Bunge Newsletter
Bunge E-Newsletter May 2013 Issue No:007 - Parliament of Tanzania
Bunge E-Newsletter May 2013 Issue No:007 - Parliament of Tanzania
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<strong>Bunge</strong><br />
e<br />
<strong>Newsletter</strong><br />
Issue No 007 MAY 2013<br />
Parliament for the last seven Weeks in Budgetary Session<br />
The 11th Parliamentary Session, which is the budget<br />
session, is in its 7th week since it started on 9th April,<br />
2013. Up to now 283 normal questions have been asked<br />
and answered in the Parliament. Within this time<br />
about 420 supplementary questions were asked and<br />
all of them received answers from the Government.<br />
According to the Parliamentary Standing Orders,<br />
every Thursday, it’s Prime Minister’s questions and<br />
up to the end of May more than 20 questions had<br />
been asked and answered by the Prime Minister.<br />
Despite of the normal Q&A session in the Parliament,<br />
during this session, Parliament has also continued<br />
discussing and approving ministries budget estimates<br />
for the financial year 2013/14. So far 28 ministries have<br />
already presented their budget estimates in the House.<br />
Members of Parliament have scrutined the Government<br />
and made sure that national development<br />
priorities are been considered in every ministry<br />
as a way of fulfilling their constitutional<br />
mandate of representation, legislation and oversight.<br />
The number of Members of Parliament who have<br />
contributed to the budget discussions per each ministry<br />
up to now is as follows: The Office of Prime<br />
Minister [114 Contributors], President’s Office [17<br />
Contributions], Office of Vice President [6 Contributors],<br />
Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Cooperative<br />
[45 Contributors], Ministry of Water<br />
[43 Contributors], Ministry of Natural resources<br />
and tourism [34 Contributors], Ministry of Justice<br />
and Constitutional affairs [7 Contributors].<br />
After the change of the Budget Cycle to the current<br />
one, the entire exercise of discussing and approving<br />
the budget estimates has received a ernomous<br />
contributions from the Members of Parliament.<br />
Others are the Ministry of Defense and National<br />
Service[9 Contributors],Ministry of<br />
Home affairs[43 Contributors], Ministry of<br />
health and social welfare[38 Contributors],<br />
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Ministry of Community Development, Gender and<br />
children[9 Contributors]; Ministry of Infrastructure<br />
[45 Contributors]; Ministry of Industry and Trade<br />
[8 Contributors]; Ministry of Transport [33 Contributors];<br />
Information, Youth, Culture and Sport [30<br />
Contributors]; Energy and Minerals [24 Contributors];<br />
East African Corporation [7 Contributors];<br />
Despite approving the above-mentioned Ministries<br />
budget, the Parliament has done its role of<br />
advising the Government and asked some Ministry<br />
to review their Ministrial Budgets they<br />
serve before tabled for approval in the House.<br />
This success is built on the effectiveness of the newly<br />
created Budget committee, which has been advising<br />
all Ministries on its budget in each sector.<br />
The formation of this committee has been a success<br />
in effectiveness of the Parliament specifically<br />
in this budget session as the parliament<br />
has been advising the Government well.<br />
Women MPs want more skills to table<br />
Private Member’s Bills and Motions<br />
Chairperson of the TWPG Hon. Anna Abdallah gesturing to the Women Mps while she was opening a one day workshop on how to table Private<br />
members motions and Bill. Right is the secretary of TWGP Hon. Angela Kairuki and sitting left is the Deputy Chair Hon. Dr. Mary Mwanjelwa<br />
Association of Women MPs in the Parliament of<br />
Tanzania (Tanzania Women Parliamentarian Group<br />
- TWPG) this month conducted a one-day seminar<br />
for all Women Parliamentarians aiming at improving<br />
their comprehensive understanding on<br />
the best form of self-presentation and tabling of<br />
Private Members Bills and Motions in Parliament.<br />
The seminar was one of the capacity building organized<br />
by TWGP aiming at improving Women Mps in<br />
order to effectively engage themselves in legislative<br />
process with competent ideas that reflect people’s lives.<br />
Opening the seminar, the Chairperson of the<br />
TWPG Hon. Anna Abdallah (Mp) asked all its<br />
MPs regardless of their political-party affiliation<br />
to effectively engage with the Office of the Parliamentary<br />
Legal Adviser on how to prepare and<br />
table the Private Member’s Bills and Motions.<br />
Hon. Abdallah added that, Women Parliamentarians<br />
are responsible in solving problems facing<br />
the peoples in the country, especially those affecting<br />
women and children, by engaging on bringing<br />
more bills and motions in the house that focus to<br />
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tackle their problems. Furthermore it is the effective<br />
way of putting the Government accountable to Wananchi<br />
represented by Mps in the House. She added<br />
“Honorable Members, this is my eighth term in the<br />
