Author(s)

Lubunga Kakozi

Department of Political Science and Public Administration, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, The Open University of Tanzania, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) seem to play an intelligible role in a sustainable world: From advocacy to empowerment, and service delivery to community building. However, there is an on-going debate on the establishment and functioning of CSOs in Tanzania especially when they show up for advocacy, which takes the form of counter-power actions and protests. Many nagging questions which dominate the debate include CSOs’ establishment, functioning, and funding. This paper assesses legal foundations for the establishment and functioning of CSOs in Tanzania. The work focuses on a description of the laws which guide the existence and operations of CSOs in Tanzania. The study adopted a qualitative research design which employed qualitative approach in the identification of laws which support the establishment and shape the functioning of CSOs in Tanzania. The paper concludes that, despite observed political uncertainties, CSOs’ establishment in Tanzania has legal foundations; and their functioning is legitimate regardless observed political discrepancies.

CSOs, Advocacy, Legal Foundations, Political Discrepancies

Kakozi, L. (2022) Assessment of Legal Foundations for the Establishment and Functioning of Civil Society Organisations in Tanzania. Open Journal of Social Sciences, 10, 292-297. doi: 10.4236/jss.2022.102021.