National Assembly | |
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12th Parliament | |
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Type | |
Type | |
History | |
Founded | 1 January 1962 |
New session started | November 2020 |
Leadership | |
Structure | |
Seats | 393 |
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Political groups | Government (365)
Opposition (27) Other (1)
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Length of term | 5 years |
Elections | |
Parallel voting:
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Last election | 28 October 2020 |
Next election | 2025 |
Meeting place | |
Parliament House Dodoma, Tanzania | |
Website | |
Parliament website |
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The National Assembly of Tanzania (Swahili : Bunge la Tanzania) and the President of Tanzania of the United Republic make up the Parliament of Tanzania. [2] The current Speaker of the National Assembly is Tulia Ackson, who presides over a unicameral assembly of 393 members. [3]
The National Assembly of Tanzania was formed as the Legislative Council of Tanzania Mainland – then known as Tanganyika – in 1926. The Council was formed under a law enacted by the British Parliament called the Tanganyika Legislative Council Order and Council. The law was gazetted in Tanganyika on 18 June 1926. The Council consisted of 20 members when it was formed on 7 December 1926 under the Chairmanship of the Governor of Tanganyika, Sir Donald Cameron.
The first Speaker was appointed to replace the Governor as the Chairman of the Council in 1953. The office of Speaker was first occupied on 1 November 1953.
In 1958, the Council got a few elected representatives for the first time. This was the first election allowed in the colony. Of the three political parties which participated in the elections, namely Tanganyika African Union (TANU), United Tanganyika Party (UTP) and African National Congress (ANC), only TANU won in some constituencies, thus becoming the first party to have elected members on the Council.
Second elections for positions on the Council were held in 1960. These elections were part of the preparations being made to make Tanganyika an independent nation. All members appointed by the Governor were abolished and the people of Tanganyika were allowed to elect all members of the Council.
In the same year, the name of the Council was changed to Legislative Assembly. The changes made in this year were constitutionally necessary so as to allow the President of Tanganyika to give assent to all laws passed instead of the Queen of the United Kingdom. [4]
The Parliament – the National Assembly and the President of the United Republic – obtains its mandate and functions from Chapter 3 of the Constitution of the United Republic of Tanzania. The Constitution contains Articles that grant for the establishment, composition and functions of the Parliament. [5]
The Parliament has powers to deal with both Union and non-Union issues which are not in the scope of the Zanzibar Government. It is responsible for discussing bills and passing laws. It also scrutinizes the actions of the Executive arm of the Government. [6]
Article 66 of the Constitution of Tanzania outlines the following categories of members: [3]
Type | No. of members |
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Elected from constituencies | 264 |
Special seats reserved for women | 113 |
Zanzibar House of Representatives | 5 |
Attorney General (Ex officio member) | 1 |
Nominated by the President | 10 |
Total | 393 |
Tanzania, officially the United Republic of Tanzania, is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It is bordered by Uganda to the northwest; Kenya to the northeast; the Indian Ocean to the east; Mozambique and Malawi to the south; Zambia to the southwest; and Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west. Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa's highest mountain, is in northeastern Tanzania. According to the 2022 national census, Tanzania has a population of nearly 62 million, making it the most populous country located entirely south of the equator.
The modern-day African Great Lakes state of Tanzania dates formally from 1964, when it was formed out of the union of the much larger mainland territory of Tanganyika and the coastal archipelago of Zanzibar. The former was a colony and part of German East Africa from the 1880s to 1919 when, under the League of Nations, it became a British mandate. It served as a British military outpost during World War II, providing financial help, munitions, and soldiers. In 1947, Tanganyika became a United Nations Trust Territory under British administration, a status it kept until its independence in 1961. The island of Zanzibar thrived as a trading hub, successively controlled by the Portuguese, the Sultanate of Oman, and then as a British protectorate by the end of the nineteenth century.
The politics of Tanzania takes place in a framework of a unitary presidential democratic republic, whereby the President of Tanzania is both head of state and head of government, and of a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and parliament. The party system is dominated by the Chama Cha Mapinduzi. The Judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature.
