Government and power in Tanzania

Who leads Tanzania, how the World Bank's governance indicators score it, how many women sit in parliament and government, what the state spends and taxes, and the official bodies that hold power to account. System of government: Unitary presidential republic (with semi-autonomous Zanzibar).

Who leads Tanzania?

• Head of state: Samia Suluhu Hassan (President of the United Republic of Tanzania)
• Head of government: Mwigulu Lameck Nchemba (Prime Minister of the United Republic of Tanzania)
• Foreign minister: Mahmoud Thabit Kombo (Minister for Foreign Affairs and East African Cooperation of the United Republic of Tanzania)

Source: Heads of State, Heads of Government, Ministers for Foreign Affairs: Public List (United Nations Protocol and Liaison Service), list dated 15 October 2026. All world leaders.

Governance scores

The World Bank's Worldwide Governance Indicators combine surveys of households and firms with assessments by public, private and non-governmental bodies. Each score runs from 0 to 100; higher means the sources rate governance better. They measure perceptions, and each has a margin of error.

Voice and accountability

Measures how far citizens can choose their government, and freedom of expression, association and the media.

Political stability and absence of violence

Measures the likelihood of political instability or politically motivated violence, including terrorism.

Government effectiveness

Measures the quality of public services and the civil service, and how independent they are from political pressure.

Regulatory quality

Measures the government's ability to make and carry out policies that let the private sector develop.

Rule of law

Measures confidence in and respect for the rules of society, including contract enforcement, property rights, the police and the courts.

Control of corruption

Measures how far public power is used for private gain, including petty and grand corruption and "capture" of the state by elites.

Official bodies that hold power in Tanzania

Government

• Government of Tanzania portal
  Government services, policies, announcements and links to ministries.

Parliament

• National Assembly
  Hansard, bills, Acts and order papers of the Bunge.

Elections

• Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC)
  Election results, voter registration information and electoral regulations.

Courts

• Judiciary of Tanzania
  Judgments of the Court of Appeal and High Court, cause lists and judicial statistics.

Public audit

• National Audit Office of Tanzania
  The Controller and Auditor General's annual reports on public accounts.

Ombudsman

• Commission for Human Rights and Good Governance
  Reports on human rights and maladministration complaints.

Asset declarations

• Ethics Secretariat (Public Leadership Code of Ethics)
  Declarations of assets and liabilities by public leaders, ethics inquiries and reports on the leadership code.

Public contracts

• Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA)
  Procurement regulations, audits, performance reports and lists of debarred tenderers.
• National e-Procurement System of Tanzania (NeST)
  Tender notices, bids and contract awards for public procurement in Tanzania.

Laws and the official gazette

• Tanzania Legal Information Institute (TanzLII)
  Acts, subsidiary legislation and court judgments of Tanzania.

Government below the national level

• Regions (31: 26 mainland, 5 Zanzibar): Regional commissioner appointed by the president
• Districts (about 150) and local government authorities (about 195 councils: city, municipal, town and district councils): Councillors elected by ward with the general election; mayor or chair elected by councillors; council director appointed civil servant; district commissioner appointed by the president
• Wards: One elected ward councillor; ward executive officer appointed; Ward Development Committee of the councillor and village/mtaa chairs
• Villages (about 12,300, rural): Village assembly of all adults elects the village chairperson and a village council of 15–25 (including hamlet chairs); village executive officer appointed
• Vitongoji (hamlets, about 64,000) and mitaa (urban streets, about 4,300): Hamlet chairpersons and mtaa chairpersons with six-member committees elected by residents; mtaa executive officer appointed

How local power works in Tanzania

Places in Tanzania

• All 31 regions
• The 7 largest cities
• Official statistics for Tanzania

Sources

• World Bank: Worldwide Governance Indicators: Voice and accountability (governance score 0-100), read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 70f2804fd1e2…)
• World Bank: Worldwide Governance Indicators: Political stability and absence of violence (governance score 0-100), read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 1317de0c85e1…)
• World Bank: Worldwide Governance Indicators: Government effectiveness (governance score 0-100), read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 a775e808dc65…)
• World Bank: Worldwide Governance Indicators: Regulatory quality (governance score 0-100), read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 83b57e36ff8c…)
• World Bank: Worldwide Governance Indicators: Rule of law (governance score 0-100), read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 0bccc3c054e8…)
• World Bank: Worldwide Governance Indicators: Control of corruption (governance score 0-100), read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 3b15a5340cdd…)
• World Bank: World Development Indicators: Seats held by women in national parliament (SG.GEN.PARL.ZS), read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 1ae1dc13981a…)
• World Bank: World Development Indicators: Women in ministerial positions (SG.GEN.MNST.ZS), read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 a4e448a5b8bd…)
• World Bank: World Development Indicators: Central government spending (GC.XPN.TOTL.GD.ZS), read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 808094019f50…)
• World Bank: World Development Indicators: Tax revenue (GC.TAX.TOTL.GD.ZS), read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 08c94b750f31…)
• World Bank: World Development Indicators: Military spending (MS.MIL.XPND.GD.ZS), read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 a7f6913a783b…)
• World Bank: World Development Indicators: Armed forces personnel (MS.MIL.TOTL.P1), read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 fa4663c743ba…)
• World Bank: World Development Indicators: Statistical Performance Indicator (overall score) (IQ.SPI.OVRL), read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 08ac7cde9129…)
• World Bank: World Development Indicators: Births registered (SP.REG.BRTH.ZS), read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 f8d443034ba7…)
• World Bank: World Development Indicators: People using the internet (IT.NET.USER.ZS), read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 0d78dc658329…)

Each saved copy is the file exactly as downloaded, kept so the figures can be checked even if the source changes. Report an error.