Browsing by Author "Mbunda, Luitfried Xavier"

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    Procedures of dispute settlement; Pre-colonial to post independence Tanzania
    (University of Dar es Salaam, 1985) Mbunda, Luitfried Xavier
    This work traced the historical development and the role of the different procedures of dispute settlement in Tanzania. Different procedures of dispute settlement from pre- colonial and during German and British colonialism and post independence Tanganyika are examined. We argue in this dissertation that the present law of Civil Procedure in Tanzania is alien and was imposed in this country by a foreign power. Before this imposition the natives of this country had different procedures of dispute settlement depending on whether their society was a centralized or a non- centralized one. This in turn was determined by the level of the development of the productive forces which invariably were crude. Consequently the procedures were characterized by mediation, conciliation, arbitration, compromise, oath and ordeal. These procedures were characteristic of primitive conditions of life where by man had not yet fully attained a mastery over nature and thus was interdependent with others in the society. The coming of the German colonialists marked the beginning of the disintegration of the traditional procedures of dispute settlement and their replacement by the adversarial system of dispute settlement. This was facilitated by the introduction of the capitalist mode of production into the tribal structures which not only corroded the traditional legal system but also established ground for the functioning of the imposed legal system. British colonialism entrenched a colonial state in Tanganyika with several legislations from the colonial office in London. It is also greatly accountable to the erosion of the established indigenous procedures of dispute settlement. It is from this period that the present code of civil procedure can be traced after it had been imported wholesale from India in 1920. Ironically, the procedure of dispute settlement did not change after independence. In fact, the imported Indian Code of Civil Procedure continued to be applied after independence, until 1966 when the National Assembly enacted what was described “our own Code of Civil Procedure” which was no more than a reproduction of the provisions of the Indian Code in pari materia with a change in the name only. In conclusion we argue that, it is now settled that historically the mode of production and exchange existing in Tanganyika at present was imposed, and is still maintained by imperialist forces. The rules and orders for regulating the property relations were correspondingly imposed, and in fact are still imposed on the independent state of Tanganyika. Therefore in as much as the social- economic relations remain basically unchanged it necessarily follows that the validity of the present civil procedure remain largely uncontradicted.