Acting Minister in the Office of the First Vice President, Mr Shariff Ali Shariff, responds to questions in the House of Representatives. PHOTO|JESSE MIKOFU
Unguja. The Zanzibar Revolutionary Government has acknowledged a long-standing gap arising from the absence of a dedicated law governing the entire budget cycle.
Such a law, among other things, would define and clarify the roles and limits of key actors, including the House of Representatives Budget Committee and other stakeholders involved in public finance management.
This was revealed on Thursday, June 18, 2026, by the Minister of Finance and Planning, Dr Juma Malik Akil, when responding to a question from Paje Representative, Mr Jaku Hashim Ayoub, CCM, who had sought to know why the legislation had not yet been enacted.
Mr Ayoub said the absence of a specific budget law made it difficult for actors in the budget cycle to clearly define their roles, responsibilities, and limits, particularly the Budget Committee of the House of Representatives and other stakeholders.
“Since many parliaments have a budget law that clearly sets out how the budget cycle is managed, what are the fundamental reasons why such a law has not been enacted in our House of Representatives?” he asked.
In response, Dr Malik said the ministry was conducting a comprehensive review to develop an appropriate legal framework by identifying gaps in the Public Finance Management Act No. 12 of 2016.
He said the process involved internal ministerial reviews, stakeholder consultations, and an examination of existing public finance management laws and budget legislation in the East African region to ensure the proposed law adequately addresses existing gaps.
However, he noted that despite the absence of a standalone budget law, the government continues to implement the budget cycle using the Zanzibar Constitution, the Public Finance Management Act No. 12 of 2016.
He said the Act contains more than 16 provisions that establish the legal framework for budget management, alongside the 2021 Financial Regulations.
The matter was also raised by Pandani Representative, Prof Omar Fakih Hamad, ACT-Wazalendo, who said Zanzibar should already have a dedicated budget law, noting that lawmakers have repeatedly been told the legislation is “on the way.”
