the primary court
claiming for division of matrimonial assets. She thus filed Civil Case No. 45
of 2017. In this matter she claimed division of matrimonial assets to wit one
house, two unfinished houses (all these were on the same plot) and a share in a
photo studio business which they established together with another third
person. The primary court ruled that the house and the unfinished houses should
be sold since they were in one compound and the proceeds divided equally
between the parties. It also ordered that the share of the photo studio
business that belonged to the Appellant and the Respondent be ascertained and
divided equally between them.
The Respondent was not amused by this decision and thus
decided to file an application for revision in the District Court of Kyela. The
Respondent challenged the decision of the primary court on the division of the
assets. The District Court ruled in favour of the Respondent whereby it ordered
the Appellant to be given Tshs. 4,000,000/- as her share in the matrimonial
properties. The District Court went further to reverse the grant of custody of
two children who are twins to the Appellant and gave the same to the Respondent
on the ground that the Appellant had no income generating activities. The
Appellant got aggrieved by this decision and thus filed this appeal in this
Court.