The application of the Constitution of Zanzibar concerns all matters pertaining to
Tanzania Zanzibar which are not union matters. The Constitution of the United Republic
of Tanzania of 1977 shall have the force of law in the whole of the United Republic.
Judiciary
Judiciary is the third branch of the Government. The organs vested with judicial powers
are the Judiciary of the United Republic and the Judiciary of Tanzania Zanzibar. The
judiciary interprets Acts passed by Parliament and the House of Representative and also
reviews actions of the executive to ensure that there are acting within the law. However
the Court Appeal of Tanzania which is the final appellate court and the Special
Constitutional Court which interprets the Constitution of the URT of 1977 are Union
Matters.
The Basic Rights and Duties were entrenched in the Constitution of the United Republic
of Tanzania in 1984 and it applies to actions of the legislative, executive and judicial
branches of Government and to activities of the public service. Similar basic rights
referred in the Constitution of Zanzibar as basic fundamental rights and personal
freedoms are also incorporated in Constitution of Zanzibar of 1984
Political Parties
The multi-party democracy was introduced in the URT in 1992 the Political Parties Act
during the first multi-party elections in 1995. During this reporting period, the Chama cha
Mapinduzi won overwhelmingly for the third term in December 2005 the presidential and
parliamentary elections. Since the introduction of multi- party system the number of seats
won by the opposition parties have been considerably small.
Administration
The United Republic of Tanzania is divided into 26 administrative regions, 21 in the
Mainland Tanzania and 5 in Tanzania Zanzibar. The mainland is divided into 114
districts which are subdivided into divisions, wards and villages. Each of the 5 regions in
Zanzibar has 2 districts with a total of 10 between the two main islands of Zanzibar
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