United Republic of Tanzania 1977 Constitution (reviewed 2005) - Page 4 of 20

Table of Contents

CHAPTER 2. THE EXECUTIVE OF THE UNITED REPUBLIC

PART I. THE PRESIDENT

33. President of the United Republic

There shall be a President of the United Republic.
The President shall be the Head of State, the Head of Government and the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces.

34. The Government of the United Republic authority

There shall be a Government of the United Republic which shall have authority over all Union Matters in the United Republic and over all other matters concerning Mainland Tanzania.
The authority of the Government of the United Republic shall concern the application and upholding of this Constitution and also all other matters over which Parliament has power to legislate.
All the authority of the Government of the United Republic over all Union Matters in the United Republic and also over all other matters concerning Mainland Tanzania shall vest in the President of the United Republic.
Subject to the other provisions of this Constitution, the authority of the Government of the United Republic shall be exercised by either the President himself directly or by delegation of such authority to other persons holding office in the service of the United Republic.
It is hereby declared that the provisions of this Article shall not be construed as—
1. transferring to the President any legal functions conferred by law on any person or authority other than the President; or
2. preventing Parliament from conferring any legal authority upon any person or persons or authority other than the President.

35. Discharge of the business of the Government

All Executive functions of the Government of the United Republic shall be discharged by officers of the Government on behalf of the President.
Orders and other directives issued for the purposes of this Article shall be signified in such manner as may be specified in regulations issued by the President in conformity with the provisions of this Constitution.

36. Authority to constitute offices and to appoint officers

Subject to the other provisions of this Constitution and of any other law, the President shall have authority to constitute and to abolish any office in the service of the Government of the United Republic.
The President shall have the authority to appoint persons to hold positions of leadership responsible for formulating policies for departments and institutions of the Government, and the Chief Executives who are responsible for supervision of the impoementation of those department’s and institution’s policies in the Service of the Government of the United Republic, in this Constitution or in various laws enacted by the Parliament, which are required to be filled by an appointment made by the President.
Subject to the provisions of subarticle (2), other conditions contained in this Constitution and any other relevant law, the authority for appointment of other persons who are not leaders or chief executives, to hold positions in the service of the Government of the United Republic, and also the authority for promoting such persons, to remove them from the office, to terminate their employment and the authority to regulate their discipline of persons who are given that authority, shall vest in the Service Commissions and given authority in respect with positions of authority pursuant to this Constitution or in accordance within any law concerned.
The provisions of subarticles (2) and (3) shall not be construed to prohibit the President to take steps of maintaining discipline of the public servants and the public service of the Government of the United Republic.

