{UAH} Dar at a crossroads as review process now enters critical stage - News -

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Dar at a crossroads as review process now enters critical stage

Battle lines drawn as president sticks to CCM position and opposes proposed system of three governments. TEA Graphic 

Which way Tanzania? That was the question after President Jakaya Kikwete punched holes in the country's draft constitution and took his ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi Party position in support of the current two-government system.

Addressing the Constituent Assembly in Dodoma three days after the Constitution Review Commission chairman, Judge (rtd) Joseph Warioba had presented the three-government system as a product of the views of a majority of Tanzanians, the President called for patience in dealing with the matter that has emerged as the main bone of contention in the talks.

A three-government system would have the Government of Tanzania, the Government of Tanganyika and the Union Government, while the current Union government is such that there is Tanzania mainland and the semi autonomous Zanzibar Islands both of which form the Union government.  

"I want you to be patient as you discuss this thorny issue. Irritations will not help us on this," said President Kikwete.

But he was quick to discredit Mr Warioba's assertion that the proposal represented the voice of the majority. The President said that while the CRC interviewed over 700,000 people, only 10.4 per cent of them spoke about the union.

"This means that the type of the Union to be adopted was not an important issue in the eyes of 89.6 per cent of Tanzanians who were interviewed by the CRC."

Mr Warioba had told the Assembly that 13 per cent of those who gave their opinions over the Union in Tanzania Mainland proposed one government, 24 per cent wanted a two-government structure while 61 per cent wanted a three-government structure.

In Zanzibar, 34 per cent recommended a two-government arrangement, 60 per cent wanted a Union of contract, and 0.1 per cent (25 people) preferred one government.

Some 142 institutions, 71 of them government institutions, were also involved in the study and they proposed a three-government system.

The Zanzibar House of Representatives recommended an independent authority for Zanzibar, independent authority for Tanganyika and a Union authority. They wanted their operations and limitations to be clearly defined.

The Council of the Prime Minister's Office also proposed a system with a president of the Union, the prime minister of Tanganyika and the prime minister of Zanzibar. This group said there was no need for three presidents.

After collecting views from the citizens and institutions, Justice Warioba said, the commission carried out detailed research on the structure and challenges of the Union since its establishment in 1964.

However, President Kikwete said a three-government system would be difficult to implement because the Union Government would largely depend on the goodwill of Zanzibar and Tanganyika.

Battle lines drawn as president sticks to CCM position and opposes proposed system of three governments. TEA Graphic 

"We will, therefore, be creating a Government of Tanzania that lacks its own sources of funds to run its affairs… Apparently, if Tanganyika and Zanzibar say they do not have funds to run the Union Government then there will no longer be the United Republic of Tanzania," he said.

He added that challenges in the current government structure, highlighted by the Constitution Review Commission (CRC), can still be dealt with within the system.

He said both the proponents of the three-government system, which was proposed by the CRC, and those opposing the system have genuine reasons hence the need to discuss the setup and arrive at a conclusion that will make it easy for Tanzanians to accept the draft law during a referendum.

According to Mr Kikwete, if the country really wants a three-government system, then it first needs to create a concrete background upon which the Union government will be build.

"If we want this, then we have to build a clear foundation first… the Union Government will only be left with the police and armed forces with no resources to make it a strong state and one that can be able to receive loans from local and international lenders… these are the issues that you need to seriously discuss as CA members," he said.

But President Kikwete said in the House recently that there was no way such a government could exist.

"You will be creating a government with no resources and it cannot be there… If you create Tanganyika today, people from Pemba and Unguja will officially become strangers in Tanzania Mainland," he said.

President Kikwete said he has comprehensively read the draft constitution and he saw no credible response on the Union issue.

"If you decide to start segregating each other today, things will be difficult and if that is what you want, then wait until I leave…. I don't want to be part and parcel of those that took part in such a decision," he said.

He however concurred with the findings of Justice Warioba's team that the need for a three-government system has been there for decades though each time it was proposed, it never went through.

The president called upon CA members to comprehensively read and discuss the draft constitution without necessarily concentrating only on the structure of the Union.

He said there were a number of issues that should not have been in the draft constitution and others that were not well captured in the document.

Issues like the right of citizens' access to basic needs, including farm inputs, he said should not have been included in the draft. He also cited an Article 128 (d) that gives powers to citizens to recall their member of parliament should they be convinced that he/she has not done his or her duties for six months due to poor health or has been jailed.

According to the president, penalising an MP because he has not done his/her parliamentary duties for six months due to ill health is cruelty. In the same vein, one can be jailed for six months just because the judge/magistrate deliberately or delayed the process.

In Summary

• A three-government system would have the Government of Tanzania, the Government of Tanganyika and the Union Government, while the current Union government is such that there is Tanzania mainland and the semi autonomous Zanzibar Islands both of which form the Union government.  
• According to Mr Kikwete, if the country really wants a three-government system, then it first needs to create a concrete background upon which the Union government will be build.
• The president called upon CA members to comprehensively read and discuss the draft constitution without necessarily concentrating only on the structure of the Union.