TANZANIA       Institutional Situation

  This section has been updated by Mr Boubacar Issa Abdourhamane,
a doctorate student at the CEAN, IEP – Montesquieu University of Bordeaux

Democratic Process

Tanzania, a former British colony, became independent in 1961. It is a united Republic composed of Tanzania and Zanzibar. President Julius Nyerere led the country in accordance with the “African socialism” single-party model. He gave up power voluntarily in 1990, handing over to Ali Hassn Mwinyi, designated as being his successor in 1985 when he was President of Zanzibar. At the same time, the President of Zanzibar, Abdul Wakil, announced his resignation after five years in power and Salim Almour was appointed to succeed him. Mwiny and Almour were confirmed as heads of the country in non-competitive elections under the banner of the Chama Chama Mapinduzy (CCM), the single party at that time. From 1991 onwards, the Tanzania Democratic Forum led by the former Secretary General of the single party, the dissident Oscar Kambona, demanded that the single party system be brought to an end and that a multiparty system be legalised. The opposition forces organised themselves to demand political openness. In reply to this, the government set up a commission entrusted with the task of formulating proposals on the subject. In 1992, a special session of the single party came out in favour of the multiparty system but on condition that the new parties have support both in Zanzibar and Tanzania and that they include no ethnic, regional or race preferences in their programme.
In May 1992, the Constitutions of the United Republic and of Zanzibar were amended to legalise political parties, and about a dozen parties were registered. Pluralist elections were held on 29 October 1995. Thirteen political parties were represented. These elections were marked by serious irregularities and the national electoral commission cancelled some results. For the presidential election, Benjamin Mkapa of the CCM – replacing Mwiny who had reached the end of his two terms of office – was proclaimed the winner with 62.8% against 27.8% for Augustine Mrema (NCCR), 6.4% for Ibrahim Haruna Lipumba (CUF) and 4% for John Momose Cheyo (UDP). The last general elections produced the following results: the CCM won 211 seats, with 28 for the Civic United Front (CUF), 5 for the United Democratic Party (UDP), 17 for the National Convention for Constitution and Reconstruction (NCCR).
The opposition demanded that all the election results be cancelled but their pleas were rejected. Despite the hegemony of the CCM on the political stage, the party suffered from internal strife and several important figures joined the opposition. However, the latter still had difficulties forming a credible coalition against a backdrop of attempts by the CCM, which controls the major part of public resources and the media, to divide it. The regime tried to achieve a certain legitimacy by playing on its determination to fight corruption at the highest levels of the State. Presidential and general elections were organised on 29 October 2000 in accordance with the terms of the Constitution. The incumbent President Benjamin William Mkapa, standing again, came first with 71% of the votes, in front of his major rivals Ibrahim Lipumba of the CUF (16.3%), Augustine Lyatonga Mrema of the Tanzania Labour Party (TLP – 7%) and John Cheyo of the United Democratic Party (4.2%). The candidate of the ruling party, the CCM, also won the elections in the semi-autonomous archipelago of Zanzibar with 67% of the votes against only 33% for his adversary Seif Shariff Hamad of the CUF. The CCM also won the general elections in the archipelago with 34 seats out of the 50 in the Zanzibar House of Representatives. Despite the turnout estimated as being around 85%, these elections in Zanzibar were marked by unrest to such an extent that the Zanzibar Electoral Commission cancelled the election in 16 constituencies. The CUF contested the results in Zanzibar and demanded new general elections whilst maintaining the presence of its members in parliament. After these general and presidential elections, President Benjamin Mkapa will now remain in power until the next elections scheduled for 2005. President Mkapa has opted for continuity with the past, by starting his new term of office with the same Prime Minister, Frederick Sumaye.

