Africa-Press – Tanzania. Arusha.
The ACT-Wazalendo said yesterday that Tanzania urgently needs an independent electoral commission before it enacts a new constitution, advancing three main reasons to back its argument.
The party’s acting national chairperson, Ms Dorothy Semu, said the Independent Electoral Commission will lay the groundwork for the New Constitution.
“Reasons why we are demanding the independent commission are clear. It will lay ground for the Constitution-making process,” said Ms Semu.
The party believes that if the country starts with a New Constitution, it will also need to enact a new law to guide the process.
“It is ACT Wazalendo’s view that to make it effective, it has to be carried out by a Parliament that has legislators who have been democratically elected. This cannot be effectively done by the current Parliament which is full of CCM members only and who were mostly not elected in accordance with citizens’ will,” the party’s statement reads. It is ACT-Wazalendo’s view that in absence of an Independent Electoral Commission, it becomes impossible to believe that the National Electoral Commission (NEC), in its current form, can effectively supervise a Referendum for the New Constitution.
The party says in case the process to establish the New Constitution is not completed before 2024, we can still have the Independent Electoral Commission to supervise the 2024 local government polls and the 2025 general elections
According to Ms Semu, without an institution that is free from direct government control, the process to have a new Constitution would hit a brick wall. “Our position is that the electoral commission should precede the new mother law (Constitution),” she said when she addressed ACT Wazalendo grass root leaders in Arusha.
The party which was founded in 2014 has declared 2022 a year in which it will strongly agitate for an independent electoral body, long desired by the opposition.
Ms Semu implored on Tanzanians to support the drive since the process to have a new Constitution is likely to take a long time. She added that time was running fast without an independent body with the local government polls and the General Election scheduled for 2024 and 2025 respectively.
“To ensure that the coming polls are credible and fair, they have to be overseen by an institution that is free from the government control,” she pointed out. The party has also proposed new legal frameworks that will ensure a fair and government-free recruitment of members of the proposed electoral commission Ms Semu said the National Elections Act.2022 should be amended so that members of the commission are hired in a transparent process.
The new electoral law should create a special committee that would appoint the Chairperson, Vice Chairperson and Members of the Independent Electoral Commission.
The Commission should be headed by the Director whose position will have to be advertised and potential candidates shortlisted before his or her name is forwarded to the President for approval.
Even with the President’s approval, ACT Wazalendo has proposed that the Chair, Vice Chair and Members of the Commission will have to be endorsed by the Parliament.
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