The Attorney General of Tanzania is the legal adviser to the

Government of Tanzania The politics of Tanzania takes place in a framework of a unitary state, unitary presidential system, presidential Democracy, democratic republic, whereby the President of Tanzania is both head of state and head of government, and of a multi-party ...

and serves concurrently as an

ex officio member An ''ex officio'' member is a member of a body (notably a board, committee, or council) who is part of it by virtue of holding another office. The term ''ex officio'' is Latin, meaning literally 'from the office', and the sense intended is 'by ri ...

of the

Cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filin ...

and

Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

History

The National Archives UK - CO 1069-166-13

English barrister Roland Brown succeeded J. S. R. Cole to serve as the first Attorney General of independent Tanganyika from 1961 to 1964; and as the first Attorney General of

Tanzania Tanzania, officially the United Republic of Tanzania, is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It is bordered by Uganda to the northwest; Kenya to the northeast; the Indian Ocean to the east; Mozambique and Malawi to t ...

following the merger of Tanganyika with the

People's Republic of Zanzibar The People's Republic of Zanzibar () was a short-lived African state founded in 1964, consisting of the islands of the Zanzibar Archipelago. It existed for less than six months before it merged with Tanganyika to create the "United Republic of T ...

Joseph Warioba Joseph Sinde Warioba (born September 3, 1940) served as Prime Minister of Tanzania from 1985 to 1990. Furthermore, he served concurrently as the country's Vice President. He has also served as a judge on the East African Court of Justice, and a ...

concurrently served as

Minister for Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice, is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...

between 1983 and 1985; as did his successor Damian Lubuva during his tenure.

List of attorneys general

Controversies

Andrew Chenge was criticised for his advice to the government which led to the approval of the purchase of an overpriced $40 million

radar Radar is a system that uses radio waves to determine the distance ('' ranging''), direction ( azimuth and elevation angles), and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It is a radiodetermination method used to detect and track ...

from

BAE Systems BAE Systems plc is a British Multinational corporation, multinational Aerospace industry, aerospace, military technology, military and information security company, based in London. It is the largest manufacturer in Britain as of 2017. It is ...

. His lawyers admitted that he had given legal advice on some aspects of the deal but did not promote it. In April 2008, Chenge resigned as Infrastructure Minister following the discovery of more than $1 million in an

offshore account An offshore bank is a bank that is operated and regulated under international banking license (often called offshore license), which usually prohibits the bank from establishing any business activities in the jurisdiction of establishment. Due to ...

under his control in

Jersey Jersey ( ; ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey, is an autonomous and self-governing island territory of the British Islands. Although as a British Crown Dependency it is not a sovereign state, it has its own distinguishing civil and gov ...

. Chenge described the amount as "small change" (''vijisenti'' in

Swahili Swahili may refer to: * Swahili language, a Bantu language officially used in Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda and widely spoken in the African Great Lakes. * Swahili people, an ethnic group in East Africa. * Swahili culture, the culture of the Swahili p ...

) and denied receiving it as kickback from BAE Systems. The United Kingdom's Serious Fraud Office requested

mutual legal assistance A mutual legal assistance treaty (MLAT) is an agreement between two or more countries for the purpose of gathering and exchanging information in an effort to enforce public or criminal laws. A mutual legal assistance request is commonly used to fo ...

from Tanzania and requested that he be interviewed as a

suspect In law enforcement jargon, a suspect is a known person accused or suspected of committing a crime. Police and reporters in the United States often use the word suspect as a jargon when referring to the perpetrator of the offense (perp in dated U. ...

in a

criminal investigation Criminal investigation is an applied science that involves the study of facts that are then used to inform criminal trials. A complete criminal investigation can include Search and seizure, searching, interviews, interrogations, Evidence (law), ...

. However, investigations by Tanzania's Prevention and Combating of Corruption Bureau and the UK's Serious Fraud Office (SFO) concluded that Chenge was not related to the radar scam. In 2008, Johnson Mwanyika was accused of being one of the architects of the Richmond Scandal; a $172 million emergency power generating contract that was given to a U.S. based company that turned out to be a

shell corporation A shell corporation is a company or corporation with no significant assets or operations often formed to obtain financing before beginning business. Shell companies were primarily vehicles for lawfully hiding the identity of their beneficial ...

and failed to deliver the 100 MW to the national grid. This led to the resignation of Prime Minister

Edward Lowassa Edward Ngoyai Lowassa (26 August 1953 – 10 February 2024) was a Tanzanian politician who was Prime Minister of Tanzania from 2005 to 2008, serving under President Jakaya Kikwete.

and the dissolution of the

cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filin ...

. A Parliamentary Select Committee proposed that he be sacked with immediate effect for his failure to advise the government. In July 2009, a government report

exonerated Exoneration occurs when the conviction (law), conviction for a crime is reversed, either through demonstration of innocence, a flaw in the conviction, or otherwise. Attempts to exonerate individuals are particularly controversial in death penal ...

him and this was criticised by some Members of Parliament. His retirement in October 2009 coincided with the deliberations of the report. On 16 December 2014, Frederick Werema resigned after he was accused of authorizing the

fraud In law, fraud is intent (law), intentional deception to deprive a victim of a legal right or to gain from a victim unlawfully or unfairly. Fraud can violate Civil law (common law), civil law (e.g., a fraud victim may sue the fraud perpetrato ...

ulent transfer of about $120 million from a controversial

escrow An escrow is a contractual arrangement in which a third party (the stakeholder or escrow agent) receives and disburses money or property for the primary transacting parties, with the disbursement dependent on conditions agreed to by the transact ...

account. Werema stated that his advice had been misunderstood.

References

{{Attorneys General of Tanzania