PRIME Minister Kassim Majaliwa has directed the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) to go for negotiations and arbitration of civil cases filed against the government, so as attract investment in the country and contribute to economic development.
Also, Mr Majaliwa assured the office that the government will continue allocating enough budget for the office to discharge its duties effectively, especially by observing professionalism and patriotism, so that it can save billions of shillings that the government is supposed to pay, should it lose civil proceedings in both local and international corridors of justice.
The Prime Minister was speaking during celebrations to mark a five-year anniversary since the establishment of the OSG.
The Premier further said that the government was well prepared to providing funds for human capital in the office of the Solicitor General, as well as training its personnel in issues of laws pertaining to oil and gas, investment and aviation laws, among others.
Elaborating, Mr Majaliwa asked all ministries and public institutions to intensify close collaboration with the OSG, by providing all the important documents and evidences need in pursuance of cases filed against the government.
In bolstering economic diplomacy, the PM directed the OSG to make sure that all international civil related matters were handled through discussions and arbitration so as to attract more investors coming in the country.
He further paid tribute to the office of the Solicitor General for handling several cases which saw the government sailing through against those filing the cases.
“Statistics show that as of today 80 per cent of the cases which were filed against the government inside and outside the country in courts have seen the State emerging victorious,” he noted giving an example of cases where Tanzania aircrafts owned by ATCL had been seized outside the country, but the government managed to bring them back to the country.
In his remarks prior to welcoming the Prime Minister, the Minister for Justice and Constitution, Dr Damas Ndumbaro, said in the 2023/24 budget, the OSG had been given enough money to help the office discharge it’s duties efficiently.
He said that OSG was the youngest institution out of all ten institutions under his ministry, adding, however, that it had in five years done a tremendous job.
“The success is great because this office has saved trillions of shillings that were to be paid by the government over several civil cases,” he noted, adding that for example, in the 2022/23 financial year, the OSG saved a total of 7.57tri/- that were to be paid by the government in various cases.
During the corresponding period, he added, the office accomplished a total of 65 cases out of which seven of them were saved via arbitration.
He further added that his ministry was implementing a directive by the government to re-initiate a process to have the country’s new constitution.
“On June 28th and 29th this year, we will have a meeting between the government and all retired Justice and Constitution ministers as well all retired Attorney Generals, to receive advice on how best we can handle the process,” he noted.
Speaking at the event, the Solicitor General, Dr Boniphace Luhende said since its establishment, his office had managed to save billions of shillings in several cases that were handled via arbitration.
He insisted that the purpose of the celebrations was to evaluate how the Solicitor General’s office carries out its duties of coordination, advice, management and conduct of proceedings on behalf of the government and its institutions.
The celebrations were conducted under the slogan: “Five years of the Solicitor General’s Office, Where we came from, Where we are and Where we are going” aiming at evaluating how the office carries out its duties, including the way it conducts civil and arbitration cases on behalf of the government and its institutions within and outside the country.
Dr Luhende noted that the celebrations were accompanied by exhibitions to educate the public on legal issues as well as training for state attorneys to build their capacity in various issues, so as to increase efficiency in the implementation of their daily duties professionally.
“We will also have training that will involve more than 600 State Attorneys from the Solicitor General’s office, the Attorney General’s Office, ministries, departments, government institutions, regions and Local Government Authorities,” said Dr Luhende.
He said that the State Attorney’s training is expected to take place for three days between June 06 and 08, where 24 expert trainers, including judges and retired judges from the High Court of Tanzania, the Court of Appeal, experts in the legal sector in the country as well as trainers from universities in the country will facilitate the training.
“The lawyers will be taught various things about legal matters, including the drafting of contracts, investment issues, oil and gas and conflict resolution through arbitration,” he said………………..