Tanganyika was a sovereign state, comprising the mainland part of present-day Tanzania, that existed from 1961 until 1964. It first gained independence from the United Kingdom on 9 December 1961 as a Commonwealth realm headed by Queen Elizabeth II before becoming a republic within the Commonwealth of Nations a year later. After signing the Articles of Union on 22 April 1964 and passing an Act of Union on 25 April, Tanganyika officially joined with the People's Republic of Zanzibar to form the United Republic of Tanganyika and Zanzibar on Union Day, 26 April 1964. The new state changed its name to the United Republic of Tanzania within a year.
The flag of Tanzania consists of a Gold-edged black diagonal band, divided diagonally from the lower hoist-side corner, with a green upper triangle and light blue lower triangle. Adopted in 1964 to replace the individual flags of Tanganyika and Zanzibar, it has been the flag of the United Republic of Tanzania since the two states merged that year. The design of the present flag incorporates the elements from the two former flags. It is one of a relatively small number of national flags incorporating a diagonal line, with other examples including the DR Congo, Republic of the Congo, Namibia, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Trinidad and Tobago and Brunei.
The Zanzibar House of Representatives is the unicameral, subnational legislature of the autonomous islands of Zanzibar in Tanzania.
The trade unions of Tanzania have a total membership of approximately 370,000. 350,000 of these belong to the Trade Union Congress of Tanzania, another 15,000 to the Zanzibar Trade Union Congress, and 2,400 are members of the Tanzania Fishing Crew and Allied Workers’ Union.
Tanganyika was a colonial territory in East Africa which was administered by the United Kingdom in various guises from 1916 until 1961. It was initially administered under a military occupation regime. From 20 July 1922, it was formalised into a League of Nations mandate under British rule. From 1946, it was administered by the UK as a United Nations trust territory.
General elections were held in Tanganyika in September 1958 and February 1959. Elections were held in five constituencies on 8 and 12 September 1958, and in the other five on 9 and 15 February 1959. The Tanganyika African National Union (TANU) and affiliated independents won all 30 elected seats in the Legislative Council.
General elections were held for the first time in the newly formed Union of Tanzania in September 1965. The country had also just become a one-party state, with the Tanganyika African National Union as the sole legal party on the mainland, and the Afro-Shirazi Party was the only party in Zanzibar. For the National Assembly election there were two candidates from the same party in each constituency, whilst the presidential election was effectively a referendum on TANU leader Julius Nyerere's candidacy.
The Constitution of the United Republic of Tanzania, also known as the Permanent Constitution, was ratified in 16 March 1977. Before the current establishment, Tanzania has had three constitutions: the Independence Constitution (1961), the Republican Constitution (1962), and the Interim Constitution of the United Republic of Tanganyika and Zanzibar (1964).
The Articles of Union of Tanganyika and Zanzibar of 1964 is the main foundation of the Constitutions of the United Republic of Tanzania of 1977 and the Zanzibar Revolutionary Government of 1984. The Articles of the Union were signed on April 22, 1964, by the Founders of the Union, Julius Nyerere and Abeid Amani Karume and agreed in 11 matters which later increased to over 22 and are the source of tension and dispute between mainland Tanzania mainland and Zanzibar. See Uamsho movement. The original Articles of Union which contain both Signatures from Nyerere and Karume are yet to be found.
Elizabeth II was Queen of Tanganyika from 1961 to 1962, when Tanganyika was an independent sovereign state and a constitutional monarchy. She was also the monarch of other sovereign states, including the United Kingdom. Her constitutional roles in Tanganyika were mostly delegated to the governor-general of Tanganyika.
The Chama Cha Mapinduzi is the dominant ruling party in Tanzania and the second longest-ruling party in Africa, only after the True Whig Party of Liberia. It was formed in 1977, following the merger of the Tanganyika African National Union (TANU) and the Afro-Shirazi Party (ASP), which were the sole operating parties in mainland Tanzania and the semi-autonomous islands of Zanzibar, respectively.
Kingunge Ngombale–Mwiru was a long-term Tanzanian politician.
Mainland Tanzania refers to the part of Tanzania on the continent of Africa; excluding the islands of Zanzibar. It corresponds with the area of the former country of Tanganyika.
Zanzibari independence is a political ambition of some political parties, advocacy groups, and individuals of Zanzibar, a semi-autonomous region territory within Tanzania, to become an independent sovereign state.