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Mandatory retirement of directors at age 70

I have been a director of a company in Tanzania since I was 30 years. The appointment was made by the majority shareholder who was a friend of mine and I have been enjoying allowances for the past 40 years.

Confirmation of parentage of a child

I am facing a bizarre situation which is likely to take my happiness away. I had an affair with a woman for a long time, a result of which she became pregnant.

Government officials are always late

I have been to Tanzania five times in the past two years and every time I come visit a permanent secretary or deputies of Ministers we end up waiting for hours to see them.

Bad debt written off, why pay

I was offered an overdraft facility to the tune of Tshs 100 Million for a period of twelve months. I provided personal guarantee and in addition mortgaged my landed Plot in Mbezi area Dar es Salaam. Following business troubles that were beyond my control and which the bank knows about, I failed to service the loan and eventually the bank wrote off my loan account which now reads zero balance.

Surprisingly, the Bank’s lawyer has recently sent me a demand notice claiming for the outstanding principal sum and the accrued interest. Is this proper? I thought the loan was already written off and the bank understood my position that although I did not pay back the loan, it was unintentional. This is very unfair.  Please advice. KU, Dar

Your loan has been written off by the bank in line with BOT guidelines, regulations and best practice principles of banking. This does not mean that the loan is not to be repaid. The writing off is an accounting entry in the banks books so that the banks true financial position can be determined. If by writing off bank debts the borrower is absolved of his liability to pay, banks would be out of business by now and everyone would become a defaulter.

Not only is your thinking totally wrong but your mortgaged plot is at risk of being sold. Also remember that when you default, the longer you wait to clear your debt the more you will end up paying in interest, as penal interest kicks in for defaulters. Your lawyers can guide you further.

Wife says no to me

My wife is refusing to have sexual intercourse with me despite me having tried very hard. She does not give reasons. Can the Courts help me with this? How can I get the assistance of the laws in Tanzania? Is this not breach of the contract of marriage? MJ, Dar

We are not sure what you want the laws of Tanzania to help you with.

The laws provide for grounds for divorce and if your wife is refusing to cohabit with you, then that is a ground you can use amongst others. If your question is asking whether the Courts can grant you an order that your wife should start cohabiting with you, the answer is a straight no. You will be stretching the law too far and whilst it is true that she is in breach of her contract of marriage, no Court can order for specific performance as you seem to be hinting.You can also contact a marriage counselor who may be able to guide further.

Exemption on stamp duty

I executed a lease agreement in London for my fl at in Dar. Is stamp duty payable and by whom? What is the deadline for payment of such stamp duty and what if TRA delays the assessment of stamp duty if it is applicable? Can stamp duty be exempted in Tanzania? TE, Dar

Since the agreement is for a flat ie property situated in Tanzania, it does not matter where you execute it, stamp duty will still apply. According to the Stamp Duty Act, unless otherwise agreed upon by the parties, it is the tenant who is supposed to pay the stamp duty which is 1% of the annual rent.

As for when stamp duty is to be paid, the Act says that all chargeable instruments executed by any person in Tanzania Mainland shall be stamped within thirty days of execution: Provided that– (a) where any such instrument is brought to a proper officer for adjudication under section 42 of this Act within such thirty days, the period from the presentation of the instrument to the proper officer until the notification to the person who presented it of the decision of the proper officer, shall be excluded in computing the said period of thirty days; and (b) every receipt, acknowledgement of a debt, promissory note and bill of exchange shall be stamped on the date of execution or the date of the instrument, whichever shall be the earlier date.

From the above, if TRA delays in assessing stamp duty, and so long as you have filed for assessment within 30 days of execution, the time that TRA take in assessing is not to be calculated. In short, you must file for assessment within 30 days of execution otherwise you will be liable to a penalty. As for exemptions, the stamp duty act has a provision for the Minister to exempt stamp duty.

The said provision states that the Minister may, by notice in the Gazette, exempt any chargeable instrument, or any category, class or description of such instruments, from stamp duty. The provision also allows for retrospective stamp duty exemption by stating that where an order under subsection (1) is expressed to have retrospective effect, any instrument specified in the order or, as the case may be, any instrument of the category, class or description specified in the order, and given, issued or executed on or after the date specified in the order shall be deemed not to have been a chargeable instrument.

In your case, unless there are solid reasons why stamp duty should be exempt, it is unlikely that you will get an exemption. Also remember that the stamp duty exemption must be gazette frorit to have the force of law. Your tax consultant can guide you further.

Overtime in Banks

I was a branch manager with a bank in Tanzania. Recently I was fired and wish to make a claim for all the many hours I spent working beyond official hours. Do I have a valid claim?  OH, Dar

The Employment and Labour Relations Act generally states that an employer shall not require or permit an employee to work more than 12 hours in any day and that the maximum number of ordinary days or hours that an employee may be permitted or required to work are (a) six days in any week; (b) 45 hours in any week; and (c) nine hours in any day.

