By Evarist Baimu Nyaga Mawalla - Home

In my judgment Underhill and Another is no authority for the proposition that aninterim injunction cannot granted in proceedings for prerogative remedies. And Dr.Lamwai’s submission that the Government Proceedings Act is inapplicable to the matterat hand has substance.Certainly to make that Act applicable to proceedings relating to prerogativeremedies would result into thinning the intended affect of the remedy of mandamus, andit may be well to remember that mandamus, for one, has some of the attributes of amandatory injunction. Both are commands from the Court that some legal duty beperformed; and disobedience to them is a contempt of court for which the normal penaltyis imprisonment.I am the more inclined to take that view by another consideration; theGovernment Proceedings Act is basically designed to make private law applicable theGovernment, subject to the modifications and exemption set out therein. But mattersrelating to prerogative remedies do not belong to the province of private law. Theypertain to public law.In England injunction is apparently conceived to be basically a private lawremedy and the position is that prerogative remedies cannot be sought alternatively tosuch remedy or be married to any other form of action.They can be sought only by their own peculiar process, which reflect their peculiarnature.In Tanzania, as Dr Lamwai pointed out, it has been the practice to grantinter injunction inproceedings or prerogative remedies where it has been deemed just and convenient to doso, notably in immigration matters to restrain the authorities from repatriating orexpecting people from the country pending the final conclusion of proceedings for theissue of habeas corpus, that, in my view, is good practice, and whether the machinery ofthe central government would be unduly impeded by the issue of such injunction in aparticular case should be one of the points to be considered by the court in deciding thequestion whether it is just and convenient to grant the injunction.I hold that an application for interim mandatory injunctions is maintainable in lawin Tanzania in cases such as the instant one. This much, though should be conceded.First, such injunction is more drastic on effect; and, secondly, the court is often not inposition to superintend the operation involved. So, as the text in Hanbury referred to byDr. Lamwai says, such injunction should be less readily granted. Bearing in mind thosetwo considerations, in particular the second one, I take the view that it is not convenientto grant a mandatory interim injunction in this action as asked for. But fairness demandsthat the status quo be maintained, which means placer Dome should stop doing any workat the area by way event, the order of this Court is that the respondent shall prevent PlacerDome from doing any Mining work at the area until the final determination of this actionor until further order of the Court.242