Statesmanship crucial for Katiba

Dar es Salaam. The Constituent Assembly is the most crucial stage among the stages that the process of constitution making has so far passed or is about to pass through. Every responsible Tanzanian and of the majority age (18 years old and above) is anxiously waiting for the start and end of the Constituent Assembly and what will be the outcome.

In accordance with section 25 of the Constitutional Review Act, 2011 (R.E 2012), the Constituent Assembly is mandated to make provisions for what the law calls the ‘Proposed Constitution’. Contextually, this means that the Constituent Assembly has powers to make the ‘New Constitution’, which once passed by Tanzanians through a referendum will be our permanent parent law for many generations to come.

However, the powers of the Constituent Assembly are subject to the Draft Constitution, as per section 25(2) of the Constitutional Review Act, 2011 (R.E 2012), the draft that will be tabled before it by the chairman of the Constitutional Review Commission (CRC). Ironically, since the Constituent Assembly has powers to make provisions, this includes overhauling the whole Draft constitution. These powers of the Constituent Assembly both have pros and cons for worse or for better of our nation. By the virtue of the law, the Constituent Assembly has a free hand to make the New Constitution of its kind.

The law also gives the Constituent Assembly freedom of opinion in debates after which the passing of such a proposed Constitution will require the support of a two-third majority of the number of the members of the Constituent Assembly hailing from Mainland Tanzania and a two-third majority of the total number of members hailing from Tanzania Zanzibar [section 26(2)]. This passing of the proposed Constitution on the basis of two sides of the Union also creates pros and cons of having the Constituent Assembly, whereby members may exercise their freedom according to which part of the Union they come from.

The Draft Constitution, according to the law that initiated this process, will be used as a mere guidance to the members of the Constituent Assembly during free debate, but does not limit or bind them to remove or add any provisions. This is another side of the pros and cons of having the Constituent Assembly, which is too free to do anything. Alongside all these, our Constituent Assembly, at face value, consists of two main parts, namely those who will be the proponents of the proposed structure of the Union as in the Draft Constitution, and those who will be opposing the same. The division among the members of the Constituent Assembly basically originates from political and historical backgrounds of our Union between Tanganyika and Zanzibar.

The rationale behind the proposed structure of the Union as it is in the Draft Constitution is that, it is the only structure that will iron out all miscarriages that have been originating from the current structure of the Union of the two-tier government system since 1964. But it is well-known that the proposed Union structure by the CRC will face a fierce opposition during the Constituent Assembly’s debate.

Opposing arguments of a three-tier government system are only based on history and change resisting culture without any good reasons argued from the reality of the thing. If the members of the Constituent Assembly will be involved in politicking of these issues, then that might affect not only the fate of our process of constitution making, but also will change the whole future of our politics in many years to come.

It must be remembered that, it has taken Tanzanians more 20 years to come to the point of commencing the process of constitution making. If by and large this process proves futile in the Constituent Assembly, then it might once again take us back to the unknown future of our politics on constitution making. The future of politics and democracy in Tanzania may become even more complex than it is now. The members of the Constituent Assembly may beware that they are carrying the whole future of this nation for worse or for better. If they debate unreasonably and then they will constitute a bogus proposed Constitution that will likely fail or pass through referendum, then the Constituent Assembly may subject our nation to disarrays and a myriad of political conflicts in the future.

Since the exercise of making the provisions of the proposed Constitution is a delicate one and thus needs the members of the Constituent Assembly to exercise wisdom as leaders entrusted by many Tanzanians, they must, therefore, remember the words of former Israeli minister Golda Meir that: “A leader who doesn’t hesitate before sending his nation into battle is not fit to be a leader”.

Those who will have a unique privilege to represent Tanzanians in the Constituent Assembly must consider themselves that they are the leaders of all Tanzanians in this process of constitution making and, therefore, should not take for granted this highest noble task of making the Constitution for all Tanzanians.

I would also like to bring to the attention of all those who will be in the Constituent Assembly that they are there as statesmen and not as politicians. The words of David Lloyd former British Prime Minister are very vital. He said: “A politician is a person with whose politics you did not agree. When you did agree, he was a statesman”. The members of the Constituent Assembly must not entertain their political differences, and thus work as true statesmen for the betterment of our nation. They must not take to the Constituent Assembly their politics because it won’t help them achieve the national goal of having a people-centred Constitution.

The author is a lawyer/journalist based in Dar es Salaam. He can be reached at [email protected], 0756 440 175.