The National Leaders' Funeral Act, 2006: How We Bid Farewell to Big Ben.

It has been almost 21 years since Tanzania has had to mourn and bury a former head of state. It has been so long that the last time the country had to go through this process the current law was not yet in place. The law covers different national leaders but for the purpose of this article I will only take you through the sections and subsections that pertain to the death of a former president. From here on forward, The National Leaders' Funeral Act, 2006 will be referred to as The Act.

During the very early hours of July 24, 2020, President Magufuli made a live broadcast to announce the death of former president Benjamin William Mkapa, fulfilling his obligation as stipulated in section 7 of The Act.

7. The President shall, as soon as possible after receiving official information and confirmation from an authorized medical officer of the death of a national leader-

(a) deliver official announcement on the death of the national leader, date and time of death and cause of death;

(b) convene a meeting of the Cabinet; and

(c) announce-

(i) in the case of a retired President, a period of 7 days for state mourning and the flags to fly half mast;

We have also seen Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa take charge and make announcements regarding funeral arragements. That is because Section 11 (1) and (2) and subsections a to p of The Act establishes the National Funeral Committee with the Prime Minister as the Chairperson. The committee includes specific ministers from both the Union government and SMZ government as stipulated by the law. This is to clear up any doubts as to why its the Prime Minister and not the President taking charge over funeral arrangements.

Section 13 of The Act also establishes an Executive Committee which is chaired by the Chief Secretary and members include specific permanent secretaries as stipulated by the law. The relationship between the National Funeral Committe and the Executice Committe is as follows: The Executive Committee prepares the funeral budget for the National Funeral Committee to approve. The Executive Committee coordinates funeral plans and manage activies as directed by the National Funeral Committee. The Executive Committee provides information to the National Funeral Committee. The Executive Committee prepares a funeral report to be submitted to the National Funeral Committee. Lastly, the Executive Committee performs any other activities as directed by the National Funeral Committee.

Part IV of The Act deals with the funeral proceedings itself. Since it includes 9 sections and 20 subsections, I will just highlight a few of the key details.

1. The deceased leader will be burried in accordance to their religion, custom and traditions.
2. The deceased leader is to be burried in the National Cemetery in Dodoma. However if the deceased has left a written will specifying where and how they should be burried then the will shall be observed.
3. The bier of the deceased for the purpose of paying last respects shall be kept at The National Stadium in Dar Es Salaam or any other place determined by the National Funeral Committee.
4. There shall be a special parade of the Tanzania Peoples' Defence force on the day and at the place of burial which shall include the national anthem and a 21 gun salute at the time of burial and near the place of burial.
5. The bier shall be covered with the national flag which will afterwards be handed to the deceased’s family for custody.

The Act is extensive thus I have purposefully chosen just a few provisions which would be of interest to the public and sections which relate to the public ceremonies to be conducted here onwards. Hopefully this will shed some light to the public and answer any questions they might have as we proceed to burying the late president. For anyone interested in reading the full Act please google The National Leaders' Funeral Act, 2006 and it should be easily accesible to you.

Thomas Joel Kibwana.