The East African Court of Justice (EACJ) has declined to halt enforcement of disputed provisions of the Tanzania Political Parties (Amendment) Act, 2019, as petitioned by leaders of opposition parties.
Five opposition party leaders wanted the regional court to stop the Tanzania government from implementing disputed provisions of the Act, pending determination on their compliance with the East African Community Treaty.
The court agrees with counsel representing the Tanzanian government that halting the Act would hold back civic education for political parties.
The opposition leaders in their temporary Application No 3 of 2019 seeking the regional court’s orders to stop enforcing provisions of the Act pending decision of their main Application No 2 of 2019.
In the main Application, the opposition leaders maintain that the Act violates human rights contrary to the Tanzania Constitution, the EAC Treaty, Leadership Ethics, the Universal Human Rights Declaration and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights.