37. Discharge of duties and in functions of President

Apart from complying with the provisions contained this Constitution, and the laws of the United Republic in the performance of his duties and functions, the President shall be free and shall not be obliged to take the advice given to him by any person, save where he is required by this Constitution or any other law to act in accordance with the advice given to him by any person or authority.
Where the Cabinet finds that the President is unable to discharge the functions of his office by reason of physical or mental infirmity, it may submit to the Chief Justice a resolution requesting him to certify that the President by reason of physical or mental infirmity, is unable to discharge the functions of his office. Upon receiving such a resolution, the Chief Justice shall appoint a medical board of not less than three persons from amongst experts recognized as such by the law governing medical practitioners in Tanzania and such board shall inquire into that issue and advise the Chief Justice accordingly, and he may, after considering the medical evidence, present to the Speaker a certificate certifying that the President, due to physical or mental infirmity, is unable to discharge the functions of his office; and if the Chief Justice does not rescind that certificate within seven days for the reason that the President’s condition has improved and he has resumed work, then it shall be deemed that the office of the President is vacant, and the provisions contained in subarticle (3) shall apply.
Where the President is absent from the United Republic, or is unable to discharge the functions of his office for any other reason, the duties and functions of the President shall be discharged by one of the following, in the order specified, that is to say —
1. the Vice-President or, if his office is vacant or if he also is absent or is ill; then
2. the Prime Minister.
Where the Prime Minister is discharging the duties and functions of the office of President by reason that the Vice President is absent, then the Prime Minister shall cease to discharge such duties and functions if any of the following events occurs first –
1. the President returns in the United Republic or, his condition improves and reassumes the discharge of the duties and functions of the President; or
2. the Vice President returns in the United Republic.
Where the office of President becomes vacant by reason of the death of the President, his resignation, loss of the electoral qualifications or inability to perform his functions due to physical infirmity, or failure to discharge the duties and functions of the office of President, then the Vice-President shall be sworn in and become the President for the unexpired period of the term of five years and in accordance with the conditions set out in Article 40, then after consultation with the political party to which he belongs, the President shall propose the name of the person who shall be Vice-President and such appointment shall be confirmed by the National Assembly by votes of not less than fifty percentum of all Members of Parliament.
It is hereby declared that the office of President shall not be deemed to be vacant and the President shall not be deemed to be absent from the United Republic or is unable to discharge his duties if he is—
1. absent from the town which is the seat of Government of the United Republic;
2. absent from the United Republic for a period of twenty four hours; or
3. ill but hopes to be better after a short period.
Where any of the situations specified in subarticle (6) occurs, and the President deems it appropriate to delegate his powers for the duration of any such situation, then he may give directions in writing for the appointment of any of the persons mentioned in paragraph (a) or (b) of subarticle (3) of this Article for the purposes of discharging the functions of the office of President and the person so appointed shall discharge those functions of the office of President in accordance with the terms specified by the President; save that the terms specified in this Article shall be understood to derogate or prejudice the power of the President under any other law to diminish his functions to any other person in accordance with any other law.
The President may direct in writing, if in his opinion it is desirable so, to do, any Minister to discharge any functions of President as may be specified and the Minister so directed shall by virtue of the provisions of this subarticle have the power to discharge those functions in accordance with any directions given by President, notwithstanding the provisions of any other law:Provided that—
1. the President shall not have authority to delegate to a Minister in accordance with the provisions of this subarticle any function of the office of President conferred on him by any law arising from the terms of any treaty to which the United Republic is a party if by law the President is not authorised to delegate such function to any other person;
2. it is hereby declared that directions given by the President under the provisions of this subarticle directing any Minister to discharge any function of the office of President shall not be deemed to prevent the President from discharging such function himself.
For the purposes of clarity of the provisions of this Article—
1. a Cabinet meeting held for the purpose of submitting to the Chief Justice a resolution concerning the state of health of the President shall be deemed to be valid notwithstanding that any member of the Cabinet is absent or that his position is vacant and it shall be deemed that the Cabinet has passed that resolution provided that it is supported by the majority vote of members attending and voting;
2. the President shall not be deemed as being absent from the United Republic by reason only of the fact that he is in passage from one part of Tanzania to another through a foreign country, or for the reason that he has given directions in accordance with the provisions of subarticle (7) and those directions have not been rescinded.
Notwithstanding the preceding provisions set out in this Article, a person discharging the functions of the office of President under this Article shall not have power to dissolve Parliament, to remove any of the Ministers from office or to revoke any appointment made by the President.
If any person discharging the functions of the office of President in accordance with the provisions of this Article is a Member of Parliament, he shall not forfeit his seat in the National Assembly or be disqualified for election as Member of Parliament by reason only of his discharging the functions of President.

38. Election of President

The President shall be elected by the citizen in accordance with the provisions of this Constitution and in accordance with the law enacted by Parliament pursuant to the provisions of this Constitution, making provisions concerning the election of the President.
Subject to the other provisions of this Constitution, the office of President shall be vacant and the election of the President shall be held or that vacancy shall be filled otherwise in accordance with this Constitution, as the case may be, upon the occurrence of any of the following events—
1. the dissolution of Parliament;
2. the resignation of the President without first dissolving Parliament;
3. the disqualification of the President from holding elective office;
4. the impeachment of the President by the National Assembly in accordance with this Constitution and his removal from office;
5. certification pursuant to the provisions of Article 37 of this Constitution that the President is unable to discharge his duties and functions;
6. the death of the President.
The office of President shall not be deemed to be vacant by reason only that the National Assembly has passed a motion of no confidence in the Prime Minister.

