Ministerial Advisory Board (MAB)


TMDA is an Executive Agency which inter-alia operates within the framework of the Executive Agencies Act, Cap 245. MAB was established under this Act together with Section 9 of Tanzania Medicines and Medical Devices Act, Cap. 219. MAB members including the chairman are appointed by the Minister responsible for health. The main role of MAB is to advise the Minister on strategic and operational matters of TMDA.

The Chairman and other Members of MAB serve for a tenure of three years and are eligible for re-appointment. Currently, there are six members who have been appointed and the Director General of TMDA serves as the Secretary to the MAB. The current composition of MAB is as follows:


Mr. Eric Shitindi - Chairman

Mr. Shitindi is currently the Board Chair of TMDA with vast experience and skills in leadership and human resources management. He attained his Masters Degree in Economics at the University of Bergen – Norway back in 1996 and a Bachelor of Arts Degree in the same field at the University of Dar es Salaam.

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Mr. Shitindi served as the Director of Management Services at President’s Office, Public Service Management (PO-PSM) between 2007 and 2011. In February 2011 he was appointed as the Permanent Secretary - Ministry of Labour and Employment where he served up to December, 2015. Between January 2016 and December 2018 he was shifted to the Prime Minister’s Office as the Permanent Secretary – Labour, Youth, Employment and People with Disability. Before his appointment as the Board Chair, he was the Regional Administrative Secretary (RAS) of Njombe Region, the position he served between July 2018 and May 2019.

In his tenure as public servant, Mr. Shitindi chaired the Government Steering Committee for merging of Social Security Funds from five to two Social Security Funds one for for Public Sector employees and another for private sector employees (2016 - 2018). He was conversely the Chair of Tripartite Steering Committee involving Government, Private Sector and Trade Unions to review labour laws & skills for the purpose of reforming them. The review led to agreement of formula for Skills Development Levy and development of Guidelines for Skills Development and Internship Programme in the country.

Mr. Shitindi had also been a Member of Labour, Economic and Social Council (LESCO) - a tripatite council responsible for advising the Minister for Labour on labour, economic and social matters between 2011 – 2018.

He had also been the Board member of various institutions to embrace the Vocational Educational and Training Authority (VETA), the National Examination Council of Tanzania (NECTA) and the Tanzania Wildlife Research Institute (TAWIRI). Mr. Shitindi was also a member of the Inter-Agency Task Team (ITT) of Legal Sector Reform Programme and the inter-ministerial Education Sector Management Group (ESMG) responsible for overseeing education sector reforms.

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Adv. Patricia Maganga – Member

Adv. Patricia M K Maganga is the Managing Partner and Lead Consultant of the M K Legal Bureau, she is also an Advocate of the High Court of Tanzania and subordinate courts thereto. Adv. Maganga worked for Government Ministries and Institutions for about thirty-four years before her voluntary retirement from the Public Service in June, 2022. During her service, for twenty-eight years she worked as the Head of Legal Services Unit under the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare.

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During her tenure of office with the Ministry, she spearheaded a number of policy and legal reforms related to health and social welfare. A number of health legislation related to public health including HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control, health care financing, professional legislation and health regulatory legislation were developed. Also, Social Welfare Legislation was developed in relation to the rights of the child and persons with disabilities. Furthermore, draft legislation on the Elder Persons and Social Welfare Professional Council, were developed.

Adv. Patricia Maganga is a holder of Bachelor Degree in Law LL.B (hons.), University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, Master’s degree of Arts Public Policy and Administration (MA-PPA), Institute of Social Studies, The Hague the Netherlands and a Post Graduate Diploma in Health Care Law, from the University of Wales, Swansea Wales in the United Kingdom. The areas of expertise of Adv. Maganga include but not limited to, legal aspects of health care services, public service laws, environmental laws, nuclear and atomic energy laws, local government and education laws respectively, advocacy, policy formulation, legislative drafting, litigation just to mention but a few.

Owing to her personal qualities, academic qualifications, experience and nature of the organizations she worked for, Adv. Maganga exemplifies professionalism in her field of work and is a person of integrity, committed to a cause, ethical values and standards required of a lawyer, counsel and counselor.

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CPA. Chiku Thabit Yusuf – Member

Ms. Chiku Thabit Yusuf is a Professional Accountant registered by the National Board of Accountants and Auditors (NBAA) as an Associate Certified Public Accountant. She holds Masters of Business Administration – Corporate Management (MBA - CM) from Mzumbe University - 2012; and Advanced Diploma in Certified Accounting from the Institute of Development Management (IDM) Mzumbe - 1997. She has attended various managerial and technical trainings, workshops, and seminars, and is currently admitted to pursue the Women Leadership Programme in the Uongozi Institute’s 2023/2024 programme.

