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Who’s the next Chief Justice of Tanzania?
The current Chief Justice, Prof. Ibrahim Juma, has attained the retirement age of 65. PHOTO | COURTESY
What you need to know:
- With Prof Ibrahim Juma having attained the retirement age of 65, the focus is now on who President Samia Suluhu Hassan will appoint as the new head of the Judiciary, or whether she will opt to retain Prof Juma, who has served as Chief Justice since 2017
Dar es Salaam. Who will be Tanzania’s next Chief Justice (CJ)? That is the inevitable question after the incumbent, Prof Ibrahim Juma, attained the retirement age of 65.
Prof Juma – who has served as CJ since 2017 – was born on June 15, 1958, meaning that he clocked 65 last Thursday.
The appointment of the Chief Justice – who heads the Judiciary and the Court of Appeal – is made by the President as per Article 118 (2) of the Constitution of the United Republic of Tanzania.
The person to be appointed CJ must be a judge of the Court of Appeal.
The CJ holds office until he or she attains the retirement age of the Justice of Appeal, except if he or she resigns; the office becomes vacant on grounds of illness or death; or he or she is removed from the post of the Chief Justice by the President.
On that note, Article 120 says the retirement age of the Justice of Appeal – which also determines the end of the CJ’s tenure – is 65.
However there is an exception where the President directs that he should not vacate office, and if the President so directs, then the Justice to whom the directions of the President relate shall not vacate office until the expiry of the period specified by the President for that purpose, according to Article120 (2).
A legal expert and co-founder of the Lawyers Environmental Action Team (LEAT), Dr Rugemeleza Nshala, said, however, that there was no specific constitutional provisional that will allows the CJ’s tenure to be extended.
“The Constitution only specifies the exceptions under the Justice of Appeal who by the direction of the President can continue even after he or she reaches their retirement age,” he said.
“That means if he continues, he will remain the Justice of Appeal, which in my opinion, I don’t think that will be the case,” said Dr Nshala.
His views also align with the timeline of previous Chief Justices who retired at the age of 65.
Born in 1952, the previous Chief Justice, Mohammed Chande Othman, retired in 2017 at exactly 65 years of age. The same was for his predecessor the late Chief Justice Augustino Ramadhani, who was born in 1945 and retired in 2010.
But CJ Ramadhani’s predecessor, Retired Justice Barnabas Samatta, was in that office for two more years. Born in 1940, he was supposed to retire in 2005, but his tenure was extended and he retired on July 2007, aged 67 years.
A woman CJ?
With the ongoing debate for further women empowerment, there have been speculations that a woman could probably be picked to become the next CJ.
Prominent legal expert and human rights activist Dr Helen Kijo Bisimba said with President Samia Suluhu Hassan heading the executive branch and Dr Tulia Ackson in charge of the legislative branch, the potential appointment of a woman to lead the judiciary – for the first time in Tanzania’s history – could still remain.
“It will be the first female CJ and there are a number of qualified female candidates in the court of appeal who have the qualities and capacity to hold that office,” she said.
Last month, President Hassan appointed six new Justices of Appeal, three of whom were women.
These were Justice Zainab Muruke, Justice Leila Mgonya and Justice Agnes Mgeyekwa. The three men appointed alongside them were Justice Amour Said Khamis, Justice Gerson Mdemu and Justice Dr Benhaji Masoud.
Why the CJ matters
The appointment of a Chief Justice is a matter of utmost importance, as it sets the tone for the Judiciary’s functioning and influences the administration of justice across the nation.
President Hassan's commitment to reforming the legal and judiciary system is also a matter of consideration as the head of state has on many occasions wanted the justice system to align with her economic growth objectives.
Gracing the Law Day at Chinangali grounds in Dodoma, the President was quoted saying, “A slow judicial system does not suit our economy well. It adds up to the cost of doing business and affects the investment climate. We need to change,”
“Investors need a guarantee that their assets will be safe. It is therefore important to strengthen the country’s justice delivery system so that it can speedily resolve disputes to attract more businesses as well as investments into the country,” the President explained.
Some of the efforts made towards the judiciary reforms include the formation of a strong 11-man committee in January 2023 to assess the performance of the criminal justice institutions and provide recommendations by the end of last month May 30, 2023.
Those institutions that were put under review by the committee include the police force, National Prosecution Services (NPS), Prevention and Combating of Corruption Bureau (PCCB), Tanzania Prisons Services, and the Drug Control and Enforcement Authority (DCEA).
The committee, headed by retired Chief Justice Mohamed Othman also included two former Inspector General of Police of Tanzania (IGP) Ambassadors Ernest Jumbe Mangu and Saidi Ally Mwema, and other top legal veterans.