39. Qualifications for election as President

A person shall not be entitled to be elected to hold the office of President of the United Republic save only if—
1. he is a citizen of the United Republic by birth in terms of the citizenship law;
2. he has attained the age of forty years;
3. he is a member of, and a candidate nominated by, a political party;
4. he is qualified to be a Member of Parliament or a Member of the House of Representatives;
5. within the period of five years before the General Elections, he has not been convicted by any court for any offence relating to evasion to pay any tax due to the Govemment.
Without prejudice to any person’s right and freedom of expression to hold his own views, to profess a religious faith of his choice, to associate with others and to participate with others in community work in accordance with the laws of the land, no person shall be qualified to be elected to hold the office of President of the United Republic unless he is a member of, and a candidate proposed by, a political party.

40. Eligibility for re-election

Subject to the other provisions of this Article, any person who holds office as President shall be eligible for re-election to that office.
No person shall be elected more than twice to hold the office of President.
A person who has been President of Zanzibar shall not be disqualified from being elected President of the United Republic for the reason only that he has once held office as President of Zanzibar.
Where the Vice-President holds the office of President in accordance with the provisions of Article 37(5) for less than three years, he shall be eligible to contest for the office of President for two terms, but where he occupies the office of President for three years or more, he shall be eligible to contest for the office of President for one term only.

41. Procedure for the election of President

Where Parliament has been dissolved or where any of the events specified in subarticle (2) of Article 38 have occurred and it becomes necessary to hold an election of the President, every political party wishing to participate in the election of President shall submit to the Electoral Commission, in accordance with the law, the name of one of its members whom it proposes as a candidate to contest the election for the President of the United Republic and the name of another member of the party whom it proposes for the office of Vice-President.
The names of the candidates proposed for the Presidential election shall be submitted to the Electoral Commission on a date and time appointed in accordance with a law enacted by Parliament, and a person shall not be validly nominated save only if his nomination is supported by such number of voters and in such manner as shall be prescribed by an Act of Parliament.
If on the date and time appointed for the purpose of submission of the names of the candidates proposed only one candidate is validly nominated, the Electoral Commission shall present such candidate’s name to the people, who shall vote either for or against him in accordance with the provisions of this Article and an Act enacted by Parliament.
The election of the President of the United Republic shall be held on a date to be appointed by the Electoral Commission in accordance with an Act of Parliament.
All other matters concerning the procedures for the election of the President, shall be as provided for in a law enacted by Parliament in that behalf.
Any candidate contesting for the office of President shall be declared duly elected President only if he has obtained more than half of all the valid votes cast or, where a second ballot is held for the reason that no candidate obtained more than half of all the valid votes, if he obtains either more than half of all valid votes cast or more votes than any of the other candidates.
When a candidate is declared by the Electoral Commission to have been duly elected in accordance with this Article, then no court of law shall have any power to inquire into the election of that candidate.

42. Time of assumption and term of office of President

The President-elect shall assume office of President as soon as possible after it is declared that he has been elected President, but in any event he shall assume office before the expiration of not more than seven days.
Unless he sooner resigns or dies, the person elected as President, subject to the provisions contained in subarticle (3), shall hold the office of President for a period of five years from the date on which he was elected President.
A person elected President shall hold the office of President until—
1. the day his successor in office takes the oath of office; or
2. the day he dies while in office; or
3. the day he resigns from office; or
4. he ceases to hold the office of President in accordance with the provisions of this Constitution.
If the United Republic is at war and the President considers that it is not practicable to hold elections, the National Assembly may from time to time, pass a resolution extending the period of five years specified in subarticle (2) of this Article save that no such extension shall exceed a period of six months at any one time.
Every President-elect and every person acting in the office of President shall, before assuming the functions of the office of President, take and subscribe, in the presence of the Chief Justice of the United Republic, the oath of allegiance and such other oath for the execution of the functions of the office of President as may be prescribed by an Act of Parliament.

