TANZANIANS living in the United Kingdom listen to President Jakaya Kikwete who met them at the Sattavis Patidar Centre at Wembley, London, on Sunday. The president is on a three-day visit at the invitation of British Prime Minister, Mr David Cameron. (Photo by State House)
PRESIDENT Jakaya Kikwete has reiterated his stance on the structure of the Union and the entire constitution-re-writing process, saying he stands for what he said in the Constituent Assembly (CA) in Dodoma last month.
Addressing the assembly on March 21, President Kikwete defended the two-tier government structure, which he said was the ideal system for addressing problems facing the union. He maintained that the Union obstacles could not be solved under the three-tier government system as proposed in the Draft Constitution.
Mr Kikwete also counselled CA members to put aside their political and ideological differences and embrace ‘Tanzania First’ as their driving motto in the constitution-rewriting process.
Addressing Tanzanians living in the United Kingdom (UK) in London on Sunday, the president said he did not go to Dodoma to dictate what CA members should or should not do, but to give a candid guidance on the crucial process of making a constitution that would guide the nation for many years to come.
He said what he put forward in the CA were his ideas regarding the future of the country and that it was now up to the people to decide which way to go.
Mr Kikwete said if the majority of Tanzanians would decide to choose a three-tier Union government structure in the referendum, he would not act to the contrary but cautioned that they should do that while aware of the intricacies of the system.
Meanwhile, the president challenged Tanzanians in the Diaspora to take up their dual citizenship plea to the ongoing CA session in Dodoma and defend their case.
He told them to refrain from using social media platforms to criticise the government instead of using them to push the dual citizenship agenda forward.
President Kikwete was responding to a speech by the Tanzanian Community in the UK, which was read by their Secretary, Ms Mariam Mungula, in which they asked him to help them in that aspect. He told them that he was constitutionally powerless to exert his executive mandate on the matter, pointing out that the CA was the right authority.
The president advised hundreds of Tanzanians from all over UK to liaise with a representative of the Diaspora in the CA and make their voice heard in the assembly.
“The Diaspora issue had not been included in the first draft but you have not made concerted efforts to ensure it does... instead you spend most of your time picking holes over the government to the detriment of your cause,” Mr Kikwete told his audience.
On Monday, the president who is in London for a three day state visit at the invitation of the British Prime Minister, Mr David Cameron, attended a Trade and Investment Forum, which drew together over 130 British investors before proceeding to Buckingham Palace for a meeting with the Duke of York, Prince Andrew, who is a son of Queen Elizabeth II and Britain’s Trade Ambassador.
Later on, he met with his host, Premier Cameron, the British Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, Mr William Hague and the Lord Mayor of the City of London, Ms Fiona Woolf.
Addressing the assembly on March 21, President Kikwete defended the two-tier government structure, which he said was the ideal system for addressing problems facing the union. He maintained that the Union obstacles could not be solved under the three-tier government system as proposed in the Draft Constitution.
Mr Kikwete also counselled CA members to put aside their political and ideological differences and embrace ‘Tanzania First’ as their driving motto in the constitution-rewriting process.
Addressing Tanzanians living in the United Kingdom (UK) in London on Sunday, the president said he did not go to Dodoma to dictate what CA members should or should not do, but to give a candid guidance on the crucial process of making a constitution that would guide the nation for many years to come.
He said what he put forward in the CA were his ideas regarding the future of the country and that it was now up to the people to decide which way to go.
Mr Kikwete said if the majority of Tanzanians would decide to choose a three-tier Union government structure in the referendum, he would not act to the contrary but cautioned that they should do that while aware of the intricacies of the system.
Meanwhile, the president challenged Tanzanians in the Diaspora to take up their dual citizenship plea to the ongoing CA session in Dodoma and defend their case.
He told them to refrain from using social media platforms to criticise the government instead of using them to push the dual citizenship agenda forward.
President Kikwete was responding to a speech by the Tanzanian Community in the UK, which was read by their Secretary, Ms Mariam Mungula, in which they asked him to help them in that aspect. He told them that he was constitutionally powerless to exert his executive mandate on the matter, pointing out that the CA was the right authority.
The president advised hundreds of Tanzanians from all over UK to liaise with a representative of the Diaspora in the CA and make their voice heard in the assembly.
“The Diaspora issue had not been included in the first draft but you have not made concerted efforts to ensure it does... instead you spend most of your time picking holes over the government to the detriment of your cause,” Mr Kikwete told his audience.
On Monday, the president who is in London for a three day state visit at the invitation of the British Prime Minister, Mr David Cameron, attended a Trade and Investment Forum, which drew together over 130 British investors before proceeding to Buckingham Palace for a meeting with the Duke of York, Prince Andrew, who is a son of Queen Elizabeth II and Britain’s Trade Ambassador.
Later on, he met with his host, Premier Cameron, the British Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, Mr William Hague and the Lord Mayor of the City of London, Ms Fiona Woolf.
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