Makulilo, Alexander B.
Description:
Independent candidates are not allowed in Tanzania. This
restriction has raised debate which dominates multipartism and
its efficacy in the country. Since the inception of multipartism in
1992, there have been three major cases on independent
candidates. In the first two cases, the High Court ruled in favour
of independent candidate. However, in the third case, the Court
of Appeal, while subscribing to the need of independent
candidates, it nullified the previous judgments by the High Court
on the ground that the court had no jurisdiction in declaring a
constitutional provision to be unconstitutional; and that the
independent candidate issue being political and not legal should
be resolved by the parliament. I argue that the Court of Appeal
failed to exercise its mandate in administering justice. I further
argue that such failure is attributed to the fear by the justices
from the ruling party and its government.