Notice to sue a village

Last year when I went back to my home village for Christmas Holiday, I applied for allocation of a farm from the Village Council which I was allocated. Now I am back only to discover that the Village Council has allocated the same land to another person on the grounds that I have failed to develop the farm for twelve months since it was allocated to me in December last year. I intend to sue the Village Council but am unsure if suing a village council also requires giving a prior notice of intention to sue like suing the Government. Can you confirm if the institution of a suit against a Village Council should be preceded by a notice of intention to sue. Also guide me on the Court with competent jurisdiction to decide a suit against a village council? The land in dispute is worth TZS 10M
LK, Dar es Salaam

By virtue of section 26 of the Local Government (District Authorities) Act [Cap.287 R.E 2002] a village council is a body corporate capable of suing or being sued. However, section 190 of the Local Government (District Authorities) Act as amended by Act No.1 of 2020 imposes a condition that before filing a suit against a local government authority the claimant has to give to the local government authority a 90 days’ notice of intention to sue and a copy of that notice should be served on the Attorney General and the Solicitor General. Section 3 of the Local Government (District Authorities) Act defines a local government authority as a district authority and urban authority and it also defines a district authority to include a village council. Therefore, a village council is a district authority hence it is a local government authority. By being a local government authority, a suit against a village council should be preceded by a notice of intention to sue which should be served upon the Village Executive Officer on behalf of the village council and a copy of it served upon the Attorney General, the Solicitor General and the District Executive Director. Upon expiry of the notice, a suit can be brought against a village council and the Attorney General is made a necessary party to the suit as a co-defendant.

Once the Attorney General is a party to the suit, such a suit becomes a government suit hence has to be filed in the High Court. Section 6(4) and (7) of the Government Proceedings Act [Cap.5 R.E 2019] as amended by Act No.1 of 2020 gives the High Court exclusive jurisdiction over all the Government suits. It does not matter that the value of the subject matter is less than the pecuniary jurisdiction of the High Court. Once it is a government suit the only Court with competent jurisdiction over such a suit is the High Court. Your lawyer can guide you further.