43. Terms of office of President

The President shall be paid such salary and other remuneration, and on retirement he shall receive such pension, gratuity or allowances, as may be determined by the National Assembly, and the salary, other remuneration, pension, and that gratuity shall all be charged on the Consolidated Fund of the United Republic and shall be paid in accordance with the provisions of this Article.
The salary and all other payments due to the President shall not be reduced while he is in office in accordance with the provisions of this Constitution.

44. Power to declare war

Subject to this Constitution or to any Act of Parliament providing in that behalf, the President may declare the existence of a state of war between the United Republic and any other country.
After making the declaration, the President shall transmit a copy of such declaration to the Speaker of the National Assembly who, after consultation with the Leader of Government Business in the National Assembly, shall within fourteen days from the date of the declaration, convene a meeting of the National Assembly to deliberate on the prevailing situation and to consider whether or not to pass a resolution in support of the declaration of war made by the President.

45. Prerogative of mercy

Subject to the other provisions contained in this Article, the President may do any of the following:
1. grant a pardon to any person convicted by a court of law of any offence, and he may grant such pardon unconditionally or on conditions, subject to law;
2. grant any person a respite, either indefinitely or for a specified period, of the execution of any punishment imposed on that person for any offence;
3. substitute a less severe form of punishment for any punishment imposed on any person for any offence; and
4. remit the whole or part of any punishment imposed on any person for any offence, or remit the whole or part of any penalty of fine or forfeiture of property belonging to a convicted person which would otherwise be due to the Government of the United Republic on account of any offence.
Parliament may enact legislation making provision for the procedure to be followed by the President in the exercise of his powers under this Article.
The provisions of this Article shall apply to persons convicted and punished in Tanzania Zanzibar and to punishments imposed in Tanzania Zanzibar under legislation enacted by Parliament which applies to Tanzania Zanzibar, likewise such provisions shall apply to persons convicted and punished in Mainland Tanzania in accordance with law.

46. Immunity from criminal and civil proceedings

During the President’s tenure of office in accordance with this Constitution it shall be prohibited to institute or continue in court any criminal proceedings whatsoever against him.
During the President’s tenure of office in accordance with this Constitution, no civil proceedings against him shall be instituted in court in respect of anything done or not done, or purporting to have been done or not done, by him in his personal capacity as an ordinary citizen whether before or after he assumed the office of President, unless at least thirty days before the proceedings are instituted in court, notice of claim in writing has been delivered to him or sent to him pursuant to the procedure prescribed by an Act of Parliament, stating the nature of such proceedings, the cause of action, the name, residential address of the claimant and the relief which he claims.
Except where he ceases to hold the office of President pursuant to the provisions of Article 46A(10) it shall be prohibited to institute in court criminal or civil proceedings whatsoever against a person who was holding the office of President after he ceases to hold such office for anything he did in his capacity as President while he held the office of President in accordance with this Constitution.

