Harnessing the Potentials of Free, Prior and Informed Consent in Tanzanian Legislation for Natural Resources Governance

Abstract

Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) is a necessary peace and harmony vessel in natural resource governance as it empowers communities to defend their resource rights in all resource-rich countries. Tanzania is a renowned, natural resource-rich country; hence, the exploitation of its natural resources is inevitable. The natural resource exploitation causes negative impacts on the lives of the people in which the resource exploitation projects are located. Embarking on FPIC in natural resource governance schemes is a dual gateway where communities safeguard their rights in respect of natural resources and investors get assured of a Social Licence to Operate (SLO). This paper examines the prevalence of FPIC rights internationally and whether internationally recognised FPIC can be ascertained and implemented in Tanzania to enable Project Affected People(s) (PAPs) to either “give” or “withhold” consent in pursuit of resource exploitation-associated rights. Doctrinal legal research methodology was employed to examine FPIC insights internationally and domestically, and to assess whether Tanzania can learn through the international FPIC platform in legislating for FPIC domestically. International and Tanzanian legal instruments were examined and pegged to determine the extent to which FPIC prevails in Tanzania. Content analysis and syllogism were used to analyse the contents. The results reveal that FPIC is internationally established and honoured. However, Tanzanian laws only gesture some FPIC principles; and the said FPIC gestures are not enshrined in any independent law. FPIC principles in Tanzania are just superficially and indirectly inferred in various law(s) related to natural resources. This paper recommends explicit legislated FPIC rights in Tanzania as they enhance good governance in the natural resource sector.