Parliamentary Supremacy in Tanzania: Rhetoric and Reality

Journal of Education, Humanities and Sciences, Volume 1, No. 1, 2012: 38-56
Parliamentary Supremacy in Tanzania:
Rhetoric and Reality
Frank J. Mateng’e*
Abstract
This paper interrogates the theory and practice of parliamentary supremacy in
Tanzania. We examine the assertion that, on becoming independent, Tanzania
inherited the doctrine of parliamentary supremacy enshrined in the Westminster
model. Using a historical approach, the paper analyzes the relationship between the
legislature and the executive branch of government from 1926 to 2010, and concludes
that the notion of parliamentary supremacy in Tanzania has remained more rhetorical.
In theory the parliament is supreme, but at the level of practice its role has mainly
been confined to the law-making and advisory functions with limited scope for the
exercise of the oversight role. The paper identifies four factors that have tended to
undermine the parliament’s sovereignty and its oversight role: the colonial legacy, i.e.,
the institutional framework that this legacy bequeathed; the composition of the
parliament; the personality of institutional leadership; and the factor of executive
defiance. The paper contends that unless the provisions of Articles 55(4), 62(1) and
67(1)(b) are revised to undo the present fusion of the executive branch of government
and the parliament as well as invalidate the powers solely granted to political parties to
determine who should or should not contest elections, these will continue to undermine
not only the ability of the parliament to oversee the executive branch, but also the
principle of separation of powers.
Keywords: parliamentary supremacy, parliamentary oversight, constitution, intra-party
conflicts, Westminster model, Tanzania.