Queen Elizabeth II legacy in Tanzania

Elizabeth II was Queen of Tanganyika from 1961 to 1962, when Tanganyika was an independent sovereign state and a constitutional monarchy. She was also the monarch of other sovereign states, including the United Kingdom. Her constitutional roles in Tanganyika were mostly delegated to the governor-general of Tanganyika.

The monarchy was created by the Tanganyika independence Act 1961 which transformed the United Nations Trust territory of Tanganyika into an independent sovereign constitutional monarchy.

Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh represented the Queen of Tanganyika at the independence celebration. On 9 December 1961, the Duke presented Tanganyika’s instrument of independence to Julius Nyerere, who then became the Prime Minister of independent Tanganyika. Dar es salaam was made a city, when the Duke presented the Royal Charter and Letters Patent. He was then made the first Freeman of Dar es salaam, and afterwards told the gathering. “A new mantle of dignity and responsibility has fallen on the citizens of Dar es salaam”. On 11 December, the Duke formally opened the first session of the parliament of independent Tanganyika, on behalf of the Queen, before an assembly of people and diplomats, at a ceremony of pomp and color. Richard Turnbull, the Governor-General, addressed the Duke, asking him to open Parliament by leading the speech from the Throne.

Tanganyika was one of the realms of the Commonwealth of Nations that shared the same person as sovereign and head of state.

Effective with the Tanganyika Independence Act 1961, no British government minister could advice the sovereign on any matters of Tanganyika, the monarch was advised solely by Tanganyika ministers of the Crown. All Tanganyikan bills required Royal assent. The Tanganyikan monarch was represented in the realm by the Governor-General of Tanganyika, who was appointed by the monarch on the advice of the Tanganyikan Prime Minister.

The Government of Tanganyika was officially known as Her Majesty’s Government.

The Tanganyikan monarch and the National Assembly of Tanganyika constituted the Parliament of Tanganyika. All executive power of Tanganyika rested with the sovereign. All laws in Tanganyika were enacted only with the granting of Royal Assent, done by the Governor-General could reserve a bill “for the queen’s pleasure”; that is withhold his consent to the bill and present it to the sovereign for her personal decision; or he could veto it completely by withholding his assent therefrom. The Governor-General was also responsible for summoning, proroguing, and dissolving Parliament. The Governor-General had the power to choose and appoint the Council of Ministers and could dismiss them under the discretion. All Tanganyikan ministers of the Crown held office at the pleasure of the Governor-General.

The highest court of appeal for Tanganyika was the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council. The monarch, and by extension the governor-general, could also grant immunity from prosecution, exercise the royal prerogative of mercy, and pardon offences against the Crown, either before, during, or after a trial.

The Tanganyikan monarchy was abolished on 9 December 1962, and Tanganyika became a republic within the Commonwealth with the president of Tanganyika as head of state.

Tanganyika merged with Zanzibar in 1964 after the Zanzibar Revolution to form Tanzania. Queen Elizabeth visited Tanzania on 19-22 July 1979,visiting Arusha, Dar es salaam, Zanzibar, and Kilimanjaro.

According to Queen’s death a huge shock to the nation and the world-Prime Minister Truss said “We are all devastated by the news we have just heard from Balmoral. The death of Her Majesty the Queen is a huge shock to the nation and to the world.

“Queen Elizabeth II was the rock on which modern Britain was built. Our country has grown and flourished under her reign.

“Britain is the great country it is today because of her.

“She ascended the throne just after the second world war. She championed the development of the Commonwealth-from a small group of seven countries to a family of 56 nations spanning every continent of the world.

“We are now a modern, thriving, dynamic nation.

“Today the Crown passes-as it has done for more than a thousand years-to our new monarch, our new head of stat: His Majesty King Charles III.

“With the King’s family, we mourn the loss of his mother. And as we mourn the loss of his mother. And as we mourn, we must come together as a people to support him.

“To help him bear the awesome responsibility that he now carries for us all.

“We offer him our loyalty and devotion just as his mother devoted so much to so many for so long.

“And with the passing of the second Elizabethan age, we usher in a new era in the magnificent history of our great country.

“Exactly as Her Majesty would have wished-by saying the words: ‘God save the King”.