Tanzania

Six men, including three from the same family, have been convicted of terrorism by the high court in Tanzania and sentenced to a total of 50 years each. The prosecution said the six were members of a larger group that had met in the Tunduru district, as part of a conspiracy to start a religious war linked to Al-Shabaab. They planned to convince young people to join in the overthrow of the government and establish an Islamic state.

Training of judges and magistrates is an accepted tool to deal with built-in opinions and prejudices. In the same way, training can also be crucial in highlighting inaccurate preconceptions about gender issues. In her chapter forming part of the new work, Gender, Judging and the Courts in Africa, Juliana Masabo (a Tanzanian high court judge and former academic) takes readers through the difficulties in ensuring training for judges, magistrates and others who play a role in the court processes of Tanzania.

As local and international concern grows over the Tanzanian government’s handling of Covid-19, a major international law firm has written to the Commonwealth Secretariat, suggesting that the time had come to consider expelling Tanzania from the Commonwealth. International human rights specialist firm, Amsterdam & Partners, said this was because, due to the policies of its president, John Magufuli, Tanzania was not living up to its undertakings as a member of the Commonwealth.