African Court invalidates Article 41(7) of the Tanzania Constitution which ousts complaints against elected presidential candidate

The African Court has on Wednesday, July 15, 2020, delivered a decision in favour of the applicant in the application No. 018/2018 (JEBRA KAMBOLE V. UNITED REPUBLIC OF TANZANIA). The court has declared that article 41(7) of the Tanzania Constitution ousts the jurisdiction of courts to consider any complaint concerning the election of a presidential candidate after the Electoral Commission has declared a winner. Similarly, the court has found Article 41(7) of the Tanzania Constitution infringing on the citizens’ right to access to justice and discriminate them from the right to equitable judicial remedy which according to the African court is unjustifiable and unnecessary in the democratic state.

The African Court asserted that Article 41(7) violates article 2 and 7 of the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights. As part of reparations, the African court has ordered the Government of the United Republic of Tanzania to amend Article 41(7) in alignment with the provisions of the Charter. The Court has also ordered Tanzania to submit a report within twelve (12) months of the judgment, on the measures taken to implement the terms of the judgment and to submit further reports every six (6) months thereafter until the Court is satisfied that there has been full implementation.

Article 41(7) of the United Republic of Tanzania states that;

“When a candidate is declared by the Electoral Commission to have been duly elected in accordance with this Article, then no court of law shall have any jurisdiction to inquire into the election of that candidate.”

 

Read the summary of the judgement here.

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