Lissu hits back at JK statement

Dar es Salaam. Opposition Chief Whip Tundu Lissu yesterday defended himself against accusations by President Jakaya Kikwete to the effect that he lied when he accused the Head of State of disregarding proposed names from Christian and disabled organisations when appointing members of the Constitutional Review Commission (CRC).

President Kikwete, who had mentioned the name of Mr Lissu in his end-of-the-month address at the weekend, accused the legislator of “malice and hypocrisy” by suggesting that he, Mr Kikwete, also left out names forwarded to him by the disabled groups and, instead, chose other people.

Yesterday, Mr Lissu, who is also the MP for Singida East on a Chadema ticket, said that he had evidence suggesting that President Kikwete had in fact ignored the names sent to him by the Tanzania Episcopal Conference (TEC), Christian Council of Tanzania (CCT) and the association for the disabled.

“Representatives from the the groups said their choices for the CRC were not taken by the President when they appeared before the parliamentary Committee on Constitution, Justice and Governance. There is evidence,” Mr Lissu claimed.

The opposition lawmaker had accused President Kikwete of disregarding the names from the said groups when debating the Constitutional Review (Ammendments) Bill, 2012, in Parliament last month.

In his contribution, Mr Lissu claimed that TEC secretary general Rev Charles Kitima and a CCT leader, Rev Lazaro Rohho, who appeared before the committee, had reported that the names they proposed to the President were all left out.

“I do not think President Kikwete listened to my contribution to the debate. Someone else might have misrepresented the facts to him. I was very clear when debating the Bill in Parliament that the Committee had host representatives from the said groups who had expressed their frustration over the fact that the President ignored the names of people they had suggested to him,” Mr Lissu said.