United Republic of Tanzania

National Assembly

Political system Political systems: Presidential, Parliamentary, Presidential-Parliamentary, Monarchy, Communist, Transitional.
Presidential system
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Structure of parliament Structure of parliament: Unicameral, bicameral
Unicameral
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IPU membership Current membership status
Yes
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Data on women

empty

Basic information > About parliament

Speaker

Speaker
Tulia Ackson (Female)
Year of birth
1976
Additional information
Elected on 1 Feb. 2022.
See historical data for this field.

Secretary general

Secretary General
Nenelwa J. Mwihambi (Female)
Notes Additional information about the Secretary General, in particular regarding their term.
Appointed on 15 May 2021.

Members

Current number of members, by sex
Men The number of male parliamentarians who currently hold seats in parliament.
246
See historical data for this field.
Women The number of female parliamentarians who currently hold seats in parliament.
147
See historical data for this field.
Percentage of women Calculated by dividing the current number of women by the current number of members.
37.4% See historical data for this field.

Age

Youngest member (years) Age at the time of the last election or renewal.
24
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Youngest member
Ng'wasi Damas Kamani (Female)
Oldest member (years) Age at the time of the last election or renewal.
74
Oldest member
Margaret Simwanza Sitta (Female)
Total number of MPs, 45 years of age or younger
157 See historical data for this field.
Total number of MPs, 46 years of age or older
191 See historical data for this field.
Total per sex
Total of male
215 See historical data for this field.
Total of female
133 See historical data for this field.
Total per age interval
18-20
0
21-30
17 See historical data for this field.
31-40
79 See historical data for this field.
41-45
61 See historical data for this field.
46-50
61 See historical data for this field.
51-60
92 See historical data for this field.
61-70
35 See historical data for this field.
71-80
3 See historical data for this field.
81-90
0
91 and over
0
Number of members, by age
Breakdown of members by age and gender
18 - 20 21 - 30 31 - 40 41 - 45 46 - 50 51 - 60 61 - 70 71 - 80 81 - 90 91 and over Totals per gender
Totals per age interval 0 17 79 61 61 92 35 3 0 0
Total <= 45: 157 Total >= 46: 191
Male 0 4 47 36 42 61 24 1 0 0 215
Female 0 13 32 25 19 31 11 2 0 0 133
Percentage of members, by age
Age as last election or renewalOverallMaleFemale
Percentage of MPs 30 years of age or younger4.89%1.15%3.74%
Percentage of MPs 40 years of age or younger27.59%14.66%12.93%
Percentage of MPs 45 years of age or younger45.11%25%20.11%

Reserved seats and quotas

Number of reserved seats, by group
Women
118
Electoral quota for women Quotas to promote the representation of women in parliament.
Yes
Compare data of this field.
Notes
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.
‘Every Political Party which contests Parliamentary elections may propose and submit the Commission names of eligible women candidates for nomination of Members of Parliament for Women Special Seats’ . (Source: https://www.idea.int/data-tools/data/gender-quotas )
Elections > Historical data on women

Women's suffrage

Date of independence For countries that become independent after 1940
1961
Women’s right to vote
Women’s right to vote Year in which women obtained the right to vote
1961
National or local Suffrage: National or Local
National
Restricted or unrestricted suffrage Suffrage: Restricted or Universal
Universal
Notes Suffrage: Additional Notes on right of suffrage
Prior to indepence, under British administration, women were granted the right to vote in 1959. this right was confirmed at independence.
Women’s right to stand for election
Women's right to stand for election Year in which women obtained the right to stand for election
1961
National or local Stand for Election: National or Local
National
Restricted or unrestricted suffrage Stand for Election : Restricted or Universal
Universal
Notes Stand for Election: Additional Notes on right to stand for election
Prior to indepence, under British administration, women were granted the right to vote and stand for election in 1959. These rights were confirmed at independence.
First woman in parliament
First woman speaker
Year of first woman speaker Date at which, for the first time in the country's parliamentary history, a woman became Presiding Officer of Parliament or of one of its Houses.
2010

Specialized body - Women's caucus

Tanzanian Women Parliamentarians Group (TWPG)
(January 1997)
Formal or informal
Formal
The caucus is open to male MPs
Yes
The caucus is cross-party
Yes
Notes
-Non-partisan and includes both constituency and special-seat MPs.
-To broaden the support base for legislative efforts, the TWPG considers including male MPs as its honorary members.
There are rules governing the functioning of the caucus
Yes

Activities

Issues dealt with by the caucus
-Created to foster effective participation of female MPs in the parliamentary processes, to increase women’s representation in parliament and to strengthen female MPs’ capacity to ‘mainstream and monitor gender equality within parliamentary affairs.
-TWPG identifies inheritance law, marriage law, sexual and reproductive health rights, and trafficking of women and children as the major areas that need legislative changes and policies.

Contact information for the Committee

Address
Ms. Shally Raymond, Chairperson
United Republic of Tanzania
E-mail
[email protected]