UK Judges: Courts in Tanzania are so riddled with corruption

The trial of the libel action of Regnald Mengi v Hermitage commenced in the UK this week. Reginald Mengi, a Tanzanian businessman and philanthropist, is suing Sarah Hermitage, a non-practicing English solicitor, over emails and website postings. Sarah Hermitage had asked the court to order Mengi to give security for costs by payments into court of instalments totalling £610,500, on the basis that if she wins the case she would not be able to recover the costs in Tanzania because the courts here are so corrupt. She submitted to the court extensive evidence to show how corruption is prevalent in Tanzanian courts.

Among evidence relied on included a statement by Mr Fauz Tawib, a former President of the Law Society of Tanzania (now a High Court Judge); a report on commercial justice in Tanzania entitled "Commercial Justice in Tanzania: Enhancing the Capacity of the Commercial Court" including a statement by Mr Justice RV Makaramba, the Judge in Charge of the Commercial Division of the High Court of Tanzania dated 8 October 2009; the Report of the Prevention and Combating of Corruption Bureau of Tanzania dated 21 November 2009; and a statement of Mr Thomas Mihayo, a retired Justice of the High Court of Tanzania dated 13 May 2011.

Earlier Deputy Master considered this extensive evidence on the state of affairs in Tanzania. He set it out in detail in ten pages of his judgment about corruption in Tanzanian courts. The conclusions the Deputy Master drew from the evidence were before the Master in the form of a note, almost word for word, were as follows:

"11 … I have to say with considerable regret that I do find that the incidents of such corruption (within the judiciary of Tanzania) poses a substantial risk in the circumstances to successful enforcement proceedings. I accept the proposition of Mr Barnes that it is not necessary to show complete impossibility of enforcement; nor, to make it quite plain, do I in fact find that complete impossibility of enforcement is the probable case. What I do find is that there are substantial obstacles and extra burdens within the meaning of Mance LJ's judgement in the way of enforcement. …

27. My findings when I weigh the evidence for the defendant and the evidence for the Claimant on this application are as follows:

(1) There is widespread and serious corruption within the judiciary in Tanzania;

(2) The risk of such corruption is such that it cannot be said to stop short of affecting proceedings for the registration and the enforcement of an order for the defendant's costs, if such an order is made;"

On appeal, Tugendhat J, a judge of the High Court of England, Queen's Bench Division in Reginald Mengi v. Sarah Hermitage, ordered Mengi to pay into court a sum in excess of USD 3 million in order to secure Hermitage's legal costs on the ground that the Courts in Tanzania are so riddled with corruption that he would not subject a British citizen sued in England by a Tanzanian without assets in England, to the unnecessary risk of enforcing an English judgment in courts known for their corruption.

No doubt, the rest of the world will soon be relying on the same judgment to exact exorbitant security for costs from any Tanzanian intending to make a claim in their courts against their citizens. So essentially, we will be shut out of functioning judicial systems because the international community considers our system too corrupt to willfully expose their citizens to.

You can read the full judgement at: Mengi v Hermitage [2012] EWHC 2045 (QB) (20 July 2012)

The name of our country is being dragged through the mud simply because they're hell bent on saving this British lady

Why Mengi has to pay hard cash is because it'll be hard for the lady to follow up on her money in Tanzania in case she wins and even if she uses the court they'll still favor Mengi because Tanzania stinks of corruption!!!

Lol! What a trick to have Mengi give up on the case as he'll have to reckon with the cost he'll have to incur

Hii ni bahati mbaya kwa Mengi katika kutafuta haki yake.

Lakini jee rushwa haipo katika mahakama zetu?

Rushwa ipo na ni tatizo sana. Na kwa bahati mbaya rushwa ipo katika ngazi za juu za Mahakama.
Ni ukweli usio na kificho!

Azipa said:

The name of our country is being dragged through the mud simply because they're hell bent on saving this British lady

Why Mengi has to pay hard cash is because it'll be hard for the lady to follow up on her money in Tanzania in case she wins and even if she uses the court they'll still favor Mengi because Tanzania stinks of corruption!!!

