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B.A. Samatta (As he then was) Mohammed Ismail35 B.A. Samatta – I often told him that his initials should have been C.J. and not B.A. as the former were more fitting and descriptive of the person. Barnabas Albert Samatta crossed my eyes for the first time way back in 1962 – at Tabora Boys School. I only knew him as a person who was one year my senior and a prefect of Lacy House. I got to be more familiar with Samatta at the University College of Dar es Salaam in 1964 – when I joined the Law Faculty and found him also in the same Faculty in his second year. By then it was clear that Samatta was a “top” student in his class and “a total lawyer,” who spoke law and joked law. If you were not a good law student you might not have appreciated Samatta’s excellent humour. As a law student he held two prominent posts at the University – one elected and the other merited (earned) or deserving. The elected one was as Speaker of the UCR – University Council of Representatives – the student’s elected Government body. Samatta was an elected Member of Parliament so to speak – and then was elected as Speaker of the House, as it were. Samatta excelled in that office and seemed to get much pleasure in directing UCR Members and distinguishing issues, motions etc. He had an alert legal mind when it came to members speaking out of order or on points that were irrelevant. The other “post” held by Samatta while he was a student at the Law Faculty was of an organization that did not have a written Constitution, bye-laws or rules. He was the Secretary General of a Society titled “ANTI 35.Advocate of the High Court of Tanzania 42 RULE OF LAW VERSUS RULERS OF LAW SOBRIETY CLUB.” I have never been fortunate enough to be availed with the Constitution of that organization. No one seemed to know how the members were selected or chosen – yet there was no secret as to who the members were!! A constant number of law undergraduates were regularly observed at the student’s ‘bar’ (alongside the cafeteria) often after library hours (i.e. 10:00p.m.). Serious discussions or debates on points of law were said to take place at these meetings as beer was being consumed. I was re-united with BA again in Mwanza as a State Attorney in June 1969. This was a different forum – here we were both State Attorneys working for the Attorney General’s Chambers stationed at Mwanza – he of course my senior. Here was a different Samatta, immaculately dressed – the “Charles Njonjo” type of dress – dark suit, tie, and sober coloured shirts. The external appearance was solemn, his performance in the court was professional but he retained his humour. Samatta left Mwanza and after a brief stay at Iringa, he returned to Dar es Salaam to serve in the Attorney General’s Chambers and ultimately was appointed Director of Public Prosecutions. I was transferred to Dar es Salaam and worked under him in the Attorney Generals’ Chambers. If one was fortunate enough to work under Samatta – he or she was forced to appreciate his detail analysis of legal issues and his total commitment and love for his work. I have often felt that Samatta was more comfortable and indeed enjoyed more being Director of Public Prosecutions than a Judge! I stand to be corrected. The next appointment for Samatta was to be sworn in as a Judge and ultimately the highest post the Judiciary could offer him - the Chief Justice of Tanzania. I felt that although that is the highest post in the legal fraternity, the nation gets robbed of a good legal mind when persons like him have to spend more time in administrative duties than purely judicial work. But that is not the topic for today. The humour in Samatta, his uprightness and integrity I have yet to see in another Judge. To conclude I will repeat what one of his fellow Judges told me: - “One day there was a chamber application before a Judge in the High Court in Dar es Salaam. An Advocate who had been on the roll for a long time but had not been appearing in Court as he had been holding high public office appeared in the Judge’s Chambers for the Applicant. When the matter was called, the Advocate stood up to...

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