The balancing act to keep Arusha Declaration alive

Dar es Salaam. On June 3, 2013, the Constitutional Review Commission (CRC), also known as the Warioba Commission, released the draft copy of the proposed new Constitution. The document restored hope among many reformists, especially those who are pro-Arusha Declaration, the country’s blueprint for socialism and self-reliance.

Just like the Arusha Declaration, whose 50th anniversary was marked on February 5, the Warioba draft constitution underscored the importance of building a people-centered government and a juster economy.

And just like the Arusha Declaration, the proposed new constitution highlighted the need for public leaders to be servants of the people, and not for them to take their esteemed offices as a privileged avenue for wantonly looting public resources.

Shortly after the then-CRC chairman Judge (retired) Joseph Warioba made the draft document public at the Karimjee Grounds in Dar es Salaam, in the presence of then-President Jakaya Kikwete, legal experts and human rights defenders hailed the proposals contained in the first draft as a ‘silent revolution.’ Opinion on the new document was divided on political lines.

But what followed the release of the draft constitution were weeks of praise in opinions and commentaries published in the mainstream media. Scholars battled for newspaper space to hail the Warioba Commission for a job well done in a new bid to restore the Arusha Declaration.

Expectedly though, a few opinion writers and commentators, guided by their political inclinations, poked holes into the work that the nation had, nevertheless, largely accepted.

A shocker would, however, come from the Constituent Assembly led by Samwel Sitta, which demanded an overhaul of everything included in the first draft.

Yet despite the disappointment, reformists had a glitter of hope that with President John Magufuli the stalled process had another shot considering that the reforms his administration had promised, and embarked on revolved around some of the major tenets of the Arusha Declaration.

Dr Magufuli marketed himself as a man of the people, one who would fight for the poor and the exploited. And many of the decisions he made in the past year have generally been considered progressive.

But on November 5, last year, he dropped a bombshell that took many of his reformist admirers, mostly those of the pro-Arusha Declaration, by surprise.

During his first meeting with editors at State House, the President declared publicly that the new constitution wasn’t part of his administration’s priority.

Last Sunday, the nation quietly marked 50 years since the Arusha Declaration, and there are some analysts who are of the opinion that President Magufuli, by deciding to not focus on the ‘socialist-oriented’ Warioba draft constitution, may be letting a precious opportunity to leave an even bigger mark of his presidency slip through his fingers.

The majority of academicians, political pundits, activists and ordinary Tanzanians who have spoken to The Citizen on the relevance of the Arusha Declaration in President Magufuli’s era feel the fifth phase government can have its work much easier if it embraces a new constitution that is guided by the 1967 document.

Mr Simon Mapolu, a management consultant based in Arusha, says the Arusha Declaration is still relevant in the current environment. “The pillars of the Arusha Declaration were integrity and patriotism. Self-reliance, though practically not there, was built on morals,” he told The Citizen.

Mr Mapolu dismisses the notion that the Arusha Declaration was buried after the country’s about-turn from a state-controlled to a liberalised economy.

The opposition Alliance for Change and Transparency (ACT) Wazalendo’s ideology and publicity secretary, Mr Ado Shaibu, is worried that some key pillars of the Arusha Declaration “have been abandoned”. He notes that the document underscores the importance of good governance and rule of law.

“The Executive has been interfering with the other pillars of State, Parliament and the Judiciary; you recall the other day the President called for the arrest of people caught red-handed with government trophies, that they should be jailed immediately while suggesting they shouldn’t be given the right to legal representation…this is against the Arusha Declaration,” said Mr Shaibu.

Mr Alfayo Ngogo, leader of the Tanzanian chapter of the All Africa People’s Revolutionary Party (AAPRP), a youth pan-African association, believes that if President Magufuli embraces principles of the Arusha Declaration, he stands a better chance of success in his reform agenda.

According to him, Dr Magufuli could ensure that public leaders desist from abusing their positions for personal gains by adopting principles of the Arusha Declaration.

He is also of the opinion that the document could be useful in installing patriotism among the youth.

The Head of State has been leading the war against impunity in the public sector, and just this week, he came out to support the fight against drugs trafficking.

“Many youth want to make it easy in life through shortcuts; they find themselves in illegal businesses. The government needs to educate its youth on the benefits of the Arusha Declaration, which is based on hard work,” said Mr Ngongo.

However, other analysts differ on the relevance on the Arusha Declaration arguing that Tanzania is a liberal economy.

Mr Emmanuel Gideon, a Morogoro-based lawyer and political commentator, says that as much as President Magufuli has a desire to ‘create a new Tanzania’, re-adopting the Arusha Declaration wouldn’t him on the economic front.

“During the one-party system, the State controlled the economy, but we gave in to pressure from donors and adopted a liberalised economy; the private sector will continue to be the bigger player in this economy,” said Mr Gideon.

But there are many who would argue that President Magufuli has embraced some key elements of the Arusha Declaration. Many people in Tanzania and abroad have hailed him as a ‘second Nyerere’ after he took an unprecedented stance against self-enrichment, impunity and excessive spending.

By and large, he has reinvigorated the policy of self-reliance, originating from the Arusha Declaration; and the doctrine that all people are equal and deserve equal rights and opportunities. Yet the President has also attracted criticism over his tough stance against dissenting voices -- giving his critics arsenal to attack his policies.