My wife beats me

I am a married man living in Tanzania. At first, my marriage was enjoyable. However, later my wife developed habits of repeatedly beating and injuring me. I have remained silent because I believe legal protection against domestic violence is available only to women. Following a particularly serious assault, I wish to report the matter and end the abusive marriage. What criminal and matrimonial remedies are available to me under Tanzanian law?

RG, Dodoma

We are sorry to hear about your story. The Tanzanian law protects everyone irrespective of their sex or marital status. Article 13 of the Constitution guarantees every person equality and equal protection before the law. Thus, your wife’s conduct may constitute common assault under the Penal Code or, where it causes injury, assault occasioning actual bodily harm under the same law, which carries a possible term of imprisonment of up to 5 years. You should report the assaults to the police and medical treatment, and preserve medical records, messages and witness details as evidence. The fact that the alleged offender is your wife does not excuse the criminal conduct.

It should also be noted that repeated physical violence may constitute cruelty and evidence that the marriage has broken down irreparably under section 107(2)(c) of the Law of Marriage Act, Cap. 29. You may, therefore, petition for judicial separation or divorce, ordinarily after referring the matrimonial dispute to a Marriage Conciliation Board, unless a statutory exception applies. Should you face immediate danger, you should leave the shared residence where safely possible and seek urgent police and legal assistance. We advise you not to retaliate, except to use reasonable and proportionate force genuinely necessary for self-defence.

Taking oath not under religion

I have a thirty-year old son who is neither catholic and never been baptized, nor a Muslim, but he believes in God. I am wondering what would happen if he had to take oath in Court.

AK, Mwanza

Under Tanzanian law, your son’s position would not prevent him from giving evidence in Court. The governing law is the Oaths and Statutory Declarations Act, Cap. 34 (the Act). The Act gives every Court authority to administer either an oath or an affirmation to a person lawfully giving evidence. More importantly, it recognises that not every witness is a Christian or follows a conventional religious faith. It provides for a person who professes a faith other than Christianity, or who objects to being sworn on specified religious grounds, to make a solemn affirmation, which has the same legal effect as an oath.

In your son’s particular circumstances, the important question would, therefore, not be whether he has been baptised or formally belongs to the Catholic Church, Islam or another organised religion. Under paragraph 4 of Part I of the First Schedule to the Oaths and Affirmations Rules, a witness solemnly affirms that what he will state will be “the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.”

Significantly, this form does not require him to deny his belief in God; nor does it require him to pretend that he belongs to a particular religion. Practically, therefore, if your son were called as a witness, he should simply tell the court truthfully that he believes in God but does not profess Christianity, Islam or Hinduism and wishes to affirm rather than take a Christian or Muslim oath. The Court officer should then administer the appropriate affirmation.

Accordingly, there is no need for your son to become baptised, identify himself as Catholic, Muslim or otherwise adopt a religion merely so that he can testify in a Tanzanian Court. His evidence does not acquire greater legal value simply because it is given on a Bible or under a particular religious formula. What matters is that the appropriate oath or solemn affirmation is properly administered and that he understands his obligation to tell the truth.

Purchase of natural gas in Tanzania 

I am a chief operations officer of a company registered in a foreign jurisdiction. The company is mainly dealing with oil and gas. As a company, we are intending to establish a place of business in Tanzania for purposes of producing natural gas for domestic and export purposes. As a producer, are there restrictions in selling the produced gas to foreign purchasers? If yes, what are they and why are they imposed.

KG, Dundee

It should be noted at the outset that under Tanzanian law, a natural gas producer is not completely free to commit all production to foreign purchasers. The principal restriction is the domestic supply obligation under the Petroleum Act, Cap. 392 (the Act). A licence holder and contractor must satisfy the Tanzanian domestic market from their proportional share of production; the volume required for the domestic market not exceeding their share of profit oil or gas, and the applicable domestic volume is to be determined by agreement and on a pro-rata basis with other Mainland Tanzania producers. The Act also expressly requires the Minister responsible for Energy to maintain a balance between domestic petroleum supply and exports.

This restriction reflects Tanzania’s policy that exploitation of its petroleum resources should first safeguard domestic energy security and strategic domestic uses before production is committed for export.

In addition, section 125 of the Act gives the designated gas aggregator rights to purchase, collect and sell natural gas from producers. The aggregator is Tanzania Petroleum Development Corporation (TPDC), which is the National Oil Company, through its designated subsidiary. A producer wishing to sell to another person ordinarily requires the aggregator’s consent. Importantly, however, that exclusivity does not extend to natural gas preserved for export as Liquified Natural Gas.

It is critical to note that before accessing Tanzania’s petroleum sector for upstream petroleum operations, the company will need the applicable petroleum rights under the Act, that is, a contractual arrangement, in form of a Production Sharing Agreement (PSA), with the Government, TPDC and, depending on the project stage, an exploration licence followed by a development licence and production permit. Applications for upstream petroleum licences and permits are processed and regulated by the Petroleum Upstream Regulatory Authority (PURA). Nevertheless, it should be noted that all petroleum rights are vested in TPDC. It is therefore TPDC that applies for upstream licences on behalf of the contractor, upon completing contractual arrangements under the PSA.