Katiba team censured again

Dar es Salaam. Civil societies and political parties are still pressurising the Constitutional Review Commission (CRC) over irregularities in the process of writing the country’s mother law.

A lobby group and the opposition party Civic United Front (CUF) yesterday came out strongly to support the Tanzania Constitution Forum (TCF) which on Tuesday threatened court action, if the CRC did not stop the constitutional review process.

Legal and Human Rights Centre (LHRC) Special Committee chairman, Dr Khoti Kamanga, said that the election of constitutional assembly members was marred by irregularities.

“Taking into account irregularities during the election of constitutional assembly members...it is clear that the country won’t get the Constitution that will take it to the next level,” Dr Kamanga told reporters at LHRC headquarters in the city.

LHRC asked the Parliament and the Zanzibar House of Representatives to pass resolutions that would ensure that members of the constitution assemblies were free from any political influence in order to make decisions that would not be interfered with by party politics.

Disturbed by the same issue, CUF yesterday called a press conference in Dar es Salaam to comment on the constitutional review process.

CRC chairman, Judge (retired) Joseph Warioba, issued a statement on Wednesday insisting that his team won’t give in to threats by the TCF, vowing that the process of re-writing the country’s Constitution will continue as directed by laws of the land.

He was responding to TFC’s chairman, Mr Deus Kibamba, who issued the CRC a seven-day notice to stop the constitutional review process, or else it would take the commission to court. Briefing journalists on CUF’s two-day Supreme Council meeting held in Dar es Salaam, the party’s national chairman, Prof Ibrahim Lipumba said that the process of getting constitutional assembly committee members deliberately favoured the ruling party.

Prof Lipumba said, the council had noted that the proposed time for writing the new Constitution was not enough, urging the government to allow amendment of the Election Law to guarantee free and fair elections in 2014 (civic polls) and 2015 (general elections).

Failure to bow to the opposition demands, according to Prof Lipumba, CUF would organise and support citizens across the country to reject the new Constitution.