Minister for Justice and Constitutional Affairs, Celina Kombani

The Kiswahili version of the 2011 Constitution review Bill is now ready and will be distributed to the public as soon as it is published in the government gazette, the Minister for Constitutional Affairs and Justice, Ms Selina Kombani confirmed on Tuesday.

Ms Kombani told the ‘Daily News’ in Dar es Salaam on Tuesday that the move was in response to stakeholders’ demand that the Bill was also available in the National Language to enable the majority members of the public participate in discussing it.

”We are done with the translation of the Bill into Kiswahili and it is just a matter of time – it will be out soon. In fact we want it to appear in the Government Gazette by next Friday,” she said.

Since the Bill was brought before the public for debate early this month, many stakeholders including Members of Parliament, have been advising the government to make sure the document was translated into Kiswahili so that many people could provide input.

The draft has already attracted a heated debate where stakeholders and MPs have been imploring Tanzanians to participate fully in the entire new constitution making process.

The Constitution Review Act of 2011 has been divided in six main parts namely the preliminary provisions, objectives of the draft, establishment of the Commission to man the process and procedures of the commission.

Other parts include proclamation of a constituent assembly and validation of a constitution.
Minister Kombani said until the Kiswahili version was out, debates would be conducted using the English edition of the document.

She said all public views would be accommodated including the sensitive issue of whether the country should introduce the private candidate system in elections or not.

Some sections of the draft document have triggered mixed reactions and hot debates with many views opposing the formation of the proposed commission and leave the matter with the constitutional assemblies.

The situation forced the government to extend the time for the public to air their views until June when the Bill will be tabled in the Parliament for the second reading.

Chairperson of the Parliamentary Committee on Constitution, Justice and Governance Pindi Chana, said recently that apart from oral contributions, the public was also free to debate the Bill in writing and that her committee would put an ideal mechanism of receiving the input.

By PIUS RUGONZIBWA, Tanzania Daily News

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