Who should be next deputy speaker?

The general public has no direct role in the election of the Speaker, or Deputy Speaker, of the National Assembly of the United Republic of Tanzania. However, this does not mean that we should not express our opinions on the matter.

This is especially considering that the choice of the person who steers proceedings in the august law-making institution ought to be a person whose integrity is beyond question.

The Union National Assembly has just elected – nay: approved with considerable aplomb – a lady of undisputed repute, Dr Tulia Ackson, to be the new Speaker, replacing the immediate past Speaker, Job Ndugai, 59, who resigned of his own accord on January 6 this year.

Dr Ackson, 45, is a legal scholar, the holder of a Master’s degree in Law (University of Dar es Salaam, Class of 2003), and a PhD (Cape Town University; Class of 2007).

But, in my view – for what it is worth, I frankly admit – the good lady new parliamentary position has more to do with “assisted democracy” than truly “competitive democracy!”

As an accredited columnist, I will tell you that the National Assembly needed to replace Dr Ackson as the Deputy Speaker because, first and foremost, it needs a man or woman whose faith in legal institutions is unshakable for a Deputy Speaker.

I, therefore, urge the nearly 400 MPs to use their CCM fiat to choose integrity. Let them not be influenced by mere maneno (sweet words). Being a party apparatchik should not be the baseline. Being a well-known activist for good governance should. The nation’s well-being includes being sensitive to the vicissitudes of Muungano (Union).

A deputy Speaker can be close to the Presidency as can be. In fact, in the unforeseen absence of the President, the Vice President and the Speaker, the Deputy Speaker should act as President. This may sounds far-fetched. Right.

Let us travel back in time, to not so long ago, when the National Assembly was under the guidance of the former Speaker, Mr Job Yustino Ndugai. Whether you like him or not, the fact is that Mr Ndugai did not distinguish himself as the guardian of the peoples’ interest.

One can cite many examples in which, despite his efforts to the contrary, Ndugai emerged as a voice that aided and abetted state repression – and also roped in the Judiciary.

That Dr Ackson, a reasonably moderate voice, has been elected House Speaker… And the fact that the National Assembly is dominated by members of the veteran ruling CCM ought to make debate in the House a vibrant.

Tanzania needs a Parliament that’s beyond reproach. It must truly cultivate a culture of free debate inside the National Assembly, which must not be a pack of owls! This is in the sense that a group of owls is called a ‘parliament’ – only because owls were considered to be wise in Greek mythology!

The disputes that led to a former Controller and Auditor General clashing with Speaker Ndugai was uncalled for. Some said that the Speaker was angered by some management issues – and that the National Assembly under him was not performing its oversight duties on the Government as provided for under the constitution.

As we look for a Deputy Speaker, the National Assembly needs to come up with a person who will give the august House a sense of relevance. But that person must be of integrity that is beyond reproach.

The new Deputy Speaker must be a thinker whose track record is clean. The Legislature can ill-afford a person who has a history of speaking first and thinking later because they are looking out for themselves and their political party. This must stop.

In electing a Deputy Speaker among the people who presented themselves for the poll, the National Assembly must select the best: someone who knows and believes in good governance – and is also a stickler for civic moral high ground.

Every time you watch debate in the House about Muungano and East African issues, you wonder what exactly the dispute is. This is if only because the nail-biting does not seems to end.