BY EDITOR
1st January 2014l
The draft will now be debated by a national Constituent Assembly soon to be formed before a referendum is called for all Tanzanians to give it a nod or reject before the final version comes out before, with luck, the next General Election in October 2015.
We would like to salute all those who saw the need for Tanzania to have a new Constitution a whole five decades after Independence, when we had an inherited Westminster-style Constitution based on multiparty democracy.
After long years of dominance by the Tanganyika African Union (TANU) in the legislative assembly vis-à-vis other parties like United Tanganyika Party and African National Congress, a commission was appointed in 1963 to get the people’s views on the governance structure then in place.
The commission covered the length and breath of Tanganyika and recommended the adoption of the one-party system of government. The Constitution adopted since was based on this system of government and was only amended to keep up with time by co-opting multi-party politics and the free market economy in 1992.
So, today history is in the making because the envisaged new Constitution will be one both representing and reflecting the people’s views and not one imposed on them from above.
The CRC, which was chaired by former Prime Minister Judge (retired) Joseph Sinde Warioba, has done its job – and few will deny that it has a good and patriotic job. It collected, collated and analysed people’s views from across the country.
The recommendations the CRC has floated for deliberation by the planned Constituent Assembly are not its own but a summary of what Tanzanians in their millions think and believe.
Now the ball is in the people’s court, meaning it is now upon members of the Constituent Assembly to debate the recommendations and come up with the final draft for a final position through a referendum.
Members of the CA will obviously be representing a wide spectrum of sectors and interests, including political parties, members of the business community, people engaged in agriculture, professionals, etc.
Still, all will have to remember that they will in the business of knocking into shape a country’s Constitution and will therefore have to commit themselves to the need to draw up a Constitution with the interests of Tanzania and Tanzanians at heart.
It is expected that these representatives of the people will cast aside their ideological and other differences for the good of our country and nation. They should not be swayed by parochial interests but unswervingly contribute ideas that will guarantee us a quality Constitution to stand us in good stead for the foreseeable future.
Tanzania is badly in need of a Constitution that will help it become a country where peace, harmony and respect for human dignity are guaranteed. This is because it is clear that we cannot know good governance and genuine social and economic development in the absence of these factors.
SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN
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