Tanzania: Effects of Tanzania Sovereign Immunity On Government Contracting

There is scanty Tanzanian domestic legislation on the issue of sovereign immunity. Disputants have to cope to with a dearth of case law on the matter. In addition, Tanzania has also not signed the United Nations Convention on Jurisdictional Immunities of States and Their Property (2004) which addresses issues of sovereign immunity.

The Executive Agencies Act, Cap 245 ("the EAA"), which permits the creation of an agency capable of suing and being sued in its own name only in contract, does not grant such agencies absolute immunity from suit. Accordingly, in African Banking Corporation Tanzania Limited v Tanzania National Road Agency, Misc Commercial Application No. 235 of 2016, the court found that as the applicant's application for temporary injunction was not based on contract, the application was not properly filed against the respondent without joining the government and the Attorney General.

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