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THE REPUBLIC OF TANZANIA

IN THE HIGH COURT OF TANZANIA AT DODOMA

CIVIL CASE NO. 5 OF 1993

REV. CHRISTOPHER MTIKILA .................... PLAINTIFF

VERSUS

THE ATTORNEY GENERAL..........................DEFENDANT

BEFORE: THE HON. MR. JUSTICE LUGAKINGIRA, J.

Civil Procedure : Public Interest litigation, cause of action, locus standi
Constitutional Law: Whether there is breach of fundamental human rights.
Whether the provisions in the laws stated are unconstitutional.

This Petition constituted several petitions in one which ranged from challenges to the validity of
diverse laws to the protection of the Constitution and legality. The petitioner, the Rev.
Christopher Mtikila, is a Human Rights campaigner-cum-political activist who brought this suit
against the Attorney General.

The petition originally raised many diverse issues, mainly involving political in flavor and
substance, and this prompted the defendant to raise a litany of preliminary objections which the
Court resolved in the early stages of the proceeding. The objectives were grounded in questions
of the petitioner’s locus standi, cause of action and justifiability of some of the issues.
At the end of the day a number of matters were struck out and new issues were framed, and these
included;

1. Whether the amendments to the Constitution were validly made and, if not, whether they
   can be declared void pursuant to the provisions of Art. 64(5).


2. Whether provisions of S. 8, 9, 10 and 15 of the Political Parties Act, 1992 (No. 5) which
   was enacted pursuant to the amendment to Art. 20 inhibit the formation of political
   parties.


3. Whether Sections 5 (2), 13, 25, and 37- 47 of the Newspapers Act, 1976 (No. 3), infringe
   the freedom of expression which is guaranteed under the Constitution.


4. The fourth issue deals with the freedom of peaceful assembly and public expression and
   questions the constitutionality of S. 4, 41, 42 and 43 of the Police Force Ordinance, Cap.
   322,as well as s. 11 (1) and (2) of the Political Parties Act.

HELD:

1. In this petition the dispute is over the validity of various laws and this, in my view,
   constitutes the necessary cause of action.


2. The court as guardian and trustee of the constitution and what it stands for, is under an
   obligation to rise up to the occasion and grant a public spirited individual seeking its
   intervention standing.