Taarifa kwa waandishi wa habari
19 Oktoba 2017
19 Oktoba 2017
Wananchi wawili kati ya watatu wanasema Tanzania inahitaji katiba mpya
Nusu ya wananchi wanasema mchakato wa katiba uanze upya na tume mpya
19 Oktoba 2017, Dar es Salaam: Asilimia 67 ya Watanzania wanasema ni muhimu kwa Tanzania kupata katiba mpya na asilimia 56 wanasema toleo la mwisho la rasimu ya katiba lipigiwe kura na wananchi. Hata hivyo, asilimia 48 ya wananchi wanasema kwa maoni yao, katiba mpya haitapatikana ndani ya miaka mitatu ijayo.
Vile vile wananchi wanaendelea kuunga mkono kwa nguvu kubwa uundwaji wa katiba mpya inayotilia mkazo suala la uwajibikaji. Asilimia 79 wanataka mawaziri wanaoteuliwa wapitishwe na bunge na asilimia 64 wanataka wawe na uwezo wa kuwaondoa wabunge katikati ya chaguzi iwapo hawatatekeleza majukumu yao ipasavyo.
Hata hivyo, wananchi wamegawanyika kwenye baadhi ya hatua za uwajibikaji zilizopendekezwa ikiwemo kuzuia viongozi na watumishi wa umma kuwa na akaunti nje ya nchi (asilimia 52 wanaunga mkono), kuwepo kwa ukomo wa ubunge (asilimia 52 wanaunga mkono) na kuweka kanuni za uwazi na uwajibikaji kuwa sehemu ya tunu za taifa (asilimia 48 wanaunga mkono). Hivi vyote ni vipengele vya rasimu ya katiba ambavyo viliondolewa na Bunge Maalumu la Katiba. Pia, wananchi wanaunga mkono kuondolewa kwa kipengele kinachotaka kuchunguza na kudhibiti ofisi ya Rais (asilimia 55) pamoja na mawaziri kuchaguliwa kutoka nje ya Bunge (asilimia 62).
Matokeo haya yametolewa na Twaweza katika utafiti wake uitwao Zege imelala? Maoni ya wananchi kuhusu kukwama kwa mchakato wa kuunda katiba mpya. Muhtasari huu unatokana na takwimu kutoka Sauti za Wananchi, utafiti wa kwanza barani Afrika wenye uwakilishi wa kitaifa unaotumia simu za mikononi. Matokeo haya yanatokana na takwimu zilizokusanywa kutoka kwa wahojiwa 1,745 kutoka maeneo mbalimbali ya Tanzania Bara (Zanzibar haihusiki kwenye utafiti huu) mwezi Juni hadi Julai 2017.
Muundo wa serikali ni moja kati ya vipengele vilivyoibua mjadala mzito wakati wa mchakato wa kuunda katiba mpya na hatimaye kuwagawa wananchi. Asilimia 42 ya wananchi wa Tanzania Bara waliunga mkono muundo wa serikali mbili. Muundo wa serikali moja ulikubalika kwa asilimia 25 tu na muundo wa serikali tatu uliopendekezwa na Tume ya Mabadiliko ya Katiba ulipendwa na asilimia 16 tu. Muundo unaoendana na muundo uliopo hivi sasa lakini unaotoa uhuru zaidi kwa Zanzibar uliungwa mkono na asilimia 12. Kukubalika kwa muundo wa serikali unaotumika hivi sasa umeongezeka kutoka asilimia 25 mwaka 2014, hadi asilimia 42 mwaka 2017 na kukubalika kwa serikali tatu kumeshuka kidogo, kutoka asilimia 22 hadi asilimia 16 katika kipindi hicho hicho.
Wananchi wa Zanzibar wana mtazamo tofauti kabisa kuhusu suala hili. Mwaka 2014, asilimia 46 waliunga mkono muundo wa serikali tatu na asilimia 45 waliunga mkono muundo wa serikali mbili uliopo hivi sasa lakini uwe unatoa uhuru zaidi kwa Zanzibar.
Pamoja na maoni mazito kuhusu suala la maudhui, asilimia 91 ya wananchi wanakubali kuwa mchakato wa kuunda katiba pamoja na maudhui ya katiba vyote ni muhimu. Asilimia 18 wanakumbuka kushiriki katika mchakato wa mapitio ya katiba, asilimia 44 wanaona kuwa mchakato huo ulikuwa kwa ajili ya kukusanya maoni ambayo haikuwa lazima yajitokeze kwenye katiba, na asilimia 23 wanaona kuwa mchakato huo ulikuwa ni kwa ajili ya kuwapa tu taarifa na siyo kukusanya maoni yao. Asilimia 33 waliosalia wanauona mchakato wa katiba kuwa kwa ajili ya kusikiliza maoni ya wananchi na kuyatumia kwenye rasimu za katiba.
