Outspoken Tanzanian lawyer Fatma Karume disbarred for malpractice

Tanzanian lawyer and former president of the mainland bar association Fatma Karume has been removed from the roll of advocates, meaning she can no longer practice law.

The decision to disbar her was announced on Wednesday by the Tanganyika Law Society (TLS) Ethics Committee sitting at the High Court, which found her to have breached the code of ethics.

Consequently, the committee ordered that her practicing number 848 be scrapped from the list of lawyers licensed to practice in Tanzania.

Ms Karume, who had earlier this week been sacked from a Dar es Salaam-based law firm, said she would not be seeking a reversal of the disbarment.

“I will not be appealing the decision,” said Ms Karume in a tweet.

IMMMA Advocates, where she was a senior partner, accused her of bringing disrepute to the firm and adversely affecting its business relationship with clients.

The law firm claimed she was practicing “political activism” through social media platforms, contravening the legal code of ethics.

Ms Karume, a granddaughter of former Zanzibar President Amani Abeid Karume, was elected TLS president in April 2018 for a one-year term that ended last April.