In our daily activities we are given responsibilities through our professions, contracts we enter, laws and many other sources. It is everyone's obligation to fulfill their responsibilities to the required standards so as to avoid causing injury or damage to others. Failure to meet or perform at substandard amount to breach of legal duty hence civil wrong called negligence.

In Tanzania, a person can sue for negligence itself as a major suit or for negligence to prove some other tort such as defamation or trespass. However, in order to be successful in a negligence lawsuit, you need to prove the following three points: -

i. the defendant owes the duty of care to the plaintiff

ii. the defendant has breached the duty of care

iii. due to that breach plaintiff suffered damages/injury

Tanzanian courts have frequently pronounced decisions on negligence cases. Most of these decisions have been referring to the cardinal rule of negligence pronounced by Lord Atkins in the case of Donoghue Vs Stevenson “you must take reasonable care to avoid act or omission which you can reasonably foresee would be likely to injure your neighbor”.

As to “Who is your Neighbor” lord artkin he then defines the principle of neighbor as “person so closely and directed affected by my act that I ought reasonable to have them in contemplation as being do affected when I am directing my mind to the act or omission which called in question”.

Instituting negligence case in court does not guarantee victory. You must be able to prove the three elements indicated above. You must produce strong evidence to support the basic elements. The court may agree with you or reject your plea.

In Belson Mbezibwa v. Coca cola Kwanza Ltd, Civil Appeal No. 33 of 1999, complainant went to the bar and ordered a soft drink and then he started to drink it but when he was about to finish it, he discovered that there was some particles of a dead snail in the bottle of the drink. He sued the manufacture for negligence. The court found the manufacturer of the drink negligent and ordered payment of damages to the complainant.

In Mwalu H. Dege v. Kitonka Medical Hospital, Civil Case No. 134 Of 2022, the plaintiff sued the defendant (medical hospital) for the medical negligence that was allegedly done by the employees of the defendant that has caused grievous harm and permanent disability to the plaintiff. The defendant refuted the claims on the ground that all what was done by the defendant was to make sure that the plaintiff's life was saved hence there was no act of negligence. She further claimed that all the medical procedures were done with high level of care to the effect that no grievous harm or permanent disability occurred.

The judge in arriving to the decision whether the defendant was negligence stated by defining “Medical Negligence” so as to appreciate the meaning of it in relation to the evidence that was adduced.

“Medical negligence involves a health care provider failing to follow the recognized standard of care and causing preventable harm to a patient”

The court found that, there was no professional negligence on the part of the defendant which caused the plaintiff to undergo unnecessary procedures. A surgery was necessary to what seemed at the time as saving the plaintiff's life.

If you need more information/assistance on negligence claims in Tanzania, please do not hesitate to contact us.

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