Constitution

United Republic of Tanzania 1977 Constitution (reviewed 2005)

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Table of Contents

PART III. PRIME MINISTER, CABINET AND THE GOVERNMENT

Section 1. Prime Minister

51. Prime Minister of the United Republic

  1. There shall be a Prime Minister of the United Republic who shall be appointed by the President in accordance with the provisions of this Article and who, before assuming his office, shall take and subscribe before the President such oath of office of Prime Minister as may be prescribed by Parliament.
  2. As soon as possible, and in any event within fourteen days after assuming his office, the President shall appoint a Member of Parliament elected from a constituency from a political party having a majority of Members of Parliament in the National Assembly or, if no political party has a majority, who appears to have the support of the majority of the Members of Parliament, to be Prime Minister of the United Republic, and he shall not assume office until his appointment is first confirmed by a resolution of the National Assembly supported by a majority vote of Members of Parliament.
  3. Subject to the other provisions of this Constitution, the Prime Minister shall hold the office of Prime Minister until—
    1. the day the President-elect takes his oath of office; or
    2. the day he dies while in office;
    3. the day he resigns; or
    4. the day the President appoints another Member of Parliament to hold the office of Prime Minister; or
    5. he ceases to hold the office of Prime Minister in accordance with the other provisions of this Constitution.

52. Functions and authority of the Prime Minister

  1. The Prime Minister shall have authority over the control, supervision and execution of the day-to-day functions and affairs of the Government of the United Republic.
  2. The Prime Minister shall be the Leader of Government Business in the National Assembly.
  3. In the exercise of his authority, the Prime Minister shall perform or cause to be performed any matter or matters which the President directs to be done.

53. Accountability of the Executive

  1. Subject to the provisions of this Constitution, the Prime Minister shall be accountable to the President for the exercise of his authority.
  2. The Executive of the United Republic, under the authority of the President, shall be the organ having the power to determine the policy of the Government in general, and Ministers under the leadership of the Prime Minister, shall be collectively responsible in the National Assembly for the execution of the affairs of the Government of the United Republic.

53A. Vote of no confidence

  1. Notwithstanding the provisions of Article 51 of this Constitution, the National Assembly may pass a vote of no confidence in the Prime Minister if a motion proposing in that behalf is moved and passed in accordance with the provisions of this Article.
  2. Subject to the other provisions of this Article, any motion for a vote of no confidence in the Prime Minister shall not be moved in the National Assembly if—
    1. either it has no relation with the discharge of the responsibilities of the Prime Minister in accordance with Article 52 of the Constitution) or there are no allegations that the Prime Minister has contravened the law concerning the ethics of public leaders;
    2. six months have not lapsed since he was appointed;
    3. nine months have not lapsed since a similar motion was moved in and rejected by the National Assembly.
  3. A motion for a vote of no confidence in the Prime Minister shall not be passed by the National Assembly save only if:
    1. a written notice, signed and supported by not less than twenty percentum of all the Members of Parliament is submitted to the Speaker, at least fourteen days prior to the day on which the motion is intended to be moved before the National Assembly;
    2. The Speaker satisfies himself that the provisions of the Constitution governing the moving of the motion have been complied with.
  4. A motion which satisfies the provisions of this Article shall be moved before the National Assembly as soon as possible in accordance with the Standing Orders of the National Assembly.
  5. A motion for a vote of no confidence in the Prime Minister shall be passed only if it is supported by a majority of the Members of Parliament.
  6. In the event the motion for a vote of no confidence in the Prime Minister is supported by a majority of the Members of Parliament, the Speaker shall submit the resolution to the President, and as soon as possible and in any event within two days from the day the National Assembly passed the vote of no confidence in the Prime Minister, the Prime Minister shall be required to resign, and the President shall appoint another Member of Parliament to be Prime Minister.

Section 2. Cabinet and Government

54. Cabinet

  1. There shall be a Cabinet the members of which shall be the Vice-President, the Prime Minister, the President of Zanzibar, and all the Ministers.
  2. The President shall attend the meetings of the Cabinet and shall preside over those meetings. In the event the President is absent, the meetings shall be presided over by the Vice-President, and if both the President and the Vice-President are absent, the Prime Minister shall preside over the meetings.
  3. Subject to the provisions contained in Article 37(1) of this Constitution the Cabinet shall be the principal organ for advising the President regarding all matters concerning the exercise of his powers in accordance with the provisions of this Constitution, and it shall assist and advise the President over any matter which shall be submitted to the Cabinet pursuant to specific or general directions issued by the President.
  4. The Attorney General shall attend all the meetings of the Cabinet and shall have all the rights of a member of those meetings save that he shall not have the right to vote at such meetings.
  5. The question whether any advice, and if so, what advice was given by the Cabinet to the President, shall not be inquired into in any court.

55. Appointment of Ministers and Deputy Ministers

  1. All Ministers who are members of the Cabinet by virtue of Article 54 shall be appointed by the President after consultation with the Prime Minister, and they shall be responsible for such offices as the President may, from time to time, by writing under his hand and the Public Seal, establish.
  2. In addition to the Ministers referred to in subarticle (1) the President may, after consultation with the Prime Minister, appoint Deputy Ministers. All Deputy Ministers shall not be members of the Cabinet.
  3. The President may appoint any number of Deputy Ministers who shall assist Ministers in the discharge of their duties and functions.
  4. All Ministers and Deputy Ministers shall be appointed from among Members of Parliament.
  5. Notwithstanding the provisions of subarticle (4), in the event that the President is obliged to appoint a Minister or a Deputy Minister after dissolution of Parliament then he may appoint any person who was a Member of Parliament before Parliament was dissolved.

