06 December 2022 :

A court in Tanzania on 2 December 2022 sentenced 11 people to death over the 2017 murder of renowned anti-poaching activist Wayne Lotter.
Conservationist Lotter, a 51-year-old South African based in Tanzania, was a founder of the PAMS Foundation which worked to stop the poaching of elephants and trafficking of ivory in the East African country.
He was shot dead in Dar es Salaam when the taxi he was travelling in was ambushed.
The exact motive for his killing is still unknown but colleagues of Lotter believe he was singled out for his work on protecting elephants.
Those sentenced to death on 2 December include nine Tanzanians and two citizens of neighbouring Burundi.
Judge Leila Mgonya of the High Court said there was compelling evidence that linked the 11 to the two counts on which they were charged: conspiracy to commit murder and murder.
“Some of the suspects, in their statements recorded by police officers, confessed to have taken part in the conspiracy meetings and in killing,” the judge, Laila Mgonya, told the court.
“The evidence provided was strong enough to convict them.”
The handing down of death sentences is not uncommon in Tanzania but they are generally commuted to life in prison.
The last execution carried out in the country was in 1994.
Tanzania has been one of the African countries worst hit by elephant poaching, losing more than 66,000 elephants in 10 years, but interdiction efforts mean poaching has declined in recent years.
A report by the NGO Global Witness found that worldwide, 200 environmentalists had been killed in 2021 and more than 1,700 in the last 10 years.

11 October 2022 :

As Tanzania joins other countries to mark the World Day Against the Death Penalty on 10 October, the Tanzania Media for Community Development (TAMCODE) has recommended amendment of the Penal Code to give judges the discretion to hand over life imprisonment sentences instead of the death penalty in capital offences.
TAMCODE Executive Director Rose Ngunangwa said in Dar es Salaam on 10 October that, the Parliament should amend Section 197 of the Penal Code to read life imprisonment instead of the current death penalty to give judges the discretion to decide otherwise, instead of the current trend where some feel that their hands are tied.
She said judges should use their discretion to hand over life imprisonment sentences instead of the death penalty in capital offences as it is in records that courts do and can actually make mistakes, a chance that could see innocent people pay for the crime that they did not commit.
“We believe, doing so, would help those wrongfully convicted to have a second chance for appeal and clemency,” she said.
“We also appreciate all efforts by sitting Presidents who have not signed any death warrants and not to mention of noble deeds to commute sentences for those on death row, a situation that has made Tanzania to retain its de facto stance ever since 1994. This for sure, deserves and accolade,” she said.