Last Change:
06/30/2025
Penal Code
Year: 1945
Type: Domestic law
Rights Category: Liberty & security of person, Nationality & facilitated naturalization
Description
The Tanzanian Penal Code, Chapter 16 of the Laws, is the primary legislation defining criminal offenses and punishments in the United Republic of Tanzania.
Selected provisions
Any person who imports, exports, removes, buys, sells, disposes of, traffics, or deals in slaves, or persons intended to be dealt with as slaves, or who places or receives any person in servitude as a pledge or security for debt, commits an offense and is liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding seven years.
Any person who— (a) has carnal knowledge of any person against the order of nature; or (c) permits a male person to have carnal knowledge of him or her against the order of nature, commits an offence and is liable to imprisonment for life.
Any person who— (a) with intent to intimidate or annoy any person, threatens to injure, assault, shoot, or kill any person, or to burn, destroy, or damage any property; or (b) with intent to alarm any person discharges a firearm or commits any other breach of the peace, is guilty of an offence and is liable to imprisonment for one year.
purposes (1) Any person who, to any assembly, makes any statement likely to raise discontent amongst any of the inhabitants of the United Republic or to promote feelings of ill-will between different classes or communities of persons of the United Republic, is guilty of an offence and is liable to a fine not less than five hundred thousand shillings or to imprisonment for a term of not less than one year:
Provided that, no person shall be guilty of an offence under the provisions of this section if the statement was made solely for any one or more of the following purposes, the proof whereof shall lie upon him, that is to say—
(a) to show that the Government has been misled or mistaken in any of its measures;
(b) to point out errors or defects in the Government or its policies or the Constitution of the United Republic as by law established, or in any legislation or in the administration of justice with a view to the remedying of those errors or defects;
(c) to persuade any inhabitants of the United Republic to attempt to procure by lawful means the alteration of any matter in the United Republic; or
(d) to point out, with a view to their removal, any matters which are producing or have a tendency to produce discontent amongst any of the inhabitants of the United Republic or feelings of ill-will and enmity between different classes or communities of persons of the United Republic
A person who—
(a) uses threatening, abusive or insulting words or behavior, or displays any written material;
(b) publishes or distributes written material;
(c) presents or directs the public performance of a play;
(d) distributes, shows or plays, a recording of audio or visual images;
(e) directs a public performance of a play; or
(f) provides, produces or directs a programme, which is threatening, abusive or insulting or involves the use of such words or behavior,
commits an offence if such person intends thereby to stir up ethnic hatred, or having regard to all the circumstances, ethnic hatred is likely to be stirred up.
Any person who, with intent to procure miscarriage of a woman, whether she is or is not with child, unlawfully administers to her any poison or noxious thing, or uses any force of any kind, or uses any other means whatever, is guilty of a felony and is liable to imprisonment for fourteen years.