Africa-Press – Tanzania. POLITICAL pundits have lauded the ruling party’s CCM pick of Mbeya Urban legislator and Deputy Speaker of National Assembly, Dr Tulia Ackson as its flag bearer for the race of Speaker’s post.
They said, Dr Tulia deserved it and has all the hallmarks and qualities to vie for the post of the Presiding Officer of the Legislative Assembly.
CCM through its Central Committee (CC) meeting, nominated Dr Tulia yesterday to vie for the post left vacant after the resignation of former Speaker Job Ndugai.
The election to pick Mr Ndugai’s successor will be the first order of business when the Parliament resumes early next month. The decision to appoint Dr Tulia as CCM flag bearer was reached yesterday, when the CC under the Chairperson President Samia Suluhu Hassan met and keenly scrutinised the aspirants.
A total of 71 aspirants picked and submitted filled nomination forms eyeing the post. CCM Ideology and Publicity Secretary, Shaka Hamidu Shaka told reporters in Dodoma yesterday that the party caucus will meet in January 31 to vote for or against Dr Tulia as their candidate for the post.
If she is endorsed, her name will now be brought before Members of Parliament together with others from the opposition and independent candidates to be voted for or against. Reacting to the pick, former Speaker of National Assembly, Pius Msekwa, who served in the post from 1995 to 2005, welcomed the nomination of Dr Tulia, saying: “I have personally been delighted by my party’s decision to nominate Dr Tulia simply, because she displayed an outstanding performance when she served as Deputy Speaker.” Mr Msekwa said it has always been the norm for CCM to positively consider candidates, who perform well when it happens that such personalities seek nomination to vie for certain positions either in either the same institutions they serve or in other entities.
“When the late Adam Sapi Mkwawa stepped down from the post of Speaker in 1994, CCM nominated me to fill the vacancy after performing well in the post of Deputy Speaker. So, the same scenario is happening to Dr Tulia,” he said.
He added: “This should serve as a lesson to other CCM members that when they perform well in any position(s), the party’s appointing or nominating organs can’t hesitate to either re-appoint or re-nominate them for the posts.” For his part, a political analyst Goodluck Ng’ingo was optimistic that Dr Tulia’s endorsement has nothing to do with gender, but her capacity to head the Legislature.
He was of the view that the CCM’s Central Committee considered her competency, profession and experience in the parliament, noting that the nominee is capable of that.
“Since Dr Tulia is a learned lawyer with an experience of chairing the Parliament sessions for around six years at a capacity of Deputy Speaker, then she is capable of holding that seat,” he said. According to him, being a deputy speaker is a compliment for her nomination and that she is trusted to provide a link between the Executive and the Parliament.
“This time around the nomination considered individual qualifications, the only nomination that considered gender was the one conducted in 2010 and that saw Anne Makinda elected the first female speaker,” he noted.
In response to Tulia’s nomination, Dr Katanta Simwanza, a gender, child protection, and public health specialist, said CCM is living up to its 2020/2025 election manifesto’s first pillar, which spoke of human dignity with a focus on equality and justice.
“These positions have been held by men for many years, thus Tulia’s act of vying for speaker of parliament is an act of bravery because her status as deputy speaker qualified her to assume the top post,” he said.
Dr Simwanza continued, “It will be difficult to achieve development without the involvement of all groups at the leadership level,” adding since “everyone has a role to play in reaching development, CCM’s election of Tulia demonstrates to the rest of the world that the country is committed to advancing equality by ensuring that both men and women hold leadership roles.” He stated that Tulia was not elected because she is a woman; rather, people should recognise that this was a difficult exercise in which, other women also participated; however, CCM chose to trust her and nominate her to run for office because they had already evaluated her for the position of deputy speaker.
“Tulia’s appointment is a test for her, since she will have to establish her worth in this crucial position. President Samia Suluhu Hassan has demonstrated her promise since taking office, and when she (Tulia) is given the opportunity to head this pillar, people will expect her to demonstrate her ability in making things right.” Dr Rose Reuben, Executive Director of the Tanzania Media Women’s Association (TAMWA), expressed her delight that CCM choice of Tulia to compete for Parliament Speaker was commeded.
“As TAMWA, we see this as a result of our efforts to increase women’s participation in Tanzania’s political process and leadership positions,” she said.
For woman to be picked to vie for such a high position, according to Dr Reuben, is an opportunity. “We had a female Speaker — Anne Makinda, in prior years. Tulia’s nomination demonstrates that there is a strong willingness to promote women to higher levels of leadership, and that similar efforts should be undertaken for other leadership positions starting at the bottom,” added Dr Reuben.
Meanwhile, Mr Shaka said the Central Committee also commended President Samia for speed implementation of the election manifesto in social, political, cultural and economic circles.
The same was made to the Isles President, Dr Hussein Mwinyi especially under the blue economy agenda, which has brought drastic positive changes.
The speedy implementation of the election manifesto, he said, has been vivid in the improvement of social services citing the recent completion of the 15,000 classrooms countrywide, which has made it possible for a single intake of all Form One students.
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