03 Apr 2022

 Court of Appeal will, on April 29, rule on whether a convict who committed an offence as a juvenile should be convicted as an adult if he/she attained adulthood at the time of sentencing.
The Court of Appeal (CoA) bench comprising of Justice Abednego Tafa, Justice Monametsi Gaongalelwe and Justice Lot Moroka are presiding over the case.

On Friday, the Okavango legislator, Mr Kenny Kapinga donned the legal regalia and approached the CoA to set aside the decision of the lower court, which sentenced Cheka Manga to 10 years imprisonment for rape he committed in 2020.

The magistrate sentence was upheld by the High Court and Mr Kapinga’s argument was that the lower court erred in its conclusion since the appellant was a minor by then.
The appellant was convicted for a rape offence he committed on October 13, 2018 aged 17 years and 10 months.

Attorney Kapinga said the appellant, who had pleaded guilty to the charge, was a juvenile at the time of committing the crime.
As such, he said the appellant’s trial should had been conducted in a juvenile court even if he was above the age of juvenile at the time of the trial and sentencing.
“The date when the child committed an offence determines whether the child will be tried as a juvenile or an adult,” he stated.

He described the trial as a miscarriage of justice and said the CoA should order a re-trial.
Mr Kapinga said the court deprived the appellant of the rights he had to enjoy as a juvenile as prescribed in the Children's Act.
Furthermore, he faulted the prosecution for having delayed a straightforward case in order to try the appellant as an adult.

He said it was unreasonable for the prosecution to have taken 18 months when the appellant had pleaded guilty.
Appearing for the state, Mr Modibedi Tladi said the state was opposed to the application since the argument presented was flawed as the appellant was above juvenile age during sentencing.
“When it comes to sentencing, the age of appellant should be considered,” he said.

Regarding the delay of the case, he said the delay was not ideal but noted that at the end of the day, the court had to make a decision.
Asked by Justice Tafa what caused the delay and whether it was explained to the lower court, Mr Tladi said the delay should have been dealt with by the magistrate court.ENDS