The government will proceed with the referendum in which Tanzanians will vote on the Proposed Constitution, it emerged yesterday.
Dodoma. The government will proceed with the referendum in which Tanzanians will vote on the Proposed Constitution, it emerged yesterday.
Minister for Constitutional and Legal Affairs Harrison Mwakyembe told Parliament in Dodoma that the referendum would be one of the ministry’s top priorities in the next financial year.
That would suggest that Tanzanians will likely vote in the referendum before July 2017 on whether or not to accept the controversial document passed by the Constituent Assembly (CA).
The minister’s revelation is likely to disappoint a section of society that has made calls to President John Magufuli to set aside the Proposed Constitution in favour of a fresh process to incorporate views of the now-disbanded Constitutional Review Commission (CRC).
Those in favour of the Second Draft feel that it carries the views of the public as opposed to the CA document which, that they argue, was mutilated for political expediency.
Last week, former CRC chairman Joseph Warioba appeared to drum support for his document, telling President Magufuli that his war on corruption would have received a big boost should his commission’s Draft Constitution be considered. He said some chapters mutilated by the CA on leadership integrity and national values was key to the desire to defeat corruption and clean up public service.
Opposition parties and members of the civil society have also campaigned to drop the CA document and called on the Magufuli government to drop the referendum and build a national consensus.
However, while presenting his ministry’s 2016/17 budget yesterday, Dr Mwakyembe said the government was on course with preparation for the Constitution referendum and gave no hint there would be any plan to go back on the process.
He said the referendum was postponed last year following the preparations for the October, 2015 General Election.
Dr Mwakyembe also didn’t touch on the legal question whether the law on the referendum was still valid at present, only saying that the conclusion of the process is one of the fifth government’s priorities.
He said his ministry was talking with the National Electoral Commission (NEC), Zanzibar Electoral Commission (ZEC) and the Prime Minister’s Office about the preparations for the referendum.
He said that President Magufuli assured the Parliament during his maiden speech in the House in November that his government would address the matter as soon as possible.
“The Head of State explained in this Parliament on November 20, 2015 that a new constitutional would be one of the priorities for his administration,” Dr Mwakyembe said.
The Proposed Constitutional was presented to Mr Jakaya Kikwete, then President of the United Republic of Tanzania, and Zanzibar President Ali Mohammed Shein on October 8, 2014.
The government then set April 3, 2015 the day for the referendum but that did not happen.
Yesterday, Dr Mwakyembe said the process was cancelled because the government was engaged in the preparations for the General Election. He said it was difficult for the government to conduct both the elections and a referendum in the same year.
According to Dr Mwakyembe, the government faced financial and logistic challenges then.
“Given such challenges, the government informed NEC and ZEC to postpone the referendum so that they could focus on the General Election,” he said.
The minister said the government prioritised the General Election because it was a requirement of the Constitutional of 1977.
Reached for comment, the Shadow Minister for Constitutional and Legal Affairs, Mr Tundu Lissu, said it was the Opposition that wanted the process of writing a new constitution to consider the people’s views as accommodated in the Second Draft Constitution.
He said the government, through the CCM-dominated CA, pushed for their interests in the document now under consideration. He said it was for the same reasons that the opposition under Ukawa coalition decided to boycott the entire process.
“What I can say is that the government is dancing to its own beat, so what is happening now is in line with CCM interests,” charged Mr Lissu.
However, he said his own take is that things are not at ease within the government over the referendum.
He added that the government has failed to specify the date and actual budget for the exercise.
“It is clear that something is wrong, the government is hiding something here, they no longer believe in the proposed constitution and therefore I want to say that the process is not guaranteed,” he said.
Yesterday, Dr Mwakyembe requested the Parliament to endorse Sh36 billion for his ministry in the coming financial year. He said Sh22 billion was for salaries, Sh2.7 billion for development projects and Sh11 billion for other expenses.