Kwa kuongezea, japokuwa asilimia 93 ya wananchi wameshawahi kusikia kuhusu katiba, ni asilimia 35 ya wananchi wanaoweza kueleza maana ya katiba. Asilimia 49 wanasema kuwa Rais ndiye anayepaswa kuongoza mchakato wa kuibadilisha katiba. Kwa ujumla wanawake wana uwezekano mdogo kuliko wanaume wa kufahamu kuwa mchakato wa kuibadilisha katiba ulianza (asilimia 81 ya wanaume ukilinganisha na asilimia 61 ya wanawake) na kwamba walishiriki kutoa maoni yao kwenye mchakato huo (asilimia 25 ya wanaume ukilinganisha na asilimia 10 ya wanawake).
Asilimia 23 ya wananchi waliunga mkono kugomewa kwa Bunge Maalumu la Katiba kulikochochewa na kuanzishwa kwa UKAWA (Umoja wa Katiba ya Wananchi). Idadi muhimu ya wananchi (asilimia 41) wanasema kuwa mgomo huo ulibatilisha mchakato wote, lakini asilimia 56 hawakubaliani na hoja hiyo. Ila, wananchi walipoulizwa kuhusu suala hilo kwa kutumia kauli ya jumla (iwapo kikundi kikiamua kutoshiriki, itasababisha katiba kukosa uhalali), idadi kubwa zaidi ya wananchi (asilimia 56) walikubali.
Katika kusonga mbele, asilimia 48 wanasema njia nzuri ni kuanza upya mchakato wa katiba. Pendekezo la wananchi linalofuata na lililoungwa mkono na asilimia 18 ya wananchi ni kutumia rasimu iliyoandaliwa na tume iliyopita na kuifanyia marekebisho. Kwa upande mwingine, asilimia 38 wanataka mchakato uanze upya kabisa katika ukurasa mpya, wakati asilimia 31 wanataka uanze kwa kutumia rasimu ya Tume ya Mabadiliko ya Katiba. Asilimia 16 ya wananchi wanataka mchakato uanze kwa kutumia katiba iliyopo hivi sasa na asilimia 11 wangependa itumike rasimu iliyotengenezwa na Bunge Maalumu la Katiba.
Mkurugenzi Mtendaji wa Twaweza Aidan Eyakuze, anasema: “Wananchi wanataka katiba mpya. Wengi wao wanataka mchakato uanze upya na tume mpya katika ukurasa mpya. Hata hivyo, wapo wananchi ambao wapo tayari kusonga mbele kwa kutumia rasimu iliyoandaliwa na tume iliyotangulia. Cha msingi ni kwamba, wananchi wanaunga mkono kipengele kilichoongeza madaraka ya bunge katika suala la kuwapitisha mawaziri walioteuliwa, na kinachowapa wananchi haki ya kuwaondoa wabunge wanaozembea kazini.”
“Lakini”, aliendelea, “utafiti huu umedhihirisha uwajibikaji wa siasa kwenye uhalali wa mchakato wa katiba. Matokeo yameonesha dhahiri kwamba wananchi wengi wanatatizwa katika kutofautisha kitendo cha UKAWA kugomea bunge la Katiba na migomo mingineyo. Ushabiki wa kisiasa huwafanya watu wengi kutozingatia uhalali wa jambo husika. Hivyo basi; vyovyote tutakavyofufua mchakato wa katiba, ni muhimu sana kwa wahusika wakuu kuheshimu na kutambua kwamba sheria mama ya nchi ni ya thamani zaidi kuliko tofauti za kisiasa. Tanzania inahitaji mchakato wa katiba utakaozingatia uhalali na ujumuishi wa watanzania wote”
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Kwa taarifa zaidi wasiliana na:Risha Chande, Mshauri Mwandamizi wa Mawasiliano, Twaweza
Barua pepe: rchande@twaweza.org | Simu: (+255) (0) 656 657 559
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Press Release
19 October 2017
Two out of three citizens think Tanzania needs a new constitutionHalf of citizens think the constitutional process should start again with a new commission
19 October 2017, Dar es Salaam: A full 2 out of 3 Tanzanians (67%) think that it is important for the country to get a new constitution. Just over half of citizens (56%) think that the final draft Constitution should be voted on in a public referendum. Yet just under half of citizens (48%) think that this will not happen within the next three years.