Political Institutions

The political system is based on a parliamentary regime. By the terms of the Constitution as amended in 1992, executive power is in the hands of the President, elected in a separate vote held at the same time as the general elections. The President must be a member of a political party. If the President comes from one part of the union, the Vice President must be from the other. Thus, the current Vice President Omar Ali Juma, comes from Zanzibar while President Benjamin Mkapa is from Tanzania. In each part of the union, the President is elected for a term of five years that may be renewed once. The Parliament, based on the model of Westminster, is composed of 232 members elected for five years in accordance with the simple majority principle. As well as the elected members, there are 37 other members of parliament appointed to represent social groups (women, youth, cooperatives). Parliament has powers to manage the affairs of the Union, foreign relations, defence, security, the police, nationality, immigration, higher education and the recognition of political parties, etc. There are several groups in Parliament. The opposition is officially recognised and has an official status in the house.

Judicial System

The legal system of Tanzania is largely based on the common law, often leaving some space for Muslim or local customary laws. The latter sources of law are called upon in particular in personal or family matters. The judges working in the Courts and Tribunals are appointed by the President. The High Court (Jaji Kiongozi) with its 29 judges is the highest legal authority in the country. On the intermediate level, there is the Appeal Court composed of 54 judges. At the base of the pyramid, there are the Courts of First Instance.

Decentralisation and Devolution

Tanzania was formed by the union between Tanganyika and Zanzibar. In 1997, the estimated population was 26,646,753 inhabitants. The organisation of the country is based on balancing the two territories. The distribution of executive power at the highest level of the State takes into account the need of having a President and Vice President who represent both territorial entities. Recently, problems arose in preserving the unity of the country when the opposition CUF protested against the hegemony of the CCM in Zanzibar. On the administrative level, the country is divided into 27 regions: Arusha, Dar-Es-Salaam, Dodoma, Iringa, Kagera, Kigoma, Kilimanjaro, Lindi, Mafia, Mara, Mbeya, Morogoro, Mtawara, Pemba North, Pemba South, Pwani, Rukwa, Ruvuma, Shinyaga, Singida, Tabora, Tabora, Tanga, Zanzibar Central/South, Zanzibar North, Zanzibar Urban West, Ziwa Magharibi.

Political Parties

Chama cha Democracia na Maendeleo (HADEMA) led by Edwon Mtei
Chama Cha Mapinduzi led by Benjamin Mpaka, current President of Tanzania
Civic United Front (CUF-Zanzibar) led by Seif Sharif Hamad
National Convention for Constitution and Reconstruction (NCCR) led by Lyatonga Augustine Mrema
United Democratic Party (UDP) led by John Momose Cheyo
National League for Democracy (NLD)
Tanzania People Party (TPP)
United People Democratic Party (UPDP)
National Reconstruction Alliance (NRA)
Popular National Party (PONA)
Tanzania Democratic Alliance
Tanzania Labour Party (TLP)
United Democratic Party (UDP)

Trades Unions

The main union organisation in the country, the Organisation of Tanzanian Trade Unions (OTTU) became the Tanzanian Federation of Free Unions in 1995. Union freedom is recognised but there are complex procedures that make it difficult to call strikes in the public sector and many stoppages are considered illegal by the public authorities and the tribunals.

Human Rights

The Tanzanian Constitution guarantees the rights and freedom of the citizen, but in reality, there are abuses of human rights, arrests, detention conditions and sometimes acts of torture that are a preoccupation for human rights activists. The press is relatively free, although many violations of journalists’ rights are mentioned by Reporters sans Frontières. There are several human rights organisations, including the following: Legal Aid Committee (University of Dar-Es-Salaam), SUWATA Legal Aid Project, Tanganyika Law Society, Tanzania Media Women Association, Welfare through Law, Zanzibar Legal Services Centre. The country is also host to the International Penal Tribunal for Rwanda which sits in Arusha. This tribunal judges those presumed to have taken part or assisted in the Rwanda genocide in 1994.

Media

The country’s main papers are: Daily News (government, published in English), The Guardian (private), The East African, Uluru (ruling party), The African, The Express, Rai (opinion). The government runs two radio stations: Radio Tanzania and Radio Tanzania-Zanzibar. The independent radio stations are Radio One and Capital Radio. The main television channels are: Independent Television (ITV), Dar-Es-Salaam television (DTV), Coast Television Network (CTN) and Television Zanzibar (TVZ).