| A hectic five years comes to conclusion | Send to a friend |
| Friday, 16 July 2010 09:34 |
 By Lucas LigangaWhen Mr Samuel John Sitta was elected the fourth Speaker of the National Assembly on December 26, 2005, he made his celebrated pledge to lead the august House “with standards and speed.” The Urambo East Member of Parliament on the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) ticket is a long time politician and civil servant. He became the fourth Speaker since the country’s independence in 1961. The first, Chief Erasto Mang’enya, occupied the hot Speaker’s seat from 1961 to 1967; followed by Chief Adam Sapi Mkwawa (1967-1994) and Mr Pius Msekwa (1994-2005). Mr Sitta pledged that he would not tolerate “shallow” answers from ministers during House sessions, and was looking forward to upholding the highest legislative standards. “I wanted to include the civil society in decision-making within parliament and introduce more open committee systems,” he says in a report published by Africa Research Institute, a non-partisan think tank based in London. The report has been co-authored by Mr Sitta, Karatu MP Dr Willibrod Slaa (Chadema) and Bariadi East MP John Cheyo (UDP) who describe their roles in far-reaching reforms ranging from the first parliamentary committee of enquiry to regular Prime Minister’s questions. “In the struggle to create a vigilant and accountable public institution in Africa, Tanzania has set an important precedent,” says Mr Mark Ashurst. He is the director of the Africa Research Institute and a former BBC Africa business editor as well as foreign correspondent in Africa for the Financial Times, The Economist and Newsweek. He adds that a group of activist MPs has boldly asserted their constitutional role: the oversight of government business and the challenge function of standing up to the executive power. At the end of its five-year tenure, the National Assembly officially winds up business in Dodoma after President Jakaya Kikwete addresses it later today. The House will officially be dissolved on August 1, this year, to allow MPs full participation in the electoral process towards the next October General Election. Mr Sitta says his message was to empower parliament to fulfill its role as a true pillar in terms of governance so that the government does not get complacent. He thinks that MPs responded to that with an 80 per cent vote in his favour. “In hindsight, perhaps I was elected to my position against the wishes of the government,” recalls the Speaker. The report says one of the first things that Mr Sitta did in 2007 was to source an independent budget—the National Assembly Fund—for parliament. Until then costs of running parliament had always been included in the budget for the Prime Minister’s Office. “MPs were subject to government instructions on driving privileges, mileage limits and other regulations dictated in the form of circulars,” he says. He explains that these circulars were binding because the clerk of the National Assembly acted as an accounting officer of the government, and in that sense MPs were treated as civil servants. He says the National Assembly Fund signifies that the government has accepted that parliament should be completely independent. “Parliament is very expensive to run. Just to keep up with the amount of paperwork requires energy and resources,” Mr Sitta points out in the report titled: A Parliament with Teeth, noting: “The National Assembly Fund gives us more autonomy to employ researchers and expertise. We can hire new blood and transfer those members of staff who lack the necessary skills to work in parliament back to the civil service.” Among other things, the Speaker says the National Assembly has introduced a new package for Hansard editors who always work up to midnight because they have to document all the day’s proceedings before the next morning. In November 2007, he recalls, the National Assembly revised the Standing Orders to enable more vibrant discussions and debates. “It was not easy. For example, at first they (Members of Parliament) refused to have the Prime Minister’s Questions. They said that it was not appropriate because we have an executive president,” he says. However, despite all this, Mr Sitta says, “you can see a new mood, an appetite to get things done in a different way.” He says it has now become possible to appoint a select committee to investigate a public controversy, something that would have been very difficult under the old Standing Orders. He says according to the Standing Orders, MPs must notify the Speaker that they wish to appoint a committee by putting the whole issue in writing, and then it is put to the vote. In the past, if such a request appeared inconvenient to the government, they would impose a three-line whip and the investigation would not take place, he explains. According to him, in 2006 there was no request for any kind of investigation by parliament. Mr Sitta says the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has been trained and travelled to all the Commonwealth member countries. It is now better equipped and has a lot of informal connections with similar committees in other places. “We have also set up a Local Authorities Accounts Committee, Public Investments Committee and Public Organizations Accounts Committee. These are headed by the opposition MPs,” he says. The Speaker explains that the new rules require the PAC reports to be discussed by parliament. On the other hand, the PAC reports to the House with an analysis of the report of the Controller and Auditor General (CAG), and this triggers a two-day debate in parliament. Observes Mr Sitta: “Previously no discussion was required. The report was tabled and perhaps an MP would take the initiative to raise certain issues. But that was all.” The National Assembly has been working on a five-year corporate plan for parliament with support from Scandinavia, UK’s Department for International Development (DFID), the World Bank and Association of West European Parliaments for Africa (AWEPA). “Once operational, the Bunge Foundation will form a committee to meet twice a year to discuss government spending. Previously, this role of analysing government expenditure to see if we are getting value for money was exclusively the role of the donor community,” he says. Another aspect in the five-year plan is a legislative programme to entrench the separation of powers. This tries to elevate the Bunge so that its independence is not in question, says Mr Sitta. He says some constitutional changes are necessary to achieve a more effective parliament. “The Public is appetite for this. People want independent MPs,” he adds. Dr Slaa says: “If we are going to have a parliament with teeth, then we need a president who is willing to drive that.” However, he thinks President Kikwete has supported reforms in parliament but does not have full support from the CCM ranks. Mr Cheyo says under the multi-party system, parliament is pushing for more aspects of accountability. “Under previous administrations, the role of parliament had been undermined for a long time,” adds the Bariadi East MP. Add this page to your favorite Social Bookmarking websites           |