46A. Impeachment by the National Assembly

Notwithstanding the provisions of Article 46 of this Constitution the National Assembly may pass a resolution to remove the President from office if a motion to impeach the President is moved and passed in accordance with the provisions of this Article.
Subject to the other provisions of this Article, no motion to impeach the President shall be moved save only if it is alleged that the President—
1. has committed acts which generally violate the Constitution or the law concerning the ethics of public leaders;
2. has committed acts which contravene the conditions concerning the registration of political parties specified in Article 20(2) of this Constitution; or
3. has conducted himself in a manner which lowers the esteem of the office of President of the United Republic, and no such motion shall be moved within twenty months from the time when a similar motion was previously moved and rejected by the National Assembly.
The National Assembly shall not pass a motion to impeach the President save only if—
1. a written notice signed and supported by not less the twenty per cent of all the member of Parliament is submitted to the Speaker thirty days prior to the sitting at which such motion is intended to be moved in the National Assembly, specifying the wrong committed by the president and proposing that a Special Committee of Inquiry be constituted to inquire into the charges brought against the President.
2. at any time after the Speaker receives the notice duly signed by the Member of Parliament and satisfies himself that the provisions of the Constitution for the moving of the motion have been complied with, to vote on the motion to constitute a Special Committee of Inquiry, and if it is supported by not less than two thirds of all the Member of Parliament, the Speaker shall announce the names of the member of the Special Committee of Inquiry
The Special Committee of Inquiry for the purpose of this Article shall consist of the following members, that is to say—
1. the Chief Justice of the United Republic who shall be the Chairman of the Committee;
2. the Chief Justice of Tanzania Zanzibar; and
3. seven members appointed by the Speaker in accordance with the Standing Orders of the National Assembly and taking into account the proportional representation amongst the political parties represented in the National Assembly.
In the event that the National Assembly passes the motion to constitute a Special Committee of Inquiry, the President shall be deemed to be out of office, and the duties and functions of the office of President shall be discharged in accordance with the provisions of Article 37(3) of this Constitution until the Speaker shall inform the President about the resolution of the National Assembly in connection with the charges brought against him.
Within seven days after the Special Committee of Inquiry is constituted, it shall sit, inquire into and analyse the charges preferred against the President, including affording the President the opportunity to be heard in his defence in accordance with the procedure prescribed by the Standing Orders of the National Assembly.
As soon as possible and in any event within a period of not more than ninety days, the Special Committee of Inquiry shall submit its report to the Speaker.
After the Speaker receives the report of the Special Committee of Inquiry, the report shall be tabled before the National Assembly in accordance with the procedure prescribed by the Standing Orders of the National Assembly.
After the report of the Special Committee of Inquiry is submitted pursuant to subarticle (8) the National Assembly shall discuss the report and shall afford the President the opportunity to be heard, and then by the votes of not less than two thirds majority of all the Members of Parliament, the National Assembly shall pass a resolution either that the charges against the President have been proved and that he is unworthy of continuing to hold the office of President, or that the charges have not been proved.
In the event the National Assembly passes a resolution that the charges against the President have been proved and that he is unworthy of continuing to hold the office of President, the Speaker shall inform the President and the Chairman of the Electoral Commission about such resolution of the National Assembly, whereupon the President shall be obliged to resign before the expiry of three days from the day the National Assembly passed the resolution.
In the event the President ceases to hold the office of President by reason of the charges against him being proved he shall not be entitled to receive any payment by way of pension or to receive any benefits or other privileges which he has under the Constitution or any other law enacted by Parliament.

46B. Duty of principal leaders of organs with executive power to preserve Union

Without prejudice to the duty of every citizen which is mentioned in Article 28 this Constitution, the principal executive leaders of the organs vested with executive powers in the United Republic mentioned in Article 4 of this Constitution Act No. 12 shall be duty bound, each of them in the exercise of the powers conferred on him by this Constitution or the Constitution of Zanzibar 1984, to ensure that he protects, strengthens and preserves the integrity of the United Republic.
For the purposes of the provisions of subarticle (1), each of the principal leaders of the organs vested with executive powers of the United Republic shall, before assuming office in accordance with this Constitution, take oath to defend and preserve the integrity of the United Republic in accordance with this Constitution.
The principal leaders to whom the provisions of this Article apply are:
1. the President of the United Republic;
2. the Vice-President of the United Republic;
3. the President of Zanzibar; and
4. the Prime Minister of the United Republic.