On 15/5/2002, the District Court of Rungwe at Tukuyu convicted the Appellant, of the offence of rape c/s 130(1)(c) and 131(1) of the Penal Code [Cap 16 R.E. 2002] and sentenced him to the mandatory term of thirty years imprisonment.
Aggrieved, on 30/5/2003, he preferred an application to the High Court seeking an extension of time under section 361 of the Criminal Procedure Act [Cap 20 R.E. 2002], within which to file a notice of appeal out of time against the decision of the District Court. On 22/6/2004, the High Court dismissed the application. Undissuaded, on 19/8/2004, the Appellant yet again filed a similar application, the High Court, on 21/06/2005 also dismissed the application.
Thereafter, the Appellant made several attempts to pursue his right of appeal, but was unsuccessful for want of compliance with the law and procedure. These ultimately culminated with a grant to the Appellant of an extension of time by the High Court on 18/3/2014, to file a notice of appeal out of time to the Court under rule 68 (1) of the Court of Appeal Rules, 2009 against the decision of the High Court delivered on 22/6/2004. The Appellant filed his notice of appeal on 20/3/2014.