By Elias Mhegera December 2010
THE debate for the formulation of the new constitution will go on with or without the formation of the commission as promised by the Prime Minister Mizengo Pinda
Speaking to The Express exclusively the Executive Director of the Legal and Human Rights Centre (LHRC), Francis Kiwanga says the debate has started and it will go on particularly from January next year until when there is a new constitution in place.
Kiwanga said that previously there were such commissions like the Judge Francis Nyalali Commission and Judge Robert Kisanga but all these had good recommendations which were never implemented.
“It is true we need a team of experts in the constitution which will be facilitated by the government, but at the end of the day the government should not hijack the debate,” he said.
Prof Palamagamba Kabudi: An expert on Constitutional Law and the current dean of the School of Law of the University of Dar es Salaam says the formation of such a commission will be good news but the debates on the constitution should go on.
“These debates are healthy and they should go on, we had similar debates in 1983 to 84 leading to the resignation of the then Zanzibar’s President and Union Government’s First Vice President Aboud Jumbe,” he said.
The prominent lawyer says the constitutional amendments are a common practice in Tanzania according to the demand of the time. He reminds of the 1962 Republican Constitution which replaced the Independence Constitution.
Prof Kabudi reminds of the 1964 following the Union of with Zanzibar, and again the 1965 Constitution which paved way for the single party system in Tanzania.
He further reminds of the 1977 which remains intact today, and which he says needs to be overhauled in order to match with political pluralism in this country.
One thing which he emphasizes is the importance of the Leadership Codes as enshrined in the Arusha Declaration. He sees the moral decay as depicted by many leaders is partly contributed by the abandonment of that socialist Blue Print.
He therefore called for the government not to hijack nor suppress the debate because a healthy debate will eventually produce a good constitution for all.
A prominent political scientist and lecturer in political communication and research, Prof Mwesiga Baregu lauded the PM’s stance in forming the Constitutional Commission but asked what is that commission going to deliberate on?
He said the constitution debate has been there for years and did not understand why there is a formation of another commission again, unless it was going to discuss issues that were deliberated in the two previous commissions of the late Nyalali and Judge Kisanga.
He says that the two commissions had articulated all important matters that needed to be implemented. He therefore called for a National Constitutional Conference or Convention that will encompass various groups of people.
He suggested that the conference should be a combination of NGOs, CBOs, and representatives of political parties, religious leaders, peasants and all groups in the society.
“The citizens must own the constitution, therefore it should be written in Kiswahili. From there then it can be translated into English,” said Prof Baregu.
A prominent Dar es Salaam based advocate, Prof Abdallah Saffari, says it is strange to see that the PM is talking of a commission now.
This is because his party Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM), through its Secretary General, Yusuf Makamba and Minister for Constitutional Affairs and Justice Celine Kombani who said recently there are no funds for overhauling the constitution.
He was worried that the formation of the commission was just meant to tone down the constitutional debate which of recent has involved very prominent people in this country.
He admits that the government has the task of administering the process for the formation of a new constitution, but this should not mean to hijack the process in its favour.
He is also worried by this sudden change of attitude by the CCM government which he says for years has been adamant clinging to the constitution which did not meet expectations of many Tanzanians.
Buberwa Kaiza the Executive Director of the Concern for Development Initiatives (ForDIA), says the PM has a good point, but this should not be a strategy to hijack or calm down the debate.
He concurs with Prof Baregu that the formulation of a new constitution should involve all groups in the country, the NGOs, the corporate, people, peasants, civil servants, political parties and religious groups.
He there after suggests that their views should be discussed by a team of experts but not formed by the government, although the government should facilitate the expenses.
From there the first draft should be disclosed subject for discussion for not less that three months, then there should be a review voting for the bills and ratification of the same.
“With this kind of transparency the president will finally amend the people’s document, not the type of the one which exists now which benefits a segment of Tanzanians and sideline majority of them,” he concluded.
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