Tanzania

Article 5, subsection 2 states:

Parliament may enact a law imposing conditions restricting a citizen from exercising the right to vote by reason of any of the following grounds:…

• (b) being mentally infirm…

Article 37, subsection 2 states:

Where the Cabinet finds that the President is unable to discharge the functions of his office by reason of physical or mental infirmity, it may submit to the Chief Justice a resolution requesting him to certify that the President, by reason of physical or mental infirmity, is unable to discharge the functions of his office. Upon receiving such a resolution, the Chief Justice shall appoint a medical board of not less than three persons from amongst experts recognized as such by the law governing medical practitioners in Tanzania and such board shall inquire into the issue and advise the chief Justice accordingly, and he may, after considering the medical evidence, present to the Speaker a certificate certifying that the President…is unable to discharge the functions of his office; and if the Chief Justice does not rescind that certificate within seven days for the reason that the President’s condition has improved and he has resumed work, then it shall be deemed that the office of the President is vacant…

Article 37, subsection 5 states:

Where the office of President becomes vacant by reason of death, resignation, loss of electoral qualifications or inability to perform his functions due to physical infirmity…then the Vice-President shall be sworn in and become the President…

Article 67 states:

(1) Subject to the provisions contained in this Article, a person shall be qualified for election or appointment as a member of the National Assembly if he (a) is a citizen of the United Republic who has attained the age of twenty-one years and who can read and write in Kiswahili or English…

(2) A person shall not be qualified to be elected or appointed Member of Parliament if--…

• (b) in accordance with a law applicable in the United Republic it has been formally certified that such person is of unsound mind…

Article 74, subsection 5 states:

The President may remove a member of the electoral Commission from office only for failing to discharge the functions either due to illness or any other reason or due to misconduct or loss of the qualifications for being a member.

Article 104, subsection 2 states:

Subject to the other provisions of this Constitution, the office of the Head of the Revolutionary Government of Zanzibar shall be vacant, and the election of the Head of the Revolutionary Government of Zanzibar shall be held to fill the vacancy upon the occurrence of any of the following events:… (e) the certification pursuant to the Constitution of Zanzibar, 1984, that the Head of the Revolutionary Government of Zanzibar is unable to discharge his duties and functions…

Article 109 states:

…(9) In the event that the office of Principal Judge falls vacant or that the Principal Judge is for any reason unable to perform the functions of his office, then, those functions shall be performed by one of the Judges who shall be appointed by the President for that purpose and that Judge so appointed shall perform those functions until a new Principal Judge is appointed and assumes the office of Principal Judge or until the Principal Judge who was unable to perform his functions resumes office.

(10) In the event that the office of any Judge falls vacant or that any Judge is appointed Acting Principal Judge or is for any reason unable to perform the functions of his office, or if the Chief Justice advises the President that the state of business then obtaining in the High Court requires the appointment of an Acting judge, the President may, after consulting the Chief Justice in the usual manner, appoint an Acting Judge from amongst persons holding the special qualifications…

Section 110A states:

(2) A Judge of the High Court may be removed from office only for inability to perform the functions of his office (either due to illness or to any other reason) or for behaviour inconsistent with the ethics of office of Judge or with the law concerning the ethics of public leaders and he shall not be so removed except in accordance with the provisions of subarticle (4) of this Article.

(3) Where the President considers that the question of the removal of a Judge from office needs to be investigated, then the procedure shall be as follows:

• (a) the President shall, after consultation with the Chief Justice, suspend that Judge from office;
• (b) the President shall appoint a Tribunal which shall consist of a Chairman and not less than two other members. The Chairman and with at least half of other members of the Special Tribunal must be persons who are judges of the High Court or Justices of Appeal in any country within the Commonwealth;
• (c) the Tribunal shall investigate the matter and make a report to the President, advising on the whole matter, and shall advise him whether or not the Judge concerned should be removed from office in accordance with the provisions of this Article on the grounds of inability to perform his functions due to illness or any other reason or on grounds of misbehaviour.

(4) If the Tribunal appointed…advises the President that the Judge on the subject of investigation by the Special Tribunal be removed from office on grounds of inability to perform functions due to illness or any other reason or on grounds of misbehaviour, then the President shall remove the Judge from office and employment of that Judge shall cease.

(5) If the question of removing a Judge from office has been referred to a Tribunal for investigation pursuant to the provisions of subarticle (3) of this Article, the President may suspend the Judge concerned from duty, and the President may at any time rescind the decision to suspend such Judge, and in any case such decision shall lapse if the Tribunal advises the President that the Judge be not removed from office….

