Tanzania Constitutional Forum to relaunch new Katiba debate

Dar es Salaam. The Tanzania Constitutional Forum (Jukata) yesterday said it will revive the debate on the new Katiba that has stalled for four years ago to ensure this year’s general elections are held under the new constitution.

About nine months to general elections, the forum believes this is the right time for Tanzanians to start demanding a people centered constitution to take the country through the next five years.

This comes at a time when the government has decided to stay away from the debate on the new Katiba, saying its main focus was on the provision of social services and the creation of an industrial economy by 2025.

Even so, Jukata executive director, Mr Bob Wangwe said fighting for the new constitution was in the forum’s 2019/2025 plan and priorities. “It has reached a time we come with news way to revive the debate. So one of the things we want is to stimulate the constitutional debate. In the course of this month we will bring in constitutional experts from outside to share different approaches in demanding the new constitution,” he said.

He was speaking during a special training for civil society organisations on how they can protect their constitutional rights.

He said many organisations have retreated from fighting for their constitutional rights to the point where individuals who have no voice are left to suffer silently.

“If CSOs do not know their constitutional rights they will not be able to fight for those whose rights are infringed. This training is important to rejuvenate us to demand new constitution before general election,” said Mr Wangwe.

Jukata board chairman Hebron Mwakagenda said they initiated the training project last year to identify and strengthen CSOs’ positions in perform their functions effectively.

“Most of the CSOs have retreated in the last four years. This is not what an activist should do and we want to strengthen them,” he said.

Mpenda Chihimba, the director of Women Fighting Aids-Tanzania (Wufata), believed that it was not too late to demand the new constitution as most of the processes had already been completed.

“It is not late. In the proposed constitution women’s positions are held equal to men. This is what we want in the next five years,” she said.