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For her 25 years of work experience as a public sector servant, she has acquired various skills, knowledge, and experiences, including; leadership, social, communication and other skills, and also gained competence in areas of strategic management, operations management, financial accounting and reporting, internal audit, risk management and governance. Chiku has assumed different positions both at management and technical levels. Currently, she is Head of Accounts at one of the National Social Security Fund's - NSSF offices. Prior to that, she served the position of Director of Finance at the Tanzania Social Action Fund -TASAF from November 2017 to March 2020; and also served different positions at NSSF, including; Manager for the Government Departments and Embassies Office (December 2016 to October 2017), Manager for the Contributions’ Accounts Department (January 2015 to November 2016), Principal Internal Auditor (December 2002 to December 2014), Senior Internal Auditor (May 2002 to November 2002), and Internal Auditor (August 1998 to April 2002).

Chiku was among the Members of the Committee for the National Government Project Preparation Team for TASAF III - the Productive Social Safety Net (PSSN III) 2019 – 2020, and successfully led the first Tanzanian finance team that prepared the PSSN III programme's costing - the costing for the previous programmes since 2000 were done by consultants from the World Bank in Washington. She managed the establishment of the Contributions’ Accounts Department under the Directorate of Finance at the NSSF. She is also among the founder members of the Tanzania Association of Certified Women Accountants (TAWCA), and she served on the first Board of the Association. She also served the position of Vice Chair Person for the Daarul Arkam Schools Board from 2019 to 2022.

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Prof. Appolinary A. R Kamuhabwa – Member

I am a Professor in Pharmacology from the Department of Clinical Pharmacy and Pharmacology at Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences; http://www.muhas.ac.tz . I did my first degree in Pharmacy at the University of Dar es Salaam and graduated in 1994. Afterwards I pursued Masters, PhD and Postdoctoral fellowship in Pharmacology at the Catholic University of Leuven in Belgium. In 2001 I join Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences as a Lecturer, and I attained a rank of Professor in 2016. With regards to research, my areas of interest are therapeutics and other pharmacological interventions in infectious and non-infectious diseases.

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As a Professor in Pharmacology, I have carried out a number of researches including communicable and non-communicable diseases. I have conducted a number of researches in Bladder Cancer, HIV, malaria during pregnancy, hypertension and rheumatic heart disease. I have over twenty-years’ research experience in Cancer, HIV, Malaria, and cardiovascular diseases. Recently, I have been involved in research and advocacy for Sickle Cell Disease in Tanzania. As an advisor for Sickle Cell Program at Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences, since 2019, I have participated in high level side meetings during the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York, US.

I have published over 110 papers in peer reviewed research articles. I have supervised 16 Masters and 6 PhD students. I have received grants and collaborated with a number of organizations and research institutions including Management Science for Health, USAID, Sida-Sweden, and The European and Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership (EDCPT). Locally I have worked with the Ministry of Health in Tanzania for training and capacity building of human resource for health; Neglected Tropical Disease Control Program, National AIDS Control Program, Tanzania Medicines and Medical Devices Authority, National Clinical Trial Committee, and National Council for Technical Education.

I have served as the Director of Planning and Development at Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences from 2007 up to 2015. I also served as the Deputy Vice Chancellor for Planning, Finance and Administration at Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences from 2015 up to 2017. I served as Acting Vice Chancellor for Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences from September 2017 up to June 2018. I also served as the Deputy Vice Chancellor responsible for Academic, Research and Consultancy (DVC-ARC) at Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences from July 2018 to June 2023. Since June 2023, I served as the Acting Vice Chancellor of Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences. From 2nd January 2024, I am serving as the Vice Chancellor of Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences.

I am also serving as a Board Member of the Tanzania Medicines and Medical Devices Authority, Muhimbili National Hospital, Jakaya Kikwete Cardiac Institute and Catholic University of Health and Allied Sciences in Tanzania.

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Mrs. Mariam G. Mwanilwa - Member

Mrs Mariam G. Mwanilwa is registered Member of the Institute of Directors of Tanzania (IoDT). She holds a Postgraduate Diploma in Law, Mediation & Arbitration – from Social Work Institute DSM, Master’s Degree in Public Administration Specialised in Human Resources Management (HRM) from Mzumbe University –Morogoro and Advanced Diploma in Public Administration- from the Then, Institute of Development Management (IDM- Mzumbe).

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She had attended several courses in leaderships, Labour laws and Industrial relations, Management by objectives, computer applications, integrations of Human Resources and Payroll Systems, Diploma in Human Resources Management course, balanced Score Card, performance management system, Performance Based Pay system, Quality management system, Human Resources information System, directorship training course and Good Governance

Mrs Mwanilwa is currently working at the President’s Office, Public Service Management and Good Governance as Director for Salaries, Incentives and Benefits (DSIB) –Government City, Mtumba Dodoma from December, 2020.

She also worked at President’s Office, Public Service Remuneration Board (PSRB) as Acting Executive Secretary from September 2017 to November 2020. Also, from June 2015 to August 2017, she worked as Assistant Secretary - Productivity & Research Section at the President’s Office, Public Service Remuneration Board (PSRB).

She also worked as a Senior Supply Chain Advisor under Supply Chain Management System (SCMS) and Global Health Supply Chain (GHSC-TA) Projects of John Snow Inc-USAID funded projects, where she was responsible for providing leadership to develop and implement GOT strategic plans aimed at improving ART and PMTCT commodity availability in the health facilities that were providing Antiretroviral treatment in the country.

