Political pundits: Here is the person fit for Speaker’s job

Dar es Salaam. Embattled former National Assembly Speaker Job Ndugai should be succeeded by an objective and balanced person who would restore the strength of Legislature in upholding its constitutional mandates, including that of making the government accountable, so say political pundits.
Mr Ndugai tendered his resignation to CCM Secretary General Daniel Chongolo on Thursday with a cop availed to the National Assembly Clerk, Mr Nenelwa Mwihambi.
Both the ruling CCM-SG and the National Assembly Clerk confirmed to have received the letter.
But, yesterday, political analysts separately told The Citizen that after witnessing a National Assembly Speaker who only focused on protecting the interests of the ruling party CCM, the process to replace Mr Ndugai should give the country a person who will uphold national interests instead.
University of Dar es Salaam (Udsm) political lecturer Paul Loisulie said all State pillars are established by the Constitution, therefore it was about the calibre of the chosen individual that matters.
“The country needs a new speaker who will uphold justice instead of hurting other people for simply holding a different opinion,” Dr Loisulie said in a telephone interview.
The new speaker should properly understand that it is Parliament’s primary responsibility to oversee the government instead of involving in petty personal battles.
“He/she should be aware that politics has shifted to social media where the whole world is communicated in just an instant,” he said.
He observed that Mr Ndugai should be aware that there were different pending issues that started during his leadership including unaudited government debts secured by the previous administration and the 19 Special Seats lawmakers illegally accommodated on the ticket of the opposition.
“The third issue is the implementation of the Bagamoyo Port that started during the fourth phase government, but stalled under the next administration,” he said.
But, Mr Buberwa Kaiza was of the view that it was difficult to get a person who would restore a strong and independent Parliament capable of making the government accountable.
“The late Speaker Samuel Sitta tried to do so.
“But, he was excluded from vying the second term on grounds that the ruling CCM was embracing gender equality,” he said.
Mr Kaiza urged that the new Speaker should distance from the 2025 presidential race and camps.
But, another UDSM political lecturer Faraja Kristomus said the next Speaker should stand by regulations and avoid discriminating the opposition.
“The next Speaker shouldn’t be subjective. He/she should play an important role of bringing Parliament back to its life, ‘’ he said.

Resignation procedures
Independent lawyer Emmanuel Kyashama said the submission of resignation letter to the CCM secretary general was in accordance with the CCM constitution and regulations.
He said being sponsored by a political party, Mr Ndugai was supposed to tender his resignation letter to Parliament as stipulated by Article 149 (1) (c) of the United Republic Constitution through the Clerk of the National Assembly appointed by the President as Parliament’s chief executive officer.
“The parliamentary Standing Orders demands that the speaker’s resignation letter will then be submitted to the National Assembly,” he said.

Procedures of electing a Speaker
Article 86 of the United Republic Constitution provides procedures for the election of the National Speaker from the ruling and opposition nominees.
The exercise should take place during a transparent ballot cast.

What the opposition says
During a virtual press conference, Chadema’s Vice-Chairman Tundu Lissu said Mr Ndugai’s resignation confirms the opposition party’s outcry over the excessive powers of the Executive.
“It is only the new constitution that will create a framework for all pillars to work responsibly with cooperation in serving Tanzanians,” he said.
He said the new constitution will protect interests of the public and control the President whenever necessary, suggesting that the process could be reinstated from the Judge Warioba’s Draft Constitution.
“The President has more powers than Parliament and the Judiciary. This is despite the fact that the three pillars are supposed to control each other,” he said.
According to him, major problems facing the country came from the areas of administrative and constitutional systems that could be resolved through the writing of the new constitution.
For his part, NCCR-Mageuzi chairman James Mbatia said his party was consulting legal experts in order to challenge Mr Ndugai’s resignation and the process to look for the new Speaker.
“He was supposed to resign during the Parliamentary sessions because that is where the Speaker is voted,” he said.