EDITORIAL: Voter education is key to a successful referendum

 

By The Citizen

In Summary

• But, as the clock ticks, support for the new Katiba has dropped, with a large number still undecided. Some 26 per cent would vote “no” while a significant 22 per cent are still undecided.

About 52 per cent of people on the Mainland would have voted for the Proposed Constitution had the referendum been held between January and February this year, according to a Twaweza opinion poll.
But, as the clock ticks, support for the new Katiba has dropped, with a large number still undecided. Some 26 per cent would vote “no” while a significant 22 per cent are still undecided.

Going with this data, the support for the new Katiba has shifted from 65 per cent last year to 52 per cent while the opposition advanced from 21 per cent to 26 per cent during the same period. According to the study, which was carried out from 17 January to 17 February this year and involving 1,399 respondents in Tanzania Mainland alone, 65 per cent disagree with Ukawa’s decision to boycott the referendum.

We should challenge pollsters like Twaweza to conduct further polls countrywide so that we get a clearer picture of what the people say about the much-debated referendum.

We are not certain, for example, that all the 23 million eligible voters have had a glimpse of what the Proposed Constitution looks like—let alone read and understood it. Very few copies have been distributed to the people, who are the owners of the Constitution. For all we know, this might be a deliberate move. It could also be simply an oversight.

Either way, we can only guarantee a fair referendum if either the government or the naysayers—or even both camps, for that matter—distributes copies of the Second Draft presented to the Constituent Assembly (CA) by the Constitutional Review Commission (CRC).

People’s wishes

This, in our view, would make it possible for voters to compare the documents and ultimately establish which one represents the people’s wishes.  We are aware that the second draft has been a rare commodity—meaning very few people have had a chance to read it.

The constitution is not the property of the ruling CCM or the Coalition of Defenders of the People’s Constitution, known generally as Ukawa. It is not the property of any religion or tribe. It is not the property of the President or the Cabinet. It does not belong to our learned brothers and sisters. Nor does it belong to the media.

The Constitution belongs to the people. We need to come to terms with the fact that no one has the right to hijack the process from the people, no matter the circumstances. The people—regardless of their social, economic, political or physical status—own the constitution lock, stock and barrel.

President George Washington summed it this way in his 1796 farewell address: “The heart of our system of government is the right of the people to make and alter their Constitutions of Government…for the people to control the constitution, it must not say what they said but it must mean what they meant.”

We suggest that both sides—Yes and No—launch a special awareness campaign to bring voters up to speed on every chapter and verse of the draft constitution. If done properly, this would lead us to a fair and credible outcome.