New TLS president to push for digital transformation

Arusha. The newly-elected president of the Tanganyika Law Society (TLS), Mr Harold Sungusia, took office over the weekend with major tasks facing him.

Among these are massive digitisation of the bar association’s programmes as well as seeking investors for its numerous projects.

TLS will also wage war against advocates who operated without due registration or licensing commonly known as ‘vishoka’. “We will also be serious on revenue collection to facilitate implementation of our activities,” he said. Mr Sungusia made the pledge at the Arusha International Conference Centre (AICC) after he was declared winner of the presidential race. He won overwhelmingly, garnering 748 votes against his competitor advocate Reginald Shirima who managed only 77 votes. A total of 825 votes were cast during the elections of the top leadership of the premier bar association with none spoilt. Mr Sungusia took over from Prof Edward Hoseah, who served as TLS President for the mandatory two years from 2021. He said fake advocates who continue to operate were tarnishing the image of the legal profession, hitherto generally respected.

While digitisation will enable TLS to move on with advanced technologies, new revenue sources will enable it to turn around financially. The major sources of revenue for the bar association include fees paid by its members and for commissioned jobs.

The government through the Constitution and Legal Affairs ministry will from next financial year allocate expenditure funds to the TLS. The budgetary support to the legal body is not seen to be something entirely new as other ministries do the same for the professional bodies under them.

However, in recent years TLS have invested in rented buildings, including the Wakil House in Dar es Salaam part of which is rented out. Currently, the association is planning major housing investments in Dodoma, the new capital, and Arusha. Already it has secured 9,236 square metres of land at Mitumba area in Dodoma where government buildings are being put up.

The plot will host one of the major investment projects for TLS, given the pace of development of Dodoma as the capital city.

TLS is also looking for land in Arusha on which it will put up an investment building to cushion up its financial status. Mr Sungusia told fellow lawyers that his other priority as the President of the bar association will be to push for the new Constitution.

The other elected leaders included Ms Asha Sinda who was picked the Vice President while Christopher Mageka was elected unopposed as the treasurer. When he opened the TLS annual general conference last Thursday, the Vice President Phillip Mpango warned the association not lean on some political parties.”TLS should not be turned into a platform for some political parties. It should remain impartial”, he stressed.

He said TLS has been invited in a process to revive the stalled Constitution making process because it expects it to remain impartial.

Instead, he urged the new leaders to focus on “the delivery of justice”. TLS recently presented to the government a report on the laws deemed to be discriminatory and which have to be scrapped.