Tanzania: Mbowe - If Parliament Isn't Weak, Broadcast It Live for People to Judge

By Sharon Sauwa

Dodoma — It is high time the government lifted the ban on live parliamentary in order to allow people to judge the strength of their lawmaking body.

The leader of opposition in Parliament, Mr Freeman Mbowe, said it was high time the public knew

what was going on in the parliament.

Mr Mbowe made the remark in the National Assembly in Dodoma when debating a report tabled by the Parliamentary Privileges, Ethics and Powers Committee.

The committee, led by Emmanuel Mwakasaka has proposed that the legislative body stops working with the Controller and Auditor General (CAG) Prof Mussa Assad, after the committee found him guilty of "disrespecting" the Parliament.

The ruling-party-dominated parliament endorsed the motion to stop working with the CAG over remarks he made during an interview with United Nations Radio last year in which he termed the parliament as "weak."

The leader of opposition, Mr Mbowe, said the move was tantamount to silencing people and stopping them from airing their views.

"Parliamentarians make decisions that affect all Tanzanians, but what we are doing amounts to taking away people's rights, simply because we have the powers to do so," he said.

Mr Mbowe said the constitution of the United Republic of Tanzania allows for people's rights to air their views. The CAG, he said, is also entitled to those rights, regardless of geographical boundaries.

"The provision that implicated the CAG is going against the country's constitution. In the due course, we will have to be keen on the composition of these parliamentary committees that we form. The current composition cannot fairly judge an opposition MP or any other person who holds views that differ with the government's stance," he said.