Article 118 states:

...(2) The Chief Justice shall be appointed by the President from amongst persons who possess qualifications to be appointed as a Justice of Appeal and shall be the Head of the Court of Appeal and of the Judiciary as defined in Article 116 of this Constitution and shall hold the office of a Chief Justice until he attains the retirement age of the Justice of Appeal, except if

• (a) he resigns;
• (b) his office becomes vacant on grounds of illness or death; or
• (c) he is removed from the post of the Chief Justice by President.

(3) The other Justices of Appeal shall be appointed by the President after consultation with the Chief Justice, from amongst persons who qualify to be appointed Judges of the High Court of the United Republic as provided for in Article 109 of this Constitution, or from amongst persons who qualify to be appointed Judges of the High Court of Zanzibar in accordance with the laws applicable in Zanzibar and have possessed such qualifications for a period of not less than fifteen years.

(4) Whenever

• (a) the office of Chief Justice is vacant,
• (b) the Chief Justice is absent from Tanzania; or
• (c) the Chief Justice, for any reason, fails to discharge his duties, and if, in the duration of any of these three events the President considers it appropriate to appoint an Acting Chief Justice, then the President may appoint an Acting Chief Justice from among Justices of Appeal.

(5) The Acting Justice of Appeal shall perform the duties of the Chief Justice until another Chief Justice is appointed or until the Chief Justice who was absent from Tanzania or was unable to discharge his duties resumes duty.

(6) In the event that an office of Justice of Appeal is vacant or that any Justice of Appeal is appointed Acting Chief Justice or if the Justice of Appeal is for any reason unable to perform the functions of his office, or if the Chief Justice advises the President that the State of business then obtaining in the Court of Appeal requires the appointment of an Acting Justice of Appeal, then the President may, after consultation with the Chief Justice, appoint an Acting Justice of Appeal from amongst persons holding qualifications for appointment as Justice of Appeal in accordance with the provisions of subarticle (4) of this Article…

Article 120A, subsection 2 states:

A Justice of Appeal may be removed from office of a Justice of Appeal for reason of inability to perform the functions of his office (either due to illness or to any other reason) or for misbehaviour and shall not be removed from office except in accordance with procedural provisions similar to those prescribed for removal from office of the Judge of the High Court as stipulated in subarticle (2) and (3) of Article 110A of this Constitution, and for that purpose the provisions of subarticle (4) of Article 110A shall apply to the Justice of Appeal in the same manner as applied to the Judge of the High Court.

Article 127, subsection 3 states:

A person may be appointed a member of the Special Constitutional Court either for purposes of determining one or two or more disputes should they arise. A member shall continue to execute his duties as a member of the Special Constitutional Court until the determination of the dispute in relation to which he is appointed or his appointment is revoked or until he fails to perform his duties as a member due to illness or any other reason.

Article 129, subsection 7 states:

A Commissioner or Assistant Commissioner may only be removed from office for reasons of failure to discharge his duties or due to illness or any other reason, or for reason of his misconduct that affects code of conduct for Commissioner.

Article 144 states:

(2) The Controller and Auditor-General may be removed from office only for inability to perform the functions of his office (either due to illness or to any other reason) or for misbehaviour or for violating the provisions of the law concerning the ethics of public leaders and shall not be so removed except in accordance with the provisions of subarticle (4) of this Article.

(3) If the President considers that the question of the removal of the Controller and Auditor-General from office under the provisions of this Article needs to be investigated, then the procedure shall be as follows:

• (a) the President shall appoint a Special Tribunal which shall consist of a Chairman and not less than two other members. The Chairman and at least half of the other members of that Special Tribunal shall be persons who are or have been Judges of the High Court or of the Court of Appeal in any country within the Commonwealth; and
• (b) the Special Tribunal shall investigate and submit report to the President on whole matter and shall advise him whether or not the Controller and Auditor General should be removed from office in accordance with the provisions of this Article on the grounds of inability to perform his functions due to illness or any other reason or on grounds of misbehaviour.

(4) If the Special Tribunal appointed in accordance with the provisions of subarticle (3) advises the President that the Controller and Auditor-General be removed from office on grounds of inability to perform functions of his office due to illness or any other reason or on grounds of misbehaviour, then the President shall remove him from office…

Excerpts from the Constitution of the United Republic of Tanzania (1977, last amended 2005)

Article 61, section 3 states:

The voting at an election shall be conducted in the following manner…

• (b) if a voter is incapacitated by blindness or other physical cause or is unable to read, he may ask a person of his own choice other than the presiding officer, a polling assistant or a polling agent, to assist such an incapacitated person to record his vote….and a person chosen under this paragraph shall assist not more than one voter: Provided that- Where in a household there is more than one person who requires assistance under this paragraph, it shall be lawful for such members of the household to choose one person to assist them…
  • (i) if a voter is illiterate or does not understand how to record his vote the presiding officer may, in the presence of the polling agent, explain to the voter the procedure…

Excerpt from the National Elections Act (2010)