Lol! What a trick to have Mengi give up on the case as he'll have to reckon with the cost he'll have to incur

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But this does not refute the claim that corruption exists in the judiciary.

Hii hukumu mbaya sana sijapata kuona! Halafu jamaa walivyo wajanja wametukaanga kwa mafuta yetu, yaani taarifa ya Makaramba, J., Mihayo, J. na PCCB! Hata hiyo ni mbaya sana kutoa general conclusion kwamba mahakama zoooote Tanzania ni corrupt wakati suala la corruption ni more of an individual than a group!

Mbaya zaidi 'walio nazo' ndiyo huhonga. Ukifuatilia Mahakama ya Kazi - high court- ana kesi huko- swali imefikaje huko?

hili ni fundisho kuwa,mahakimu wote tanzania waache kupokea rushwa,maana sasa imekuwa ni gumzo hata nje ya tanzania na mahakama zetu haziaminiki tena
na sielewi hawa mahakimu wanajisikiaje wanavyopata taarifa kama hizi?

This is mere fact na wala huhitaji UK to judge....
Nakumbuka habari ya kesi moja iliyohusu mzazi wa kiume kuacha familia bila matunzo na mke alipoamua kuchukua hatua kwa kushirikiana na maafisa Ustawi wa Jamii wa Manispaa husika pamoja na wasaidizi wa kisheria kwa kuona jamaa lina uwezo wa kutunza watoto lakini limewaacha linaendelea kula raha mjini.

Kesi imeenda ikaendeshwa na mwishowe hakimu anakuja kutoa hukumu isiyokuwa na conclusion yoyote matokeo yake lijamaa likifuatwa linasema wapi hati ya hukumu inaonesha anatakiwa kutoa matunzo na kwa utaratibu gani...Kumbe hakimu liliwekewa mfukoni likanywea likaacha kesi inaning'inia

Toka tukio hili I have lost my trust na mfumo wa haki kupitia mahakama zetu, how on earth Judge unaacha hukumu inayoning'inia

Mh. Tundu lisu alishaweka wazi. Wengi hawakuelewa. Sasa eleweni. Aibu gani kwa nchi hii. Tunataka idara ya mahakama itoe tamko kuhusu hili.

I look at corruption in two dimensions - abuse of power for personal gain and personal gain at the expense of others; thats why corruption has such a broad impact in our society - ethically, morally, politically, economically, socially..., you name it;

When Nyerere was in power, YES, there was corruption, but the difference between corruption then and corruption now lies on two fronts: One, there were deliberate efforts to fight it, and two, corruption did not exist in all spheres of life as it is today; Corruption was in Politics, Entertainment, Education, and Corporate to mention a few, but not in the Judiciary System? In this sphere, corruption was not that much of a commoner; But it remains to be a mere fact that leaders who succeeded Nyerere not only shunned Nyerere's efforts to curb corruption, but also scorned it; whether this was done deliberately or no, it remains to be open for debate;

Otherwise as we all know, corruption is similar to cancer, it begins slowly and gradually pervades to affect the whole society, and becomes part of the culture, and norm; We have reached to a point where, it is common for both men and women to offer bribes (even when they are not asked for it), just to get preferential treatments, whether its cash, sex, or whatever, as long as that gets them what they want; this is common in politics, civil service, corporate, you name it;

Right now we are at a stage where we cant even tackle crime effectively in all levels - micro, meso, macro, and today, it pays off (in terms of justice) to side with crime than the judicial system ; Corruption undermine the basic dogma of democracy and it facilitates malpractice across all sectors of our society, and this is one of the main reasons why all the three pillars of governance (judiciary, legislature, and the executive) are stalled and dysfunctional; an important question that follows is: do we have chemo for this?