56. Oath of office of Ministers and Deputy Ministers

A Minister or a Deputy Minister shall not assume his office until he has first taken and subscribed, before the President, the oath of allegiance and such other oath for the discharge of the duties of his office as may be prescribed by a law enacted by Parliament.

57. Tenure of office of Ministers and Deputy Ministers

  1. The tenure of office of a Minister, or a Deputy Minister shall commence on the date he is appointed to hold that office.
  2. The Office of a Minister or a Deputy Minister shall become vacant upon the occurrence of any of the following:
    1. if the incumbent resigns or dies;
    2. where the incumbent ceases to be a Member of Parliament for any reason not connected with the dissolution of Parliament;
    3. where the President revokes the appointment thereby removing the incumbent from office;
    4. where he is elected Speaker;
    5. where the Prime Minister resigns or his office becomes vacant for any other reason;
    6. immediately before the President elect assumes office;
    7. where the Ethics Tribunal makes a decision confirming that he has contravened the law concerning ethics of public leaders.

58. Terms of office of Ministers and Deputy Ministers

Ministers and Deputy Ministers shall hold office during the pleasure of the President, and shall be paid a salary, allowances and other remuneration in accordance with a law enacted by Parliament.

59. Attorney General for the Government of the United Republic

  1. There shall be an Attorney General for the Government of the United Republic, who in the subsequent Articles of this Constitution, shall simply be referred to as the “Attorney General” who shall be appointed by the President.
  2. The Attorney General shall be appointed from amongst public officers qualified to perform functions of advocate or, persons who are qualified to be registered as advocates and, has continuously held those qualifications for a period of not less than ten years.
  3. The Attorney General shall be the adviser of the Government of the United Republic on legal matters and for that purpose shall be responsible for advising the Government of the United Republic on all legal matters, and to discharge any other functions pertaining to or connected with law which are referred to or assigned to him by the President and also to discharge such other duties or functions which shall be entrusted to him by this Constitution or by any law.
  4. In the discharge of his duties and functions in accordance with this Article, the Attorney General shall be entitled to appear and be heard in all courts in the United Republic.
  5. The Attorney General shall be a Member of Parliament by virtue of his office, and he shall hold office until—
    1. his appointment is revoked by the President; or
    2. immediately before the President-elect assumes the office of President

    and he shall be paid a salary, allowances and other remuneration in accordance with a law enacted by Parliament.

59A. Deputy Attorney General

  1. There shall be a Deputy Attorney General of the United Republic, who shall be appointed by the President from amongst persons with qualifications specified in subarticle (2) of Article 59, and has continuously held those qualifications for a period of not less than ten years.
  2. The Deputy Attorney General shall be the principal assistant in the discharge of duties and functions of the Attorney General and shall discharge other duties and functions as may be assigned by the Attorney General.

59B. Director of Public Prosecutions

  1. There shall be a Director of Public Prosecutions who shall be appointed by the President from amongst persons with qualifications specified in subarticle (2) of Article 59 and has continuously held those qualifications for a period of not less than ten years.
  2. The Director of Public Prosecutions shall have powers to institute, prosecute and supervise all criminal prosecutions in the country.
  3. The powers of the Director of Public Prosecutions under subarticle (2), may be exercised by him in person or on his directions, by officers under him, or any other officers who discharge these duties under his instructions.
  4. In exercising his powers, the Director of Public Prosecutions shall be free, shall not be interfered with by any person or with any authority and shall have regard to the following –
    1. the need to dispensing justice;
    2. prevention of misuse of procedures for dispensing justice;
    3. public interest.
  5. The Director of Public Prosecutions shall exercise his powers as may be prescribed by any law enacted or to be enacted by the Parliament.

60. Secretary to the Cabinet

There shall be a Secretary to the Cabinet who shall be the chief executive officer in the office of the Cabinet, and he shall discharge the following functions, in compliance with the general or specific directions issued to him by the President, that is to say:

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  1. to work out a programme for Cabinet meetings and prepare the agenda for each meeting;
  2. to record minutes and maintain a record of Cabinet meetings;
  3. to notify and explain the decision of the Cabinet to every person or public institution concerned with any such decision; and
  4. to discharge any other duties and functions as shall be directed from time to time by the President.

61. Regional Commissioners

  1. There shall be a Regional Commissioner for each region within the United Republic who, subject to subarticle (3), shall be a leader in the Government of the United Republic.
  2. Regional Commissioners in Mainland Tanzania shall be appointed by the President, after consultation with the Prime Minister.
  3. Regional Commissioners in Tanzania Zanzibar shall be appointed by the President of Zanzibar, after consultation with the President.
  4. Without prejudice to the provisions of subarticle (5), every Regional Commissioner shall have the duty to supervise the discharge of all the duties and functions of the Government of the United Republic in the region assigned to him and for that purpose, he shall discharge all duties and functions specified by or under any written law as being functions of a Regional Commissioner, and shall exercise all such powers specified by any law enacted by Parliament.
  5. In addition to his duties and functions specified in the preceding provisions of this Article, a Regional Commissioner for any region in Tanzania Zanzibar shall discharge the duties and functions of the Revolutionary Government of Zanzibar which shall be assigned to him by the President of Zanzibar and in accordance with the Constitution of Zanzibar, 1984, or any law enacted by the House of Representatives.

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