Dar es Salaam. A team has been formed to initiate consultations with President John Magufuli in order to find ways of jumpstarting the stalled constitution making process.
The team draws representatives from the Tanzania Constitution Forum (TCF), religious leaders, the Tanzania Law Society (TLS) and the Zanzibar Law Society (ZLS) and academicians.
Others are representatives from women’s associations, Members of the Parliament (MPs), the Association of Local Authorities of Tanzania (Alat) and the Zanzibar House of Representatives.
TCF chairman Deus Kibamba told The Citizen in an exclusive interview that the National Constitution Conference (NCC), which convened for a two-day meeting this week had made the decision to meet President Magufuli in order to ensure the constitution making process was concluded.
The constitution making process was terminated in 2015 after the government failed to hold the referendum due to lack of financial resources, among other reasons.
The opposition had, however, rejected the Proposed Constitution, which they saied was crafted without their input after they had walked out of the Constituent Assembly in early 2014.
“We have already sought an appointment with the State House,” he said. President Magufuli had told journalists at the State House in November last year that the New Constitution was not a priority of the fifth phase government.
But, Mr Kibamba said consultations with the President would involve seeking a consensus on how to add input to the Proposed Constitution from groups that were sidelined during the previous process.
In light of this, the NCC has also directed TCF to identify areas in the Constitution Review Act of 2011 and the Referendum Act of 2013, which need amendments to make the process as inclusive as possible.
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