Tanzania’s arms control system consists principally of two laws. The first is the Armaments Control Act of 1991 (consolidated 2002), and the second is the Firearms and Ammunition Control Act of 2015. Together, these Acts regulate the ownership, use, transfer, and oversight of arms within and beyond Tanzania’s borders. Tanzania is a party to several global and regional instruments, such as the SADC Protocol on Firearms, Ammunition and Related Materials, and the Nairobi Protocol. It has also signed (but not ratified) the Arms Trade Treaty, all of which have influenced its approach to international arms control.
The Armaments Control Act of 1991 (consolidated 2002) can be considered the backbone of Tanzania’s domestic conventional arms control regime, governing and regulating matters related to heavy/military weapons and ammunition. It established the National Armaments Control Advisory Board as the principal entity responsible for supervising and regulating the manufacture, importation, conveyance, and disposition of armaments within Tanzania. Additionally, it established a secretariat to support the work of the Board through the compilation and provision of relevant research and information.
Under this law, control over the manufacture, import, export, conveyance, and use of armaments is vested in the President, who acts on the advice of the Board. The Board, composed of security and defence officials, has wide-ranging powers to inspect, verify, and restrict armaments transfers.
The Act prescribes that the Board is to meet at least once every three months for the “transaction of its business.” Notably, unlike the 2015 Firearms Act, the Armaments Control Act lacks detailed procedural rules, relying instead on ministerial regulations and presidential discretion. It also does not make any statutory provision requiring specific procedures for the Board to approve arms production or trade, nor does it set out any criteria that the Board must consider when evaluating applications – provisions that are present in the arms control laws of other African states such as Kenya and South Africa. As a consequence of these legislative gaps, the possibility and likelihood of meaningful transparency and accountability are limited.
Additionally, the Firearms and Ammunition Control Act of 2015 regulates the purchase, possession, transfer, and disposal of light weapons and ammunition, principally for civilian use. The Act expressly excludes ‘Armaments’, as defined in the Armaments Control Act of 1991, from its scope. Importantly, it significantly modernised Tanzania’s light firearms laws, introducing new licencing requirements, centralised firearms registries, mandatory marking and record-keeping, and end-user certification. As a consequence, the Act brings this part of Tanzania’s arms control regime in line with regional and international norms relating to the civilian ownership and trade in light arms.
Despite these partial modernisation efforts, Tanzania’s arms control system remains opaque and lacks transparency, particularly in terms of the trade in military arms. The country does not consistently participate in international reporting mechanisms such as the UN Register of Conventional Arms (UNROCA), and there is no adequately institutionalised oversight body akin to South Africa’s National Conventional Arms Control Committee. Moreover, risk assessments related to diversion, human rights, or conflict impact are not explicitly mandated by law, particularly in the case of armaments.
