‘You must take medical test’

Abstract

This article examines the long established practice by employers in Tanzania to compel prospective employees to undergo medical examination before accepting an offer of employment or before such offer of employment becomes operative. The article uses the case study approach of a public and private institution: the Open University of Tanzania and Akiba Commercial Bank respectively. After analyzing the law in the context of the selected cases, I argue that the employers’ practice of compelling prospective employees to undergo medical testing is arbitrary, unproportional and contravenes the well known principles of data protection as well as the constitutional right to privacy.