Citizens also continue to be strongly supportive of a new constitution that emphasizes accountability. Eight out of ten want ministerial appointments to be confirmed by Parliament (79%), and six out of ten want to be able to remove MPs between elections (64%).
However citizens are more divided on some accountability measures including stopping foreign bank accounts for leaders and civil servants (54% in support), term limits for MPs (52% in support), and having transparency and accountability as part of the core set of national values (48% support). These are all aspects of the draft constitution that were dropped by the Constituent Assembly. And citizens do support the removal of certain checks and balances around the office of the President (55%) and the requirement for Ministers to come from outside Parliament (62%).
These findings were released by Twaweza in a research brief titled Unfinished Business: Tanzanians’ views on the stalled constitutional review process. The brief is based on data from Sauti za Wananchi, Africa’s first nationally representative high-frequency mobile phone survey. The findings are based on data collected from 1,745 respondents across Mainland Tanzania (excluding Zanzibar) in June-July 2017.
When it comes to one of the most contentious aspects of the previous constitutional process, the government structure, citizens are less divided. Just under half of citizens on the Mainland (42%) support the current two-government structure and this is the most popular structure for Mainland citizens. Less popular options include a single government (25%), three governments as proposed by the Constitutional Review Commission (16%), and something similar to the current structure but with more autonomy for Zanzibar (12%). Support for the current structure has grown from 25% in 2014 to 42% in 2017 and support for a three-government structure has declined slightly, from 22% to 16% during the same time.
Citizens on Zanzibar have very different views on this issue. When asked (in 2014), 46% supported a three-government structure and 45% supported the current two government structure with more autonomy for Zanzibar.
Alongside strong views on content, nine out of ten citizens (91%) agree that both the process of creating the constitution and the content itself are important. While 2 out of 10 citizens (18%) remember being part of the constitutional review process, 4 out of 10 (44%) feel that the process was about collecting views that were not necessarily then reflected in the constitution and 2 out of 10 (23%) feel that the process was just about sharing information not collecting citizens’ views. This leaves 3 out of 10 (33%) who think the process was about actually listening to citizens’ opinions and reflecting these in the drafts.
In addition, although 9 out of 10 citizens have heard of the constitution, only 3 out of 10 can explain what it is. And close to half of citizens (49%) think that the President is the one who is supposed to drive the constitutional review process. Overall women are less likely than men to know that a constitutional review process had been started (81% of men versus 61% of women) and to have given their inputs into the process (25% of men versus 10% of women).
One in four citizens (23%) were supportive of the boycott of the Constituent Assembly that was tied to the formation of the UKAWA (Umoja wa Katiba ya Wananchi – Union for the People’s Constitution). A significant minority of citizens (41%) think that the boycott invalidated the rest of the process, but 56% disagree. Interestingly when asked about this more generally (if a group decides not to participate, it makes the constitution less legitimate), the majority of citizens (56%) agree that this is the case.
In terms of moving forward, the largest group of citizens (48%) think the best way is to start from the beginning with a new constitutional review commission. The next most popular option, supported by 2 out of 10 citizens (18%) is to take the draft developed by the previous commission and amend that. More specifically, 4 out of 10 citizens (38%) want to start the process again with a blank page, while 3 out of 10 (31%) want to start with the draft from the former Constitutional Review Commission, less than 2 out of 10 (16%) want to use the current constitution as the starting point and only 1 out of 10 (11%) wish to make use of the draft that was developed by the Constituent Assembly.
Aidan Eyakuze, Executive Director of Twaweza, said: “Citizens want a new constitution. Many want to start with a new Commission and a clean sheet of paper. But others are willing to go forward with the draft from the last commission. They also support the accountability orientation of the original draft constitution and they are clear that they want a new, more inclusive process to move forward with.”
“But,” he continued, “this survey also highlights the complex role of politics in questions around the legitimacy and inclusiveness of the constitutional process. It is telling that direct mention of UKAWA causes citizens to judge the boycott more harshly than they do when asked about boycotts in general. When it comes to their politics, citizens' passion often overwhelms their objectivity. However the constitutional process is restarted, those driving the process must recognise that the law of the land is too important to fall prey to party differences, we need a process that includes our entire country, in all its diversity and dissonance.”
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