{UAH} CA delegates out of practice, out of place, out of time... Me, I'm out of here - Comment - www.theeastafrican.co.ke

http://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/OpEd/comment/CA-delegates-out-of-practice/-/434750/2294048/-/ildih9/-/index.html

CA delegates out of practice, out of place, out of time... Me, I'm out of here - Comment

It does not seem like the constitution making process is going anywhere, but it has certainly produced something to mull over in one area — speaking "out" of something.

With some fascination — and in order to stay sane — I have tried to follow this new-fangled katibaspeak made in Dodoma.

Out of practice: It seems that all the members of the Constituent Assembly are out of practice when it comes to debate, argumentation and disputation.

A long time ago it was decided by some occult force that we can run our affairs as a nation without debate, because debate consumes too much time, which we can ill afford.

Decades have gone by without having anything resembling an exchange of ideas on anything substantive. Of course we chatter for hours on end about David Moyes and his Old Trafford blues, and we hold forth till we are hoarse on who should lead Arsenal's attack when they meet Hull in the FA Cup final.

Oh, yes, we appreciate some Bongo Flava hits by Diamond and have an ear for Wainaina and Chameleone too. The collabos are good, and they show how much closer we have come as East Africans without paying too much heed to the bickering heads of state.

But when it comes to discussing our future and what we should do to make it work for our children's children's children, we have run up a frightening deficit.

We have lost that art of matching ideas with ideas and have descended into the miasma of too much vocalisation without saying anything of value. We are out of practice.

Mind you, that does not prevent us from speaking out anywhere anytime anyhow. Indeed, it would appear as if the less you know about a subject the better placed you are to speak out. So they have been busy in Dodoma, speaking out but saying precious little.

Out of place: It does not matter what is under discussion; all you have to do is smuggle in your pet opinion about something that is not even remotely related, as long as it draws applause from like-minded delegates and pleases your party bosses.

If it is issues of greater democracy and popular participation, talk about the need for your village to get electricity. Maybe that is the only time you will ever be heard on the issue.

You can be out of place too when you, as a government minister and a Christian, go to a church service and say if your idea is rejected the army will take over.

Completely out of place, and, by the way, very irresponsible. Don't you want to know what the Muslims would say? But it helps keep jobs here.

Out of point: You do not really have to have well considered points to be able to stand up and speak out. Even the vilification of the authors of the draft you are discussing.

When you do not like the message, whom better to shoot than the messenger? The message would not have reached you without the meddlesome messenger bringing it to your attention.

Out of turn: Delegates have been heard suggesting they are representing groups of Tanzanians who had the occasion to talk to the Constitutional Review Commission itself as it crisscrossed the country.

People who have had their say need no further representation, or so you thought, but it seems what they said "then" requires a "now" interpretation.

Out of time: The CA was established with a mandate to do its job and finish it within a specified time frame. But so much time was wasted on inanities that now it will need extra time to complete what some here already regard as an exercise in futility.

Out of delegates: Piqued by what they say is an attempt by the ruling party to shanghai the whole country into another CCM document, the opposition delegates have walked out of the CA, thus truncating it and denting its legitimacy.

But the CA went on verbalising as if nothing had happened, though it's clear something has.

Jenerali Ulimwengu is chairman of the board of the Raia Mwema newspaper and an advocate of the High Court in Dar es Salaam. E-mail: ulimwengu@jenerali.com

CA delegates out of practice, out of place, out of time... Me, I'm out of here - Comment - www.theeastafrican.co.ke

http://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/OpEd/comment/CA-delegates-out-of-practice/-/434750/2294048/-/ildih9/-/index.html

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