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.
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