Armed Forces

It is hereby prohibited for any person or any organization or any group of persons except the Government to raise or maintain in Tanzania an armed force of any kind.

The Government of the United Republic may, in accordance with law, raise and maintain in Tanzania armed forces of various types for the purposes of the defence and security of the territory and the people of Tanzania.

It is hereby prohibited for any member of the defence and security forces to join any political party, save only that he shall have the right to vote which right is specified under Article 5 of this Constitution.

For the purposes of this Article, the expression “member of the defence and security forces” means a member in the service of the Defence Forces, the Police Force, the Prisons Service or the National Service, whether on temporary or permanent terms.

Without prejudice to the provisions of any law enacted by Parliament, among the powers of the President as Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces is to command the Armed Forces to engage in military operations connected with the defence of the United Republic, rescue operations to save life and property in times of emergency and other matters which the Commander-in- Chief shall deem necessary, and to that end the Commander-in –Chief may command the Armed Forces to engage in those operations in or outside Tanzania.

Without prejudice to the provisions of a law enacted by Parliament, power over the following matters shall vest in the Commander-in-Chief, that is to say: (a) the appointment of top commanding officers in the Armed Forces of the United Republic; (b) the recruitment of persons into and their removal from the Armed Forces; (c) the appointment of commanders of various units of the Armed Forces; and (d) the suspension of any power vested in any member of the Armed Forces and pertaining to his being a member of such Force.

Anything done by any member of the Armed Forces in contravention of an order issued by the Commander-in-Chief pursuant to the provisions of subarticles (1) and (2) of this Article shall be void.