Q&A – 12 March 2018
Rights to name child
I am a married woman living in Dar. My husband and I are educated and work in the public sector. God has blessed us with three Children and we soon expect our fourth child as I am pregnant. Unfortunately my husband has been the only one giving names to our children and he has always done so using names of his clan. He has even chosen a name for the child we expect which has resulted into arguments as I would like to name this child. Is there a law that governs naming of children? Please guide.
OL, Mwanza
The law of Child Act, Act No. 21 of 2009 under Section 6 provides that a child shall have a right to a name, nationality and to know his biological parents and extended family. It provides further that a person shall not deprive a child of the right to a name, nationality and to know his biological parents and members of extended family subject to the provisions of any other written laws. Also each parent or guardian shall be responsible for the registration of the birth of his child to the Registrar-General.
Unfortunately there is no law that dictates whether the father or mother should name the child. There is also no case law for us to guide you on. We suggest you get some elders to sit with you and resolve this. You might be able to resolve this dispute in Court, but the Court system is back logged and by the time your dispute is resolved, you might already have delivered.
Letterhead with director’s names
I have established an information technology company and have already started business. Is it a requirement of the law that every company should have a letterhead? What should be the contents in the said letterhead? I find this to be expensive to print and thus looking at ways of avoiding this. What should I do?
GJ, Dar
You will certainly need letterheads when you are writing formal letters and hence are unsure what you really mean. Printing letterheads is not expensive and you always have the option of printing letterheads directly from your printer.
On the contents of the letterheads, section 213 of the Companies Act provides that every company shall, in all business documentation on or in which the company’s name appears and which is issued or sent by the company to any person in any part of the territory, state in legible letters with respect to every director being a corporation, the corporate name, and with respect to every director being an individual, the following particulars (a) his present name, or the initials thereof, and present surname; (b) any former names and surnames: Provided that, if special circumstances exist which render it in the opinion of the Registrar expedient that such an exemption should be granted, the Registrar may by order grant, subject to such conditions as may be specified in the order, exemption from all or any of the obligations imposed.
Also if a company defaults in complying with this requirement, every officer of the company who is in default shall be liable on conviction for each offence to a fine, and for the purposes of this subsection, where a corporation is an officer of the company, any officer of the corporation shall be deemed to be an officer of the company. The expression ”director” includes any person in accordance with whose directions or instructions the directors of the company are accustomed to act and the expression ”officer” shall be construed accordingly. The expression ”initials” includes a recognized abbreviation of a name.
We must point out that a lot of the companies in Tanzania fail to comply with the explicit provisions of the Companies Act which provides that on letterheads name of directors amongst other must be mentioned.
Perusing my fathers Will
My father died in Dar es Salaam about 10 years ago and my brother was the executor. He tells me that my father did not leave anything for me, which I am fine with, but I would like to see the original Will. Is there a way I can get a copy? My brother says he doesn’t have the original.
TY, Dar
Very few people know this but the original Will which is attached to the petition for the grant of probate is not surrendered to the executor but remains deposited and preserved at the High Court and is open to inspection. We suggest you contact the registrar at the High Court of Tanzania, if that is where the probate was granted from.
Acquisition of Primary Mining Licences
We are foreigners and have acquired Primary Mining Licences (PMLs). We intend to develop the area and then apply for a mining licence. Although we managed to get the transfers done, we have learnt that the PMLs cannot be owned by non-Tanzanian entities. Is there a way we can cure this?
GH, Dar
Unfortunately you cannot cure this as the Mining Act 2010, which governs PMLs, is very strict. Section 8(2) states that a primary mining licence for any minerals shall not be granted to an individual, partnership or body corporate unless- (a) in the case of an individual, the individual is a citizen of Tanzania; (b) in the case of a partnership, it is composed exclusively of citizens of Tanzania; (c) in the case of a body corporate, it is a company and- (i) its membership is composed exclusively of citizens of Tanzania; (ii) its directors are all citizens of Tanzania; (iii) control over the company, both direct and indirect, is exercised, from within Tanzania by persons all of whom are citizens of Tanzania.
We believe that the Ministry has allowed this transfer in error meaning that you do not legally hold the PMLs. It is advisable that you get a Tanzanian entity to hold these PMLs for you whilst you apply for a ML. The Ministry is supposed to be pro mining and any conversion of a PML to a ML is always welcome.
We also caution you to approach this unwinding process with care as sometimes when you voluntarily provide information your problems escalate even further. Your lawyer should be able to guide you.