Kinana defends electoral bills despite Chadema criticism

Dar es Salaam. Mainland vice chairperson of the ruling Chama cha Mapinduzi (CCM) Abdulrahman Kinana yesterday outlined some of the steps taken by the government led by his party to implement reforms despite criticism from the main opposition party, Chadema.

Chadema organised a demonstration in Dar es Salaam on January 24, 2024, against three electoral bills, a soaring cost of living, and a call for constitutional amendment to ensure independent oversight of the coming elections.

The said electoral bills include the National Electoral Commission (NEC) Bill, the President, Parliamentarians and Councillors Bill, as well as the Political Parties Affairs Bill. Chadema accused the government of ignoring public opinion on the bills and flopping reconciliation discussions between the two parties.

However, speaking yesterday during a meeting with CCM members in Dar es Salaam, Mr Kinana defended the bills, saying they are capable of administering free and fair elections.

“The President, Samia Suluhu Hassan, has determination and good intentions for this nation. I urge Tanzanians to stick together and maintain peace and unity,” he said.

During his remarks, Mr Kinana highlighted several initiatives that the government and CCM have initiated, including a special talk with Chadema alone that lasted over a year. “From May 2022 to June 2023, we held 11 meetings, and during those talks, the only arguments that were discussed were from Chadema,” said Mr Kinana.

He added that the government has also facilitated the freedom of nearly 400 members of the opposition who were apprehended by the security forces in different parts of the country as part of the reconciliation discussed by the two parties. The reconciliations also resulted in the dropping of nine out of 11 court cases that were against Chadema. “One remaining case in Njombe involved the death of a citizen, and the other in Kibaha involved illegal drugs,” he said, adding that CCM could not negotiate on that.

He added that the party also assured the safety of Chadema leaders upon their return from abroad, including the vice chairperson of Chadema, Mr Tundu Lissu.

“On June 7, 2022, then Minister of Home Affairs, Mr Hamad Masauni, went before the Parliament and issued a special statement regarding Chadema leaders who were abroad, urging them to return as the country is safe. They all returned; has anything happened so far? Nothing!” he said. In his address, Mr Kinana also highlighted how the lifting of the ban on political rallies provided forums for criticism.

Mr Kinana revealed that Chadema received Sh2.7 billion in accrued subsidies, which the opposition party had boycotted since 2020 after rejecting the general election results. “Another issue from Chadema was about the 19 MPs, which they requested we remove from the parliament. We told them we have no authority over this matter as it’s before the court. We told them to defend the matter in court using their lawyers,” he said.

Why discussions flopped

Mr Kinana explained two reasons for flopping the reconciliation discussions, accusing the opposition for both reasons.

First, Mr Kinana said, Chadema misused the public rallies to issue provocative statements about CCM and its leaders while the reconciliation talks were still ongoing.

According to him, the second reason is a demand by Chadema to exclusively discuss constitutional reforms with CCM without the involvement of the government, other parties or the public.

“We said that cannot happen because the constitution is not the property of Chadema and CCM alone,” Mr Kinana said. Chadema secretary general, Mr John Mnyika, said that the party is preparing to respond to Mr Kinana’s statement. However, speaking as someone who participated in the reconciliation talks, Mr Mnyika said Mr Kinana’s statements did not provide genuine reasons for the breakdown of the reconciliation discussions.

According to him, the talks were not hindered by the statements made by Chadema leaders during political rallies, but rather there were two reasons that influenced the failure.

“First, CCM did not want amendments to the 1977 Constitution in areas that would facilitate free and fair elections. These include allowing the presidential results to be challenged in court, changing the structure of the independent electoral commission, accommodating independent candidates, and challenging the election commission in court, among others,” said Mr Mnyika by phone.

“The second reason is CCM’s refusal to move ahead with constitutional review. It is not true that we wanted to negotiate the constitution solely between Chadema and CCM. We submitted proposals to them to present a bill to Parliament that would continue the process involving the participation of various stakeholders,” he said.

Mr Mnyika said that by the time the talks stalled in June 2023, there were still some important arguments that had not been discussed.