Man behind presidential term limit in Tanzania case reveals his motivation
Dar es Salaam. Dezydelius Patrick Mgoya, the man who wants presidential term limits scrapped in Tanzania admits that he is motivated by his wish to see President John Magufuli remain in office longer.
The High Court in Dar es Salaam is hearing a constitutional petition he has filed to challenge term limits and he spoke about his optimism for a successful outcome.
“It will be a historic decision and if invited to the State House for a cup of tea with the President, I will request your company,” he told The Citizen in an interview.
Mgoya who has attracted the attention of the public since he moved to court with the rather unusual case said he was moved by President Magufuli’s performance.
“I thought, how radically would our country change if a man like Magufuli had a chance to lead for more than ten years? Because, really, if it were not for his performance where would this idea even come from? I personally wish that his terms in office are extended,” he said.
He wants the court to declare as illegal barring anyone from standing for office as long as it was within their right. “The right to vote and be voted for are the peoples’ basic rights that should not be infringed in any way. Setting a term limit is nothing other than infringing on these rights.”
Mgoya once again dismissed claims that he was a pawn being used to advance the political interests of his backers.
“Those are mere malicious rumours without an iota of truth,” he said, adding that he wished to have more people come forward to join him in the crusade. He said he is just an ordinary Tanzanian and not rich.
Asked whether term limits was at the moment a more pressing public interest matter than many other fundamental rights, Mr Mgoya said he as a citizen cannot defend everything and asked other people to challenge what they felt obliged.
He also said he was unhappy with the independence of the National Electoral Commission (NEC), which he said still pandered to the executive.
“This is a small legal matter that should be dealt with easily and let political parties have more say how the electoral body should be run,” Mgoya said.
There have also been reports claiming Mr Mgoya was kicked out of Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA) in 2015 as a deputy commissioner customs department.
But he clarified it was his brother Patrick Kennedy Mgoya who was suspended over allegations of causing loss to the government. The two apparently share the names ‘Patrick’ and ‘Mgoya’.
His brother is currently based in Arusha, working with the East African Community (EAC) as a research fellow.
Dezydelius Patrick Mgoya said that Patrick is the name of their grandfather while Mgoya is their father’s name.
