2021 TANZANIA HOLIDAYS

2021 Public Holidays Tanzania Service

The above is the list of 2021 public holidays declared in Tanzania which includes federal, regional government holidays and popular observances. We also provide Tanzania holiday calendar for 2021 in Word, Excel, PDF and printable online formats.

The Public Holidays Ordinance (Amended) Act of 1966 provides guidance and recognition of all public holidays observed in the entire East African nation of Tanzania. The Act recognizes a total of seventeen public holidays. Most of these holidays can be classified as religious owing to the fact that they are celebrated by the two dominant faiths in the nation; Christianity and Islam. As such, observance dates may vary depending on the sightings of the moon, and official changes are announced. Sometimes, different interpretations may occur between religious authorities on the assigned day.

The country's constitution also extends powers to the president to declare additional public holidays at their own discretion. This usually happens to mark major national events like inaugurations and the general election day. All employers are expected to follow the directive given. For the semi-autonomous islands of Zanzibar, similar powers are granted to the President of Zanzibar.

For employees, the law allows them to stay off duty and further states in the Public Holidays Ordinance that if an employee has to work on a public holiday, the employer has to pay the employee twice the employee's basic wage for every hour worked on such day. However, for holidays that fall on Saturdays or Sundays, the law does not compel the employer to cater for any additional pay.

For travelers and people on business engagements, it is prudent to ensure that no major religious or national holiday coincides with their scheduled arrangements as virtually all public and select private establishments are affected by the holidays.