From June 2000 to May 2015, she worked with TRA from the titles of Senior Human Resources Officer to Principal Human Resources Officer at Kinondoni Tax Region, Domestic Revenue Department and TRA Headquarters dealt with Disciplinary matters, staff matters, Recruitment, Salaries, Benefits & Incentives, and integrated System of Human Resources Information & Payroll-system.

Mrs Mwanilwa, also had worked as Senior Human Resources and Administrative officer at Sokoine University of Agriculture – Morogoro from November 1995 to May 2000 and as Manpower Management officer-Mzinga Corporation Morogoro from November 1992 to October 1995.

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Mr. Daudi Msasi – Member

Mr. Msasi is currently the Director of Pharmaceutical Services and Chief Pharmacist at the Ministry of Health, Community Development, Gender, Elderly and Children. He has been working in the pharmaceutical supply chain management system for over a decade now.

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Pharmacist Msasi holds a Masters of Business Administration (MBA) degree majoring in Human Resources Management. He acquired this advanced qualification from Saint Augustine University of Tanzania. He is also the holder of Bachelor of Pharmacy degree of the Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences (MUHAS).

During his civil service, he has served in various positions within the pharmaceutical sector to include being the Acting Director of Customer Service and Zonal Operations at Medical Stores Department (MSD) between 2016 and 2017; MSD Zonal Manager - Mbeya branch between 2013 and 2016 and Mtwara between 2009 and 2013.

He also worked as Sales Office cum Pharmacist In-Charge at MSD in Mtwara region between 2007 and 2009; Chairperson of Mtwara Regional Logistic Committee for National AIDS Testing Campaign in 2007 and Group leader for data collection in the International Network for Rational Use of Drugs (INRUD) in Tanzania.

Mr. Msasi serves in the MAB Sub-Committee of Legal and Technical Matters and he assists the Board in matters related to the pharmaceutical sector. His role within the Ministry responsible for health brings – up Ministerial connectivity or link-up to the Board for the overall intention of defining and interpreting policies that needs to be construed by MAB for effective implementation

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Mr. Adam Mitangu Fimbo - Secretary

Mr. Adam Mitangu Fimbo is currently a PhD candidate at Karolinska Institutet – Sweden. He also holds a Masters Degree in Clinical Trials which he attained at the University of London at London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine – United Kingdom. Likewise, he also acquired a Masters Degree in Pharmaceutical Services and Medicines Control of the University of Bradford in United Kingdom. His first degree was Bachelor of Pharmacy which he did at Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences (MUHAS).

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Mr. Fimbo is the Director General of TMDA – the position he is holding since September 2020. Before that he was in the acting capacity since 2018. Between 2010 and 2018, Mr. Fimbo was the Director of Medicines and Cosmetics at the time the Tanzania Food and Drugs Authority (TFDA) was in existence.

Mr. Fimbo has pioneered the establishment of an effective regulatory system within TMDA that has enabled the Authority to become one of the best Authorities in Africa including attaining ISO 9001 certification and World Health Organization (WHO) Maturity Level 3. He has further orchestrated the development of a robust and effective system for control of clinical trials in Tanzania which was inexistent before 2008.

Mr. Fimbo was part of a team that pioneered the establishment of the African Vaccines Regulators Forum (AVAREF) whose objectives are centred around building capacity of African regulatory authorities and ethics committees to set-up systems for regulatory oversight of clinical trials involving HIV, malaria, meningitis, rotavirus, ebola and other priority vaccines.

Coupled with his managerial acumen, Mr. Fimbo conversely possesses great technical abilities in a wide array of regulatory functions to include assessment of dossiers of medicines, vaccines, medical devices and diagnostics submitted by manufacturers for marketing authorization, good manufacturing practices (GMP) inspection of pharmaceutical, biological and medical device manufacturers, good clinical practices (GCP) inspection of clinical trials, pharmacovigilance expertise including monitoring of adverse events following immunization (AEFIs) and auditing of quality systems in organizations as per ISO standards. The work experience and knowledge acquired through his qualifications have contributed significantly towards accruing these notable and holistic technical abilities.

Mr. Fimbo has also attended a series of national, regional and international meetings, workshops and seminars related to regulation of medical products including making presentations. He had also been engaged in a number of retreats to develop various regulatory guidelines that are currently in use.

As the Director within TMDA, Mr. Fimbo had saved as the Secretary in a number of Committees to include the Human Medicines Registration Technical Committee, the Veterinary Medicines Registration Technical Committee, the Clinical Trials Technical Committee, the Pharmacovigilance Technical Committee and the Medical Devices and Diagnostics Registration Technical Committee. He was also the Chairman of the Tender Board, Chairman of the Staff Loan Committee and Chairman of the Integrity Committee.

In the international arena, Mr. Fimbo had worked as the Technical Officer with the World Health Organization (WHO) in Geneva – Switzerland under the auspices of the WHO Prequalification Programme, between November 2008 and February 2009. In the same Programme context, he was amongst the Assessors who were commissioned by the WHO in the assessment of dossiers for products that seek WHO prequalification approval between 2007 and 2009.

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