Gender Quotas Database
Tanzania, United Republic of
Eastern Africa
Single / Lower House
Bunge / National Assembly
| Total seats | 393 |
| Total women | 147 |
| Percentage of women | 37% |
| Gender Quota target | 30% |
| Election year | 2020 |
| Electoral system | FPTP |
| Quota type | Reserved seats |
| Election details | IDEA Voter Turnout - IPU Parline |
| Legal source | Details | |
|---|---|---|
| Quota type: Reserved seats | Constitution |
Women members must not make up less than 30% in the National Assembly. The special seats for women are distributed among the political parties in proportion to the number of seats awarded to them in parliament. (Constitution, Articles 66 (1:b) and 78 (1)) |
| Electoral law |
NOMINATION OF WOMEN FOR SPECIAL SEATS 2) A political party which contests for Parliamentary election held after the dissolution of the National Assembly may propose to the Commission names of eligible women candidates for nomination to women special seats. ... 5) The provisions of Article 67 of the Constitution shall apply to every woman who is sponsored by a political party. 6) The Commission shall, subject to Article 66, 67 and 78 of the Constitution and in accordance with the order of preference indicated in the list proposed by each political party, declare such number of women candidates from the respective political parties as Members of Parliament for women special seats. 7) The Commission shall send a notification of declaration to the Speaker of the National Assembly and to the Secretary General of the respective political parties. 8) The list of names of women candidates proposed to the Commission in accordance with Article 78(4) of the Constitution by each political party for the General Elections shall, subject to Article 76(3) of the Constitution, be the same list that shall be used by the Commission for purposes of filling any vacancy in the office of Member of Parliament for women special seats during the whole period of the life of Parliament. (National Election Act. ARTICLE 86A.) |
|
| Rank order/placement rules | Electoral law |
3) The Commission shall specify a number of women candidates to be nominated by each political party. 4) The names of the women candidates proposed to the Commission shall be in order of preference. (National Election Act. ARTICLE 86A.) |
| Is the provision of direct public funding to political parties related to gender equality among candidates? | No | See more in International IDEA's Political Finance database |
| Are there provisions for other financial advantages to encourage gender equality in political parties? | No | See more in International IDEA's Political Finance database |
Quota at the Sub-National Level
| Quota type | Reserved seats |
| Gender Quota target | 30% |
| Legal source | Details | |
|---|---|---|
| Quota type: Reserved seats | Electoral law |
At the local level, women must hold not less than one-third of the seats and these seats are allocated among political parties based on the seats that they have gained. |
Voluntary Political Party Quotas*
| Party | Official Name | Details, Quota provisions |
|---|---|---|
| Revolutionary Party | Chama cha Mapinduzi (CCM) |
Section 204 of the 2010 CCM Manifesto set out to attain 50-percent women representation in all elective bodies by 2015(CCM Manifesto 2005:127). |
* Only political parties represented in parliament are included. When a country has legislated quotas in place, only political parties that have voluntary quotas that exceed the percentage/number of the national quota legislation are presented in this table.
Additional information
The first piece of legislation on reserved seats for women, which was enacted before the 1995 elections, set the number of reserved seats at 15 per cent and these seats were distributed among various parties based on the number of constituency seats they had won. Prior to the 2005 elections, the Constitution was amended to provide special seats for women in parliament to be not less than 30 per cent and the rule of allocation of these seats among parties was amended to be based on the percentage of votes won by these parties.
Similarly, the number of reserved seats for women in Zanzibar’s House of Representatives was raised to 30 per cent prior to the 2005 elections and the allocation of these seats among parties is calculated in proportion to the number of constituency seats won by these parties, but only parties with more than 10 per cent of the total seats in the House of Representatives qualify for women's seats (Constitution of Zanzibar 1984, Articles 64(c), 67).
Some political parties such as Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM), Civic United Front (CUF), National Convention for Construction and Reform (NCCR-Mageuzi) and Chama cha Demokrasia na Maendeleo,(CCDM-Chadema) have adopted voluntary quotas, including at least one woman candidate to stand for election in each constituency.
Sources
Legal Sources:
- Constitution of Tanzania (amended through 2005) - Link
- National Elections Act (amended through 2015) - Link
- Electoral Law (amended through 2010) mainland Tanzania - Link
- The Political Parties Act (amended through 2019) - Link
Other Sources:
- Parliament of Tanzania - Link
- The constitution of Zanzibar (amended through 2016) - Link
- Election Act Tanzania-Zanzibar (4/2018) - Link
- The House of Representatives of Tanzania-Zanzibar - Link
- Compendium of Electoral laws and Regulations of Tanzania - UNDP (2016) - Link
- A gender analysis of political parties policy documents in Tanzania (2020) - Link
- Gender Links, SADC Gender Protocol 2011 Barometer
- Commonwealth Local Government Forum, ‘The Local Government System in Tanzania’
- Inter-Parliamentary Union, IPU Parline Tanzania
Additional reading
- Bjarnegård, E., & Zetterberg, P. 2016. 'Gender Equality Reforms on an Uneven Playing Field: Candidate Selection and Quota Implementation in Electoral Authoritarian Tanzania'. Government and Opposition, 464-486.
- See the latest updates on United Republic of Tanzania on iKNOW Politics
- Ballington J., da Silva V. & Pottie. D. 2001. Tanzania Gender Observer Mission Report. Johannesburg: Electoral Institute of Southern Africa.
- Temu, F. & Sherbanu, K. 2001. Women and elections in Tanzania.
- Yoon, M.Y. 2001. ‘Democratization and Women's Legislative Representation in Sub-Saharan Africa’ in Democratization. Vol. 8, no.2, pp. 169-190.
- Lowe-Morna, C. 2000. ‘Strategies for Increasing Women's Participation in Politics’, Presented to the Fifth Meeting of Commonwealth Ministers Responsible for Women's Affairs.
- Duri, P. F. 1999. ‘Women in the Shadow of Politics’, WomanPlus 6, no. 3. p. 24.
- Massoi, A. 1999. ‘Working to Increase the number of Tanzanian Women in Government’, Femnet News 8, no. 2. p. 7.
- Inter-Parliamentary Union. 1997. Democracy Still in the Making: A World Comparative Study. Geneva: Inter-Parliamentary Union.
- Kabebari-Macharia, J. 1997. "Asserting the Right to Political Decision-making." GENDEReview – Kenya's Women and Development Quarterly 4, no. 1. pp. 13-14.
- Killian, B. 1996. ‘A Policy of Parliamentary Special Seats for Women in Tanzania: Its Effectiveness’, Ufahamu 24, nos. 2-3. pp. 21-22.
- Tanzania Parliament website, https://www.parliament.go.tz/
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