Constitution of the United Republic of Tanzania, 1977
-(1) In this Constitution unless the context otherwise requires -
- Jurisdiction
- United Republic of Tanzania
- Provision
- 151
- Source language
- English
- Recorded status
- in force
More details
- Recorded status
- in force
Provision text
Official source151.-(1) In this Constitution unless the context otherwise requires -
Act No.15 “military law” means a law or command issued pursuant to a law regulating
of 1984,
Art.51 and discipline in a Force;
Art.53 “member of armed force” when used in connection with any armed force, includes
Act No.4 any member of the armed force who in accordance with the military law of
of 1992, the Force, is subject to the discipline of that Force;
Art.38 “the House of Representatives” means the House of Representatives of Zanzibar
Act No.3
of 2000 referred to in Article 106 of this Constitution and which performs its
Art.19 functions in accordance with this Constitution and the Constitution of
G.N.No.133 Zanzibar, 1984;
of 2001 “Parliament” means the Parliament of the United Republic referred to in Article
Act No.1 62 of this Constitution;
of 2005
Art.25 “Political Party” means a political party which has been granted full registration in
accordance with the Political Parties Act, 1992;
“Judiciary” has the meaning ascribed to it in subarticle (1) of Article 116 of this
Constitution;
“Judiciary of Zanzibar” means the Zanzibar Judiciary which includes all the
courts within the Revolutionary Government of Zanzibar;
“Chief Justice” means the Chief Justice of the Court of Appeal who is specified
appointed and whose functions are prescribed in Article 118 of this
Constitution;
“Chief Justice of Zanzibar” means the Chief Justice of the High Court of Zanzibar
who, pursuant to the Constitution of Zanzibar, 1984, is the head of the
Zanzibar Judiciary;
“Force” means any of the armed forces and includes any other force established
by this Constitution or in accordance with law and which is governed by
military law;
“Commonwealth” means the organization whose members include the United
Cap.512 Republic and every country to which the provisions of section 7 of the
(1965 Edition)
Citizenship Act, 1961, apply;
“Oath” shall have the meaning ordinarily ascribed to it and includes any formal
declaration permitted by law to be used instead of an oath;
“oath of allegiance” means the oath to be loyal to the State and to the Government
of the United Republic;
“ethics of Office of Judge” means ethical rules guiding the conduct of persons
holding the office of judge or magistrate;
“office in the service of the Government of the United Republic” shall have the
ordinary meaning of that expression and includes service in the Armed
Forces of the United Republic and in the Police Force or other force
established in accordance with law;
“court” means any court having jurisdiction in the United Republic except a court
established by military law; save that for the purposes of Articles 13, 14
and 15 of this Constitution it shall include a court established under
military law;
“High Court” means the High Court of the United Republic or the High Court of
Zanzibar;
“Union Matters” means all public affairs specified in Article 4 of this Constitution
as being Union Matters;
“State Authority” includes the Executive and the Legislature of the United
Republic, as well as the Executive and the House of Representatives of
Zanzibar;
“Attorney-General” means the Attorney-General for the United Republic referred
to in Article 59;
“the Government” includes the Government of the United Republic, the
Revolutionary Government of Zanzibar or a District Council or Urban
Authority, and also any person exercising any power or authority on behalf
of the Government or local government authority;
“Local Government Authorities” means the local government authorities
established under Article 145 of this Constitution for the purposes of
exercising the people’s power;
“Mainland Tanzania” means the whole of the territory of the United Republic
which formerly was the territory of the Republic of Tanganyika;
“Tanzania Zanzibar” means the whole of the territory of the United Republic
which formerly was the territory of the People’s Republic of Zanzibar and
which was previously referred to as “Tanzania Visiwani”;
“General Elections” or “people elections” means an election of a President and of
the Members of Parliament representing electoral constituencies, which is
held subsequent to the dissolution of Parliament;
“Ujamaa” or “Ujamaa and Self Reliance” means the society’s life principles for
building a Nation that observes democracy, self reliance, freedom,
equality, fraternity and unity of the peoples of the United Republic;
“Minister” means a Member of Parliament appointed to the office of Minister,
except Deputy Minister, and that definition shall also apply to the Vice-
President;
“Zanzibar” has the same meaning as Tanzania Zanzibar.
(2) The following rules shall be applied for the purpose of construing the
provisions of the Constitution, that is to say -
(a) whenever a reference is made to the function of the office of
President it shall be construed to include powers to perform various
duties and functions as the Head of the Government of the United
Republic, and also such other functions or duties if so provided in
this Constitution or in any other law that such other powers or
duties ate powers of the President;
(b) whenever reference is made to an office in the service of the
Government it shall be construed that the office concerned is
within the service of the Government of the United Republic unless
it is stated otherwise and whenever reference is made to the
Government’s department, it shall be construed that the department
concerned is a department of the Government of the United
Republic unless it is stated otherwise ;
(c) if pursuant to the provisions of this Constitution there is any matter
required to be performed or to be dealt with by any political party,
then that matter shall be performed or dealt with by that party in
accordance with the procedure laid down by that party for that
purpose, and also in conformity with the provisions of this
Constitution or any law enacted by Parliament for that purpose;
(d) for the purposes of this Constitution, a person shall not be deemed
to hold office in the service of the Government of the United
Republic by reason only that he is receiving pension or other
payment of that kind in respect of his past service in the
Government of the United Republic or in any former Government
of Mainland Tanzania or in the Armed Forces or the Police Force
of the Government of the United Republic or former Government
of Mainland Tanzania or of Zanzibar;
(e) in this Constitution, unless the context requires otherwise,
whenever reference is made to the holder of a certain office by
reference to the designation of his office such reference shall be
construed to include any person who is acting in, or who has been
duly appointed to perform the functions of that office;
(f) in this Constitution wherever there is a reference to the power to
remove the holder of an office in the service of the Government of
the United Republic, it shall be construed that the power concerned
includes the power conferred in accordance with the provisions of
any law which requires or permits that person to retire:
Provided that the provisions of this rule shall not be
construed as conferring power on any person to require a Justice of
the Court of Appeal, a Judge of the High Court or the Controller
and Auditor-General to retire from office; and
(g) in this Constitution, wherever there is reference to a law which
replaces or repeals another law, it shall be construed that the law
concerned includes a law which amends that other law or which
extends the application of that other law whether with or without
modification or amendment, or a law which introduces new
provisions in another law.
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Constitution of the United Republic of Tanzania, 1977 · oagmis.oag.go.tz · Retrieved 18 August 2026.
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