However the same Act further goes and disapplies the above provisions to employees who manage other employees on behalf of the employer and who report directly to a senior management employee. Hence in your case, it is unlikely that the overtime is claimable- your lawyers can guide you further.

This column is intended to give you a general overview of the Law. It is not a substitute to the role of your legal advisor. If you have legal issues, you are strongly recommended to contact your attorney.

Send in your questions by e-mail to: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or by post to: Q&A with FB Attorneys

C/o The Daily News, P.O. Box 9033 DSM, Tanzania.

Golden tooth marriage

I got married to a girl whom I gave a golden tooth. To show our affection, we had one of her tooth removed and replaced it with the golden tooth. Our in laws have caused rifts between us and we have started quarreling every day.

She wants a divorce and I am ready to give her one but on condition that she gives me back my golden tooth or buys it from me. How can you help?

IP, Dar

The tooth you gave her was likely a gift to your wife for the wedding and it became one of her personal effects and hence unlikely that you can get it back. Even if you could, this would mean extracting it from your wife’s mouth as it has, by now, become part of her body. There are hundreds of foreign cases that argue whether an artificial tooth is part of your body or not, and most of these are inclined towards a tooth becoming part of your body after it has been affixed.

Bearing this in mind, removal of the tooth is against public policy and we believe it is unlikely that you can get this golden tooth back. Factors like whether it is easily removable, on what conditions you had given it to her, whether her extracted tooth is still with her (in case you win the case against her) and the like may assist your lawyer to further guide you. All in all, it seems like you have a tough case against your wife. Perhaps you can give her a discount and she can purchase it, otherwise its going to be an expensive legal battle in Court.

Arbitration clause says non-appealable

I entered into an agreement with a company that inserted an arbitration clause which says that the award is fi nal, binding and non-appealable. The arbitration was conducted in Kenya and it is quite apparent from reading the award that it is against public policy and in violation of the laws of Tanzania.

The agreement required our company to perform the contract in Tanzania and we succumbed to the laws of Tanzania. How can the award be executed in Tanzania if it is in non-conformity with the laws here? My lawyer says that the non appeal ability of the award puts our company in a bad position. Please guide.

UE, Dar

Arbitration is meant to accelerate the ends of justice to be met. Generally awards cannot be challenged except for under the principles of natural justice and where the arbitrator(s) have misconducted themselves. Awards also cannot be executed if they are against public policy and are in contravention with the laws of the land in which they are being executed.

With the above in mind, since you claim that the award is against public policy and in contravention of the laws in Tanzania, the award can be set aside. This is also provided for under the Arbitration Act of Tanzania where section 16 explicitly states that where an arbitrator or umpire has misconducted himself or an arbitration or award has been improperly procured, the Court may set aside the award.Section 30 of the Arbitration Act further states as follows: Conditions for enforcement of foreign awards

(1) In order that a foreign award may be enforceable under this Part, it must–(a) have been made in pursuance of an agreement for arbitration which was valid under the law by which it was governed; (b) have been made by the tribunal provided for in the agreement or constituted in manner agreed upon by the parties;

(c) have been made in conformity with the law governing the arbitration procedure;(d) have become fi nal in the country in which it was made; and (e) have been in respect of a matter which may lawfully be referred to arbitration under the law of Tanzania, and its enforcement must not be contrary to the public policy or the law of Tanzania.

(2) Subject to the provisions of this subsection, a foreign award shall not be enforceable under this Part if the court is satisfied that–(a) the award has been annulled in the country in which it was made; or(b) the party against whom it is sought to enforce the award was not given notice of the arbitration proceedings in sufficient time to enable him to present his case or was under some legal incapacity and was not properly represented; or

(c) the award does not deal with all the questions referred or contains decisions on matters beyond the scope of the agreement for arbitration:Provided that if the award does not deal with all the questions referred the court may, if it thinks fi t, either postpone the enforcement of the award or order its enforcement subject to the giving of such security by the person seeking to enforce it as the court may think fit.

(3) If a party seeking to resist the enforcement of a foreign award proves that there is any ground other than the non-existence of the conditions specified in paragraphs (a), (b) and (c) of subsection (1) of this section, or the existence of the conditions specified in paragraphs (b) and (c) of subsection

(2) of this section entitling him to contest the validity of the award the court may, if it thinks fit, either refuse to enforce the award or adjourn the hearing until after the expiration of such period as appears to the court to be reasonably sufficient to enable that party to take the necessary steps to have the award annulled by the competent tribunal. We must point out that you have not stated in your question what you might have done wrong for the matter to be referred to arbitration. Before you over confidently embark on our opinion, you should get your lawyer to guide you further.

Flying to wrong city

I checked in at the Nyerere airport for a flight to Kilimanjaro.

Taping of bedroom noises

I have reason to believe that my neighbor has been secretly taping noises and movement in my bedroom. Can I sue my neighbour?

Trespass and right to compensation

My boss left a piece of land for me to guard and moved to another country. He never came back for almost nine years and neither did he inquire on the land.