Mwakyembe eats humble pie as marriage order reversed

Dar es Salaam. Justice and Constitutional Affairs minister Harrison Mwakyembe blundered publicly Thursday, and is now going to have to eat humble pie and admit that he was wrong on his controversial ‘no birth certificate, no marriage’ order.

President John Magufuli has moved swiftly to reverse Dr Mwakyembe’s controversial directive.

In a quick rejoinder just before he left Dodoma for Dar es Salaam yesterday, President Magufuli said the order was illegal, and suggested it did not make sense in a country where only 20 per cent of the population have birth certificates.

He said the order would deny 80 per cent of Tanzanians their right to marriage.

“When I heard this yesterday I was shocked...I was shocked, honestly I was shocked,” the President said at the Chamwino State Lodge.

“Therefore, my fellow Tanzanians, do not worry, keep on marrying.”

He said if there was any legal ground for Dr Mwakyembe’s decision, he would direct the minister to take that up with the National Assembly for amendment.

On Thursday, the minister said Tanzanian couples would not be allowed to marry without producing birth certificates, with effect from May 1, this year.

He directed the Registration, Insolvency and Trusteeship Agency (Rita) to initiate a legal process that paves the way for the restriction during the two-month window he gave in Morogoro.

The minister made what has since turned out to be a spur-of-the-moment declaration ostensibly to address the low rate of birth registration in the country.

“Tanzania still lags behind in registration of births; we are among the five worst-performers in Africa,” he said.

And commenting on the surprise rejoinder by the Head of State yesterday, analysts expressed concerns over what they said were increasing signs of discord between senior government officials and the State House on policy matters.

“This is policy matter, which was supposed to have been discussed at the cabinet level, but it appears (the minister made) a personal decision,” said Prof Kitila Mkumbo, a senior lecturer at the University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM)’s College of Education.

He also criticised the minister’s order as “wrong” because it was apparently made without regard to the real situation on the ground.

Prof Adrian Msafiri, a senior lecturer at the Stella Maris Mtwara University, a constituent college of St Augustine’s University of Tanzania, said the minister erred in his approach, though his intentions could have been good.

“There is due course to follow before taking such orders to the public,” he said, “Had the Head of State not intervened, this was going to cause problems because it infringes human rights.”

Mr Richard Mbunda, On his part, a political analyst at the University of Dar es Salaam, said the incident revealed “administrative problems” in the Fifht Phase Government.

“We have administrative problems (in government) because some very important decisions are made without cabinet approval,” he said.

He warned that the increasing signs of “discord” on policy matters in government were increasingly confusing the public and creating anxiety.

“They have to be careful because they are confusing the people who are voting in three years; they are cornering themselves,” he said.

This is not the first-time such an incident is happening.

In December last year, President Magufuli ordered local authorities not to evict hawkers from urban centres, asking them instead to find commercially suitable areas for the traders.

The President specifically called for a stop to the eviction of hawkers from Mwanza streets and artisanal miners from their mining areas in Shinyanga Region.

He said those who were not ready to heed the directive should step aside. It was not the first time President Magufuli told authorities in Mwanza to stop “harassing” hawkers. He first issued the directive in August when he addressed a public rally there.

Hawkers had been forced off the streets in Mwanza city centre on the orders of city director Kilomoni Kibamba, while Energy and Minerals deputy minister Medard Kalemani ordered the eviction of small-scale miners in Nyaligongo Village, Shinyanga Region.

However, President Magufuli, speaking in the presence of Vice President Samia Suluhu Hassan and Deputy Minister of State in the President’s Office (Regional Administration and Local Government) Suleiman Jaffo, overturned the decisions.

In January, this year, President Magufuli also sacked the head of state-run Tanzania Electric Supply Company (Tanesco), Mr Felchesmi Mramba, over an “unsanctioned” power tariff increase announced by the Energy and Water Utilities Regulatory Authority (Ewura).

A statement from State House suggested that the President had not been consulted.

Dr Magufuli said the move would stymie his plans to industrialise the country.