Tanzania
2026
- GOVERNMENT
- presidential republic
- CONSTITUTION
- April 25, 1977, amended in October 1984
- LEGAL SYSTEM
- based on English common law; partial revision of legislative acts by the judiciary
- LEGISLATIVE SYSTEM
- unicameral, National Assembly (Bunge)
- JUDICIAL SYSTEM
- Permanent Investigation Commission; Court of Appeal and High Court, district courts, primary courts
RELIGIONS
30% Catholics, 35% Muslims, 35% indigenous beliefs (Zanzibar, over 99% Muslims)
From the country
FEBRUARY 9, 2025TanzaniaDEATH PENALTYAFRICAN COURT ORDERS TANZANIA TO END MANDATORY DEATH PENALTY
The African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights has ruled against Tanzania’s mandatory imposition of the death penalty, calling it a violation of fundamental human rights.
DECEMBER 25, 2024TanzaniaDEATH PENALTYTANZANIA: TRIO SENTENCED TO DEATH IN KAGERA DURING 2024
Three people have been sentenced to death by hanging in Kagera region, Tanzania, during 2024 after they were convicted of murder.
JUNE 10, 2024TanzaniaDEATH PENALTYAFRICAN COURT GIVES TANZANIA SIX MONTHS ULTIMATUM TO SCRAP DEATH PENALTY
The African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights has reiterated its longstanding order to Tanzania to revoke the death penalty in line with the continental charter on the right to life, The East African reported on June 6, 2024.
APRIL 4, 2024TanzaniaDEATH PENALTYTANZANIA: SIX COMMUNITY PATROL GUARDS SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR MURDER
A court in Babati on March 5, 2024 sentenced six members of a community patrol, known as ‘Sungusungu’, to death for the brutal murder of a man they accused of cattle theft.
FEBRUARY 12, 2024TanzaniaDEATH PENALTYTANZANIA: MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH OVER MURDER
The High Court of Kigoma on February 2, 2024 sentenced Kigoma Ujiji municipal resident Peter Mwandelema to be hanged to death after being found guilty of intentionally killing seven people of the same family in 2022.
DECEMBER 21, 2023TanzaniaDEATH PENALTYTANZANIA: SIX PEOPLE SENTENCED TO DEATH OVER CHURCH BOMBING
Six people found guilty of bombing a Catholic church in Arusha, northwestern Tanzania in 2013 have been sentenced to death.
OCTOBER 15, 2023TanzaniaDEATH PENALTYTANZANIA: GOVT CONTEMPLATES ABOLISHING CAPITAL PUNISHMENT
The Tanzanian government is contemplating on coming up with an alternative to capital punishment, after considering views from various stakeholders, majority of them considering it as inhumane in nature.
DECEMBER 6, 2022TanzaniaDEATH PENALTYTANZANIA: ELEVEN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR KILLING CONSERVATIONIST
A court in Tanzania on 2 December 2022 sentenced 11 people to death over the 2017 murder of renowned anti-poaching activist Wayne Lotter.
OCTOBER 11, 2022TanzaniaDEATH PENALTYTANZANIA: TAMCODE RECOMMENDS ABOLITION OF MANDATORY DEATH PENALTY
The Tanzania Media for Community Development (TAMCODE) has recommended amendment of the Penal Code to give judges the discretion to hand over life imprisonment sentences instead of the death penalty in capital offences.
- SEPTEMBER 30, 2021TanzaniaDEATH PENALTY
TANZANIA: TRIO SENTENCED TO DEATH IN MURDER CASE
Three people have been sentenced to death after they were found guilty of killing four people, Daily News reported on 29 September 2021.
DECEMBER 28, 2020TanzaniaDEATH PENALTYTANZANIA: FOUR GET DEATH PENALTY FOR KILLING CHADEMA OFFICIAL
Four people charged in Tanzania with the murder of former Chadema Geita regional chairman Alphonce Mawazo were on 24 December 2020 given death sentence after the High Court found them guilty.
DECEMBER 10, 2020TanzaniaDEATH PENALTYTANZANIA: DEATH SENTENCES OF 256 CONVICTS COMMUTED
Tanzania’s president on 9 December 2020 commuted the sentences of 256 convicts on death row, marking a first for a country that has not executed anyone in nearly three decades.