{UAH} We went wrong on Katiba writing right from day one - News - thecitizen.co.tz
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We went wrong on Katiba writing right from day one - News
The lucky few, who had made the cut were so diverse in their politics and ideologies that some commentators wondered if they could come to any meaningful consensus about the new Constitution.PHOTO|FILE
In Summary
They had saved their party and were in control of a political agenda that was not theirs and one which they perhaps did not even believe in.
Dar es Salaam. When I heard the news of the postponement of the Constituent Assembly next month to resume after the 2015 General Election, I found the whole thing deeply troubling. I asked myself: to what end? Where did we go astray? Were we ever on the right course?
This agreement was reached after discussions between President Jakaya Kikwete and members of Tanzania Centre for Democracy (TCD), which consists of all political parties with representation in the Parliament. All the issues covered had to do with political parties and their interests, nothing was said of the other equally important issues in any democracy, such as press freedom. which is still stifled by archaic laws. Oh! Politicians… When President Kikwete announced that his government would work to give the country a new Constitution in 2011, there was excitement everywhere in the country. Anyone who had followed events leading to that announcement would agree that from the word go we got off from the wrong foot.
Senior government officials at various times had already said things to the tune of the country being in no need of the new Constitution, suggesting that the current Constitution was still efficient today. But no! We saw these officials as being behind the time and unaware of the situation in the country.
A cry for the new Constitution was a key aspect in some of the political parties during the 2010 General Election but it did not feature anywhere in the manifesto of the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM). After a relatively poor performance in 2010, party apparatchiks in CCM went to work to ensure a new Constitution could not become an election issue in 2015.
One has to give credit to CCM cadres and their ability to ride the tide in the affairs of people, leading them to fortune. They had saved their party and were in control of a political agenda that was not theirs and one which they perhaps did not even believe in. From there on, politicians from both sides of the fence squabbled endlessly to get the rules of the game to their advantage and ensure they (politicians) were fully and well-represented in whatever body that was to deliberate on the new Constitution. The people had already been sidelined. This was not their process.
When the names of those, who were to form the Constituent Assembly were announced, politicians were in charge and over-represented. The lucky few, who had made the cut were so diverse in their politics and ideologies that some commentators wondered if they could come to any meaningful consensus about the new Constitution.
When Constituent Assembly begun its sessions the only thing those lucky few ever agreed, almost unanimously, was their pay cut. When the majority of Ukawa members walked out after many sessions of a disgraceful performance by the Constituent Assembly, many had written off any chances of a meaningful conclusion to a body that became obsolete from the very moment of its inception.
After squandering billions of shillings, the Constituent Assembly has nothing to show to justify the resources spent - financially as well as time wise.
When you thought you have heard it all, seen it all, then a bomb drops: the Constituent Assembly to resume after 2015 General Election. In its current form, what exactly will this body achieve other than costing more and more our hard earned money with nothing meaningful to show for it?
I had thought we were going back to the drawing board. Instead, we chose to remain in political wilderness.
Justice Joseph Warioba and his Constitutional Review Commission acquitted themselves honourably.
Historians have some colourful caveats including "history does not judge using today's headlines". However, in the case of the Constituent Assembly today's headlines will be relevant when history passes its judgment tomorrow.
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