While some are in favour of the new proposed Mother Law others are
of the opinion that important issues have been left out and that it
safeguards only the interests of politicians and not the citizens.
Mwesiga Baregu, Professor in Political Science and International Relations
A member of the Constitutional Review Commission that was charged
with collecting and compiling public input for the new constitution,
Professor in Political Science and International Relations Mwesiga
Baregu told The Guardian yesterday that in his opinion, the proposed
draft constitution has ignored the people’s views.
“The entire constitution review process has been disrupted because
most of the issues presented by Warioba’s Commission have been left out
in proposed draft constitution,” he alleged.
According to Prof Baregu who said the proposed draft constitution
lacks political legitimacy because ‘it excludes the views of wananchi.’
He however did not specify what public views had been left out. He
went on to point out that the proposed draft has increased the power of
the President and this in his view means, the document has sidelined
public interests in favour the of the ruling elite.
On the other hand, a senior Economics lecturer at the University of
Dar es Salaam, Dr Haji Semboja said it is not up to the Constituent
Assembly to pass the Constitution whether they favour it or not, that
power lies in the hands of the people through the referendum, he said.
As such, he advised that wananchi be given a chance to review the
tabled final draft and decide on it. More specifically he said the
public should be given the opportunity to rule on the much deputed
structure of the government that saw a large part of the CA (UKAWA) walk
out and not return to the House.
“It was impossible for the draft constitution tabled by Warioba
Commission to be approved without any changes. Constitution is an
agreement between wananchi and their government and the people should be
given a chance to decide on the structure of the government they would
prefer,” he said.
Similalry, Evangelical Lutheran Church of Tanzania (ELCT) Northern
Diocese Bishop Dr Martin Shao expressed doubts as to whether the draft
constitution embodies the views of people, this despite religious
leaders in the CA recently unanimously saying they were satisfied with
the review process and that the resulting document would represent the
views of the masses.
In his opinion, Dar es Salaam resident Godwin Mollel also shared
his concerns that the proposed draft constitution does not represent the
people’s views.
“It only assures the interests of rulers for another 50 years forgetting the public,” he claimed.
In support of the final draft was a senior lecturer from UDSM
department of Political Science Dr Benson Bana who said the proposed
draft constitution in line with what was tabled by judge Warioba’s
Commission and despite several changes in it, he maintained that the
document is just and represents the will of the people.
Zanzibar’s Second Vice President Ambassador Seif Ali Iddi said he
is satisfied with the document and according to him, it covers almost
all the issues that the Isle residents wanted.
Speaking to newsmen at parliament grounds yesterday, Ambassador
Iddi noted that: “We are happy that most of the things that we were
pushing for are included in the final draft.”
“We know it is not easy to have everything we wanted included in
the document but we are optimistic that the remaining few will be
considered in future,” he said.
Tabling the final draft, Chairman of the Drafting Committee, Andrew
Chenge said the Constitution has addressed some aggravating issues of
the Union by giving Zanzibar more authority to handle her own
activities.
CA members are expected to start voting on the final draft on Monday, September 29 until on Thursday, October 2
SOURCE:
THE GUARDIAN
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