JK declares 30-day campaign period ahead of Katiba vote

President Jakaya Kikwete addresses elders in Dodoma yesterday.  He confirmed April 30 as the date for the referendum on the proposed constitution.  PHOTO | STATE HOUSE 

By Mkinga Mkinga, The Citizen Reporter

IN SUMMARY

• President says the referendum on the proposed constitution will be held on April 30, next year, after a 30-day campaign period. 
• President revealed he had on October 10 signed into law the gazzetement of April 30 as the official referendum date

Dar es Salaam. President Jakaya Kikwete made it clear yesterday that the referendum on the proposed new constitution will be held on April 30, next year.

And the Head of State said the campaign period for the ‘Yes’ and ‘No’ camps would be 30 days, and not 60 days as currently believed.

President Kikwete revealed for the first time that he had on October 10 signed into law the gazzetement of April 30 as the official referendum date.

“The law on the referendum also gives the president the power to determine the days for the campaign,” he said in a televised speech from Dodoma. President Kikwete was addressing elders drawn from the wider Dodoma Region at the Kilimani hall.    

He said after consultations with legal advisors, he realised that it was in his mandate to set time for the campaigns, a move that is likely to draw the ire of those who have insisted the review act envisaged a minimum of two months for the referendum campaigns.

“I know that there was the notion that the campaign period would be 60 days,  but it came to my attention that I’m the one who is supposed to set the number of days that the referendum will last,” he said.

The fixed date will intensify pressure on the cash-strapped National Electoral Commission, which is expected to electronically register some 23 million Tanzanians in readiness for the referendum and the 2015 General Election.

The electoral body is struggling to secure biometric voter registration (BVR) kits from South Africa to launch the exercise as less than Sh20 billion of the total Sh290 billion is needed.

President Kikwete, however, said yesterday he had been assured that NEC would complete the voter roll update by March to pave the way for the referendum campaigns. He did not touch on the funding crisis.

He said wananchi should in the meantime thoroughly read the proposed constitution and make sure they make an informed decision when they vote.

He also cautioned groups that were already in the campaign mode to take note that the time for such activities had not come yet.

The President pointed out that NEC was the body mandated to set the ball rolling on the campaigns. He said failure to observe that rule was likely to lead to chaos.

He did not elaborate but could have been hinting on Sunday’s chaos in which a Katiba forum addressed by former Constitution Review Commission chairman Joseph Warioba was disrupted by placard-waving youth linked to the ruling party.

Opposition politicians and members of the civil society have recently questioned the limitation of their activities on the Katiba while state officials used their meetings around the country to campaign for the proposed constitution.

Zanzibar President Ali Mohamed Shein was yesterday also drumming up support for the proposed Katiba at a rally in Zanzibar. 

The Head of State assured that all interested parties, including CBOs and CSOs would have time to educate the society on the document
.