Mr Freeman Mbowe speaks to journalists in Dodoma yesterday after he
announced the Opposition’s decision to stage a sit-in protest and not
participate in the Budget debates
The Opposition says
it will boycott the Budget session in the National Assembly, accusing
the government of highjacking their parliamentary priviledges.
Leader
of the Opposition Camp, Mr Freeman Mbowe, said yesterday three legal
issues had to be addressed first before they consider participating in
the marathon Budget session.
In
an apparent shift from its walk-out approach, the Opposition camp said
it would stage a sit-in protest in parliament, setting the stage for a
chaotic session if the government decides to go ahead with proceedings.
Chairman
of Parliament, Mr Andrew Chenge, told The Citizen, he would not be
drawn into discussing the Opposition’s boycott because it was not part
of the agenda.
Yesterday,
Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa, who is the leader of government
business in parliament tabled the 2016/17 budget estimates for his
office, and as leader of the Opposition, Mr Mbowe was supposed to table
the equivalent estimates for the same office.
However,
instead of doing that, he took a swipe at the government over “gross
violation of laws of the land”, and announced the Opposition would not
participate in Budget debates.
He
said the first major issue they want addressed is the formation of
ministries. The opposition leader noted that unlike in the US or Kenya
where the number of ministries are provided for in the constitution, in
Tanzania the President enjoys discretionary powers under the Ministers –
Discharge of Ministerial Functions – Act, 1980 to form his cabinet.
Under
the law, he noted, when a new president takes over, he is supposed to
prepare new guidelines or instruments, quoting the law in part.
“...the
President shall from time to time by notice published in the Gazette,
specify the departments, business and other matters and responsibility
for which he has retained for himself or he has assigned under his
direction to any minister and may in that notice specify the effective
date of the assumption of that responsibility,” he said,quoting the law
in part.
President
Magufuli has not gazzetted new guidelines, and thus the instrument
gazzetted by former President Jakaya Kikwete in December are technically
still into force, he noted.
“There’s
a major problem here, Dr Magufuli has changed the face of Cabinet, for
instance, regional administration and local government was under the
Prime Minister’s Office, but now it has been moved to the President’s
Office. How can I present alternative budget estimates of the Prime
Minister’s Office when there is this legal flaw?”
The
second concern raised by Mr Mbowe was the reallocation of budget funds
by the government without seeking Parliament’s approval. He noted that
the National Assembly has the Constitutional powers in all matters
related to the passing and changing of the government budget estimates.
However, he said, the government has been reallocating budget funds
passed last July without the endorsement of the House.
“For
instance, in the 2015/16 financial year, the Works ministry was
allocated Sh191.6 billion from internal sources, but by March this year,
the ministry had received more than Sh600 billion of development funds
from internal sources,” he said, adding:
“The
government didn’t table a mini budget here to seek our authorisation.
This shows this government doesn’t respect the rule of law, and it is an
utmost act of contempt of the powers of the National Assembly.”
He
explained that the Opposition had no problems with the reallocation of
funds per se, but reiterated that proper legal channels should be
followed.
The
third concern he raised was the limiting of live coverage of
parliamentary sessions, which he said was against the basic human right
of freedom of expression and press guaranteed by the Constitution.
Mr
Mbowe said when the government first made the decision, it cited huge
costs incurred by the national broadcaster TBC, but parliament
administration later barred private media houses from airing live
broadcasts without giving any concrete reasons.
“The
decision to install special parliamentary studio and broadcasting
channels was supposed to be made by the Parliamentary Services
Commission, of which I am a member. But we didn’t talk about it, let
alone decide over it,” he said.
Mr
Mbowe said the Prime Minister had tabled budget estimates for his
office, but Tanzanians were denied the opportunity to hear and watch
him. He told journalists outside the debating chambers: “It is not the
Opposition that is affected by this, but the general public.”
Elaborating on the boycott, Mr Mbowe said the Opposition camp would
attend the meetings, but would remain silent until the government and
National Assembly address their concerns.
“If they don’t act, the Opposition camp will announce further steps to push for answers,” he said.
When
reached for comment by The Citizen, Attorney General George Masaju
said: “I shall appreciate your waiting for the government’s response at
the time of winding up the Prime Minister’s Office budget speech on
Monday.”
However,
Mr Chenge, who was steering the meeting, said: “We’re here to debate
and pass the budget of the Prime Minister’s Office, however, I have one
advice for you, as a lawyer, I take the allegations that you raised here
very seriously, don’t hesitate to take the legal route and present your
concerns to the court for better legal interpretation,” he said.