| Stergomena Tax | |
| Office: | Minister of Defence and National Service |
| Term Start: | 1 September 2023 |
| President: | Samia Suluhu |
| Primeminister: | Kassim Majaliwa |
| Predecessor: | Innocent Bashungwa |
| Term Start1: | 13 September 2021 |
| Term End1: | 3 October 2022 |
| President1: | Samia Suluhu |
| Primeminister1: | Kassim Majaliwa |
| Predecessor1: | Elias John Kwandikwa |
| Successor1: | Innocent Bashungwa |
| Office2: | Minister of Foreign Affairs and East African Cooperation |
| President2: | Samia Suluhu |
| Primeminister2: | Kassim Majaliwa |
| Term Start2: | 3 October 2022 |
| Term End2: | 31 August 2023 |
| Predecessor2: | Liberata Mulamula |
| Successor2: | January Makamba |
| Order3: | 4th |
| Office3: | Executive Secretary of SADC |
| Term Start3: | September 2013 |
| Term End3: | 15 August 2021 |
| Predecessor3: | Tomaz Salomão |
| Successor3: | Elias Mpedi Magosi |
| Office4: | Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of East African Cooperation |
| Term Start4: | November 2008 |
| Term End4: | August 2013 |
| President4: | Jakaya Kikwete |
| Successor4: | Joyce Mapunjo |
| Birth Date: | 6 July 1960 |
| Birth Place: | Magu, Mwanza, Tanganyika |
| Nationality: | Tanzanian |
| Children: | 2 |
| Alma Mater: | University of Dar es Salaam University of Tsukuba |
Stergomena Lawrence Tax (born 6 July 1960) is Tanzania's minister of Defence and National Service the first woman to hold the title since the country’s independence. She was previously the Minister of Foreign Affairs and East African Cooperation. Before that she served as the executive secretary of the Southern African Development Community (SADC).[1] [2] [3]
Tax was educated at a number of primary schools in Tanzania and at Lake Secondary School in Mwanza where she was a contemporary of Tanzanian fifth president John Magufuli.[4]
She obtained her Bachelor of Commerce degree in Finance from the University of Dar es Salaam in 1991. She thereafter obtained a Master of Philosophy in Policy Management and Development Economics and a Doctor of Philosophy in International Development from the University of Tsukuba in Japan.
She served as the Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of East African Cooperation from 2008 to 2013, when she was appointed as the Executive Secretary of the Southern African Development Community at the 33rd Summit of the Heads of State and Government in Lilongwe, Malawi.
In August 2021, she was replaced by Elias Mpedi Magosi as secretary of SADC. On 10 September 2021, she was nominated Member of Parliament by President Samia Suluhu Hassan. On 12 September 2021, she was appointed Minister of Defence.[5] [6] On 3 October 2022, she was appointed minister of foreign affairs.[7] On 1 September 2023, following another cabinet reshuffle, she resumed her previous docket as Minister of Defence and National Service.[8]