Prime
Lipumba: No need for civic education to rewrite Constitution
Prof Ibrahim Lipumba
What you need to know:
- Prof Lipumba said the Judge Warioba Commission made it clear that the people understand the type of the constitution they wanted and there was no need to delay the process.
Dar es Salaam. Tanzania Center for Democracy (TCD) chairman Prof Ibrahim Lipumba said yesterday that rewriting of the new constitution does not have to be preceded by a three-year civic education campaign.
He said this yesterday when briefing journalists on the resolutions that were reached by stakeholders during a dialogue on the state of democracy in Tanzania ahead of the 2024 civic elections and the 2025 General Election.
Lipumba who is also the Civic United Front (CUF) chairman said this barely a week after the government announced that it would conduct a three-year civic education on the 1977 constitution aimed at empowering the public to make informed decisions on the proposed constitution.
Flanked by leaders of other political parties including the ruling CCM, ACT-Wazalendo, NCCR-Mageuzi, Chadema and Chaumma, Prof Lipumba said the Judge Warioba Commission made it clear that the people understand the type of the constitution they wanted and there was no need to delay the process.
"The proposed constitution that tackle some union was not implemented because of a misunderstanding that occurred at the time the country was preparing to go to the 2024/25 elections, and therefore a possibility that a new constitution could not be ready and therefore political stakeholders recommend a review of sections that involve elections," he said.
He noted that the top among 21 recommendations include having a constitution for the people.
“Since there is a possibility that the constitution will not be ready before the coming elections, a minor review of the constitution to allow independent electoral body that will pave the way for free and fair elections should be made,"
"We need minor reviews on the 1997 constitution to have an independent electoral commission that will oversee the local government elections," he said.
He noted that the constitution change bill is to be taken together with an independent electoral commission bill and new Elections Act bill to the next parliament as it was done in 1992 when introducing multi party system, saying time towards the next election was short.
He said other recommendations was for removal of sections of the law that require candidates to pay fees in order to participate in the elections and to allow development partners like UNDP and others to strengthen the independent electoral commission because the time left before elections is short.
"The government to review public servant act that will allow its employees to participate in the elections and return to work if they don't succeed," he said.
Noting that the government to allow independent candidates in the coming elections among others.