I am not certain, especially about the outcome of any therapy devised; otherwise we can do a couple of things: we need to promote transparency and accountability in the judicial system; There also has to be an increase in public knowledge about our judicial system - how it works, practices, etc; The public should not fear the judiciary system or treat it as if its not part of their own, instead, they should claim ownership because it is theirs, especially given the fact that it is part and parcel of democracy, justice (social, political and economic justice) and rule of law;

It would also be prudent if we computerize our judicial system so that we have an open and accessible working environment; there should also be public access to judicial information, e.g through published cases and stored databases as it would help to increase accountability of the judicial process, legal system, decisions and practices;

Last but not least - we have to work on the integrity of judges, and Lissu is on point towards that end; but there are many other things that we can do...

Lastly, BAJETI WIZARA YA SHERIA NA KATIBA; Since the inception of this ministry, it has consistently ranked very low in terms of budget priority; I remember i once visited mahakama moja ya mwanzo and hakimu pale asked me if he could borrow my pen!!!!; That's why i need to reiterate that - it remains to be a mere fact that leaders who succeeded Nyerere not only shunned his efforts to curb corruption, but also scorned it; whether this was done deliberately or no, it remains to be open for debate;

Kama tumeanza kuwa na lebo hii kimataifa, basi tumekwisha
Soon tutakuwa hatuaminiki kimataifa kama wanaijeria

Buchanan said:

Hii hukumu mbaya sana sijapata kuona! Halafu jamaa walivyo wajanja wametukaanga kwa mafuta yetu, yaani taarifa ya Makaramba, J., Mihayo, J. na PCCB! Hata hiyo ni mbaya sana kutoa general conclusion kwamba mahakama zoooote Tanzania ni corrupt wakati suala la corruption ni more of an individual than a group!

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Mbaya kivipi?

Yako maandiko mengi tuu toka nje lakini mlalamikiwa aliamua kutumia maandiko yetu hasa ya majaji wetu.

Corruption is a serious and growing problem in the judiciary. The judiciary, which should play a key role in anti-corruption efforts, is perceived to be the most corrupt institution in the country – DFID 2011

The Tanzanian judicial system is tainted with corruption; the judiciary remains underfunded, corrupt, and inefficient – US Department of State 2010

Rushwa kwenye mahakama zetu hivi sasa ni zaidi ya cancer, bali ilishageuka na kuwa a genetic abnormality. Too bad as am sceptical that even the New Katiba won't be able to tame this systemic congenital defect! :confused2:
Ooh well, shall we all just sit and wait for that 'patriotic fyatu of a president' to descend on our land, as we wallow and devour the unsavoury British reports over our judiciary system... My, my, my, I couldn't wait a day longer for that imaginary republic of TinduLissu!!

Duh.. lakini huu ukweli unahitaji kuwa established outside the country?

hakuna anayeweza kufungia UKWELI kwenye ndoo/chumba, suhala la mahakama kutokaa sawa ( kutotoa haki) liko wazi, Tidu Lisu anazidi kuonekana mkweli

For sure,sasa mambo yanaenda yakijieleza yenyewe hatuhitaji tena kuanza kujiuliza mchawi ni nani TINDU LISU alishayaweka haya yote bayana. . . . . . . . . . . .Ifike maali tuanze kujiuliza nini dawa ya haya yote? Tukisema katiba hata hiyo katiba yenyewe inaandaliwa kiujanja ujanja. . .najuta kuwa MTANZANIA.

Tuanze mikakati ya kusafisha mahakama.

Cathode Rays said:

Toka tukio hili I have lost my trust na mfumo wa haki kupitia mahakama zetu, how on earth Judge unaacha hukumu inayoning'inia

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Kama ilivyoning'inia kesi ya mtikila ya majaji saba, unajua kwenye ile kesi muomba rufaa hakushinda na wala rufaa haikukataliwa????? ie The appeal was neither allowed nor dismissed.

Only in Tanzania.

RUSHWA YA WAZI kesi ya fedha za ujenzi wa kiwanda cha cement LINDI toka LIBYA!Mr.Membe na kundi lake Vs METL-mo dewji