Source : Daily News,by DEOGRATIAS MUSHI
PROBLEMS facing the union can be addressed under the two-tier government structure, President Jakaya Kikwete has said.
Launching the Constituent Assembly (CA), Mr Kikwete insisted that the union obstacles could not be solved under the three government system as proposed in the Draft Constitution.
“I am confidently sure that we can address problems facing the Union under the two-tier government. Study critically the Draft Constitution to identify problems associated with creating a third government,” the president told CA members.
The president said the Union Government as proposed by the Warioba Commission may lack mandate to execute its powers effectively and instead it could depend on the proposed Mainland and Isles governments to run its activities.
According to President Kikwete, the proposed union structure may also be expensive to run, because it will lack sources of income unlike the current Union structure that is largely financed by Tanzania Mainland.
He added that in order to finance army and police services, the Union government was going to face some difficulties, because the Warioba Commission has failed to give proposals and solutions to such problems.
The president said there was a need to have a government that allows free movement of people to either side of the union. In Mpwapwa we have people from Pemba cultivating onions and they live there happily. We should not propose a kind of Union that disrupts people’s settlement, he advised.
He called upon CA members to seriously apply diligence and wisdom when considering what structure of the Union was needed. “Each one of you is entitled to personal opinion with regard to what kind of a constitution you want, but when pondering on which government to support, please apply wisdom and honesty,” he urged.
President Kikwete added that the three-tier government could plunge the country into problems that could not be solved in the days to come.
“Three governments is not a simple matter to handle. In the past we had some commissions like Nyalali commission that proposed such a system, but the government has been trying to solve one obstacle of the Union after another. According to the president, firm decision should be taken after going through the Draft Constitution to identify vices contained in it.
He cautioned CA members against being influenced by some groups, friends or their social groups to study the Draft, to enable them give their own authentic contributions, that may enable the country get a constitution that can spearhead their social and economic development.
“If you go through the Draft Constitution you will find a number of issues that call for improvement, especially the new unfamiliar issues included,” he said.
This is the first time since debate on the three-tier government was proposed in the first and second Draft Constitution, that President Kikwete has officially declared that he supports a two-tier government.
His stand is not meant to influence Constituent Assembly (CA) members who on Monday are expected to begin discussing the Draft Constitution tabled in the Assembly on Tuesday this week by Constitution Review Commission (CRC) chairman, Judge Joseph Warioba.
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