AfricaPress-Tanzania: PRESIDENT Dr John Magufuli on Thursday reappointed Professor Adelardus Kilangi to continue serving in his fifth phase government as the Attorney General (AG).
Dr Magufuli was sworn in by Chief Justice of Tanzania, Prof Ibrahim Juma, on Thursday to kick start his second term, and immediately after getting in, the head of State exercised his constitutional mandate under Article 59 of the Constitution to make the appointment in question.
According to Article 59 (3), the Attorney-General shall be the adviser of the Government of the United Republic on matters of law, and for that purpose shall be responsible for advising the government of the United Republic on all matters of law.
He shall also discharge any other functions pertaining to or connected with law which are referred or assigned to him by the President and also to discharge such other duties or functions which shall be entrusted to him by the Constitution or by any law.
Article 59 (5) says the Attorney-General shall be a Member of Parliament by virtue of office, and shall hold office until his appointment is revoked by the President; or immediately before the President elect assumes office.
Prof Kilangi was appointed by the president as AG for the first time on February 1, 2018, succeeding Mr George Masaju, who is currently the Judge of the High Court of Tanzania. He becomes the ninth AG. The position of the Attorney General was formed in 1964.
The first holder of the position was Mr Roland Brown, who served on such capacity between 1964 and 1965. Other AGs with their respective terms of office in brackets are: Judge Mark Bomani (1965–1976), Judge Joseph Warioba (1976–1985) and Justice Damian Lubuva (1985–1993).
Others are Mr Andrew Chenge (1993–2005), Mr Johnson Mwanyika (2005–2009), Judge Frederick Werema (2009–2014), then followed by Judge George Masaju (2014 – 2018) and Prof. Adelardus Kilangi (February 1, 2018 – to date).
Prof Kilangi was a member of the African Union Commission on International Law. He also served as the president of the commission from 2012 to 2014. Prior to the appointment, he was also a director at St. Augustine University of Tanzania and served at various capacities at the university.
He is also a Professor of international law, legal theory, and mining law at St Augustine University of Tanzania in Tanzania. He previously taught law at Ruaha University College in Tanzania, Tumaini University – Dar es salaam College in Tanzania, and the Open University of Tanzania, also in Tanzania.
Prior to that, Prof. Kilangi served as Country Programme Manager for the Southern African Aids Trust in Tanzania, and Programme Officer for Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA) as well as Legal Advisor to the Danish Embassy in Tanzania, respectively.
The AG has also worked as Programme Officer to the Environmental, Human Rights Care and Gender Organisation, a local Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), while prior to that he worked as Legal Advisor with the Resource Mobilisation Unit of the University of Dar es salaam in Tanzania.
He is an Advocate of the High Court of Tanzania, a member of the East African Law Society, and member of the Pan African Lawyers Union. He has published a number of books and articles in law, specifically in the area of regional integration law, mining law, and general international law.
Prof Kilangi has carried out a number of consultancies and research works, especially in the area of institutional and organisational development, as well as the area of curriculum and academic programme development.
According to Article 59 (4) of the Constitution of the United Republic of Tanzania, in the discharge of duties and functions in accordance with this Article, the Attorney-General shall be entitled to appear and be heard in all courts in the United Republic.
The AG’s office has been appearing in various cases to represent the country in various international cases abroad. His office announced recently to have saved approximately 10bn/- that would have been used to pay private advocates.
It was disclosed that in 2019, the government planned to spend 10.5bn/-to pay private attorneys who were to represent Tanzania in various legal disputes abroad. However, the AG said his office decided that the state lawyers should manage the cases.
“Thus, the amount spent is 300m/- only. State Attorneys represented the government very well in these cases that were filed both domestically and internationally in demanding and bringing justice,” he said.
