TALKING POINT : Why ultimate power ought to be vested in the people

What you need to know:

Questions are lingering in the minds of Tanzanians as far as the process and content are concerned. Where are we in this process? How good or bad is the Proposed Constitution?

According to Article 124, ultimate power shall be vested in the people. Leaders, professionals, politicians and all the others shall get such power from the citizenry. Articles 143(1) and 97 (1, 2) indirectly make it possible for the removal of non-performing elected representatives and politicians where situations require. However, the main issue in relation to the power of the people in the constitution of Tanzania since independence has been that of the modus operandi of how such vast public power can be exercised over elected leaders and politicians between elections. The missing link seems to be the lack of express provisions as to how such leaders can be directly removed from office through the power of recall as was provided for in Article 129 (1) of the Warioba commission’s Draft Constitution.

However, there seems to be a continuation of the executive having excessive powers over the legislative and judicial branches of the state. For instance, under articles 129 (1) and 131 (1), the President remains part and parcel of the Legislature. Interestingly, the life Parliament also depends on the President’s whim. For instance, under articles 154 and 155, the President shall determine the date on which the National Assembly shall convene for its first sitting after an election. Also, under Article 155 (3), the President may convene a sitting of the National Assembly at any particular point in time outside the normal schedule of Parliament. In addition to that, the executive branch is the source of most parliamentary bills and the president must assent to all bills before they become law.

TALKING POINT : Why ultimate power ought to be vested in the people

What you need to know:

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