Rights body asked to sue CA
Arusha Legal Human Rights Centre (LHRC) officer Alice Malepu hands over a copy of the draft constitution to Samuel Latiani, a pastoralist from Munduli District, during public education on the document. The function took place in Arusha Region yesterday. PHOTO| PETER SARAMBA
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The LHRC principal officer for Arusha Zone, Mr Shilinde Ngalula, urged wananchi to effectively take part in the process of writing the new constitution and the CA members (CAMs) to respect views of the people when debating and approving the third draft constitution.
Monduli. Some residents of Monduli in Arusha Region have asked the Legal and Human Rights Centre (LHRC) to file a case against the Constituent Assembly (CA) leaders for violating the Constitutional Review Act 11.
They explained at a rally organised by the LHRC on the second draft constitution that the CA collecting views from different groups negated clause 25 of the Constitutional Review Act 11 stipulating the role of the assembly.
“The CA role is to debate and approve the third draft constitution presented in the assembly by the former Constitutional Review Commission (CRC) whose role was to collect views from the people on the type of the supreme law they want,” one of the residents, Mr Thomas Mbwambo, said.
Another resident of the district, Mr Erick Ngwijo, wondered if the third draft constitution to be approved by the assembly would deserve a referendum, for the CA leaders had ignored views of the same people required to vote for it. The CA leaders have of late been meeting and receiving fresh views from different groups and promising to consider incorporating them in the third draft constitution.
The CA Chairman, Mr Samuel Sitta, and his deputy, Ms Samia Suluhu Hassan, have separately defended their decision to receive fresh views, arguing that the move aimed at ensuring the third draft constitution comprises views of all groups of the people in the society.
The LHRC principal officer for Arusha Zone, Mr Shilinde Ngalula, urged wananchi to effectively take part in the process of writing the new constitution and the CA members (CAMs) to respect views of the people when debating and approving the third draft constitution.
Mr Ngalula enumerated some of the basic views of the people contained in the second draft constitution as reducing powers of the President, the Human Rights Bill, equality and creation of independent employment institutions, electoral body, human rights commission, judiciary and the power of the people to take their leaders to account.
LHRC is running the second phase of the public awareness programme on the second draft constitution in 20 regions of Tanzania mainland and Zanzibar in its bid to pave the way for the forthcoming referendum. The first phase of the programme was conducted in 10 regions in May this year.