House, there is still little awareness for many women<br />
Mps on how to table Private Members Bills and Motions<br />
in the Parliament. I believe if we take advantage<br />
of this kind of awareness seminars, they will help us<br />
very much to effectively draft good and convincing<br />
Private Bills and Motions that focus on resolving people’s<br />
problems while they meet all the Standing Orders<br />
demands at the same time. She said Hon. Anna<br />
Abdallah Said to the TWGP at the Msekwa Hall.<br />
During the discussion, many Women MPs<br />
asked TWGP leadership to organize such kind<br />
of seminars regularly as they will impart more<br />
understanding to Women MPs in the House.<br />
“This might be in practice so that education always<br />
takes place for the purpose of reminding us<br />
with house procedures and even legal requirements<br />
that are needed when on tabling the motion or the<br />
Bill in the House. This will make us more competence<br />
and able to compete with Men MPs while<br />
Legislating. We have a lot of issues that we need to<br />
present in the House, but sometime we lack technical<br />
inputs on how to table them. As a result<br />
many of us are no more vibrant in the House”. Said<br />
one of the MP while contributing to the Seminar.<br />
The Members agreed that they have to fulfill their<br />
mandates of representing people effectively as the<br />
voice of wananchi by bringing into Parliament issues<br />
which need immediate solution from the Government.<br />
“Parliament is the place where laws are made and<br />
where people put the Government accountable, we<br />
have to make sure that we do not leave that job to<br />
Male MPs only, we are the Women in the Parliament<br />
and we represent hundreds of Women and<br />
Children of this country whose voices must be<br />
heard in the House through us. So we have to ensure<br />
that we raise the people’s voices while we are in<br />
the Parliament by bringing in their problems to be<br />
solved.” Said Hon. Anne Kilango Malecela (MP).<br />
The workshop consisted of three topics namely<br />
how to bring in a Private-Member Motion, Private<br />
Members Bill and the Procedure to table<br />
the Government Bills in the House. The presenters<br />
came from the Office of the National Assembly<br />
Parliament formed Special Committee<br />
to defuse Mtwara Gas Crisis<br />
Speaker of the National Assembly Hon. Anne Makinda announcing<br />
names of the Mps who will form the Special Parliamentary<br />
Committee that will work to find out the cause of Mtwara Crisis<br />
The Speaker of the National Assembly, Hon.<br />
Anne Makinda has announced a Special Committee<br />
with thirteen members select to probe<br />
dispute-surrounding construction of a natural<br />
gas pipeline from Mtwara to Dar es Salaam.<br />
The dispute caused riots in Mtwara this month and<br />
escalated on the day the Ministry of Energy and Minerals<br />
was tabling its Ministerial Budget estimates.<br />
The Speaker formed the Committee after the Government<br />
had issued its statement in the house, the<br />
Parliamentary Steering Committee met and decided<br />
that a Special committee to be formed and listen<br />
to residents of Mtwara over their skepticism in<br />
the government’s plan to construct the gas pipeline.<br />
Hon. Makinda noted that in a calm environment the<br />
committee will tour Mtwara and meet various groups.<br />
She urged residents to remain calm and give utmost<br />
cooperation and speak freely on their grievances.<br />
“I call upon residents of Mtwara to cooperate to be<br />
open and free to speak their minds without fear. The<br />
committee will have sufficient time to meet residents,<br />
groups, organisations and leaders,” she said.<br />
The Speaker announced the names of the<br />
Members of that Commitee shortly after<br />
the house approved the Ministry of Energy<br />
and Minerals 2013/14 budget estimates.<br />
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She said the committee will be guided by fourclause<br />
terms of reference which includes probing<br />
the source of chaos, make a follow up on<br />
various steps taken by the government, meeting<br />
stakeholders and get their views on gas projects<br />
and look at any other issues related to the mayhem.<br />
The team will be under the chairmanship of Hon.<br />
Charles Mwijage (CCM). Other members are<br />
Hon. Said Arfi (CHADEMA), Hon. Dalaly Kafumu<br />
(CCM), Hon. Said Nkumba (CCM), Hon.<br />
Cynthia Ngoye (CCM), Hon. Hamad Rashid Mohamed<br />
(CUF), Hon. Ramo Makani (CCM) and<br />
Hon. Muhammad Amour Chomboh (CCM).<br />
Others in the team are Hon. Cecilia Paresso (CHADE-<br />
MA), Hon. Rukia Kassim Ahmed (CUF), Hon.<br />
Mariam Kisangi (CCM), Hon. Agripina Buyogela<br />
(NCCR-Mageuzi) and Hon. Selemani Jafo (CCM) .<br />
Budget Committee shows it relevance<br />
The newly formed Parliamentary Budget Committee<br />
has been showing its significance by effectively<br />
advising the Government to prioritize issues<br />
of National Interest in each Ministerial Budget<br />
during the ongoing Budget session in Dodoma.<br />
The Committee appears to be asserting<br />
its role by querying discrepancies on<br />
each Ministerial Budget between the policy<br />
and the final budget in the house for approval.<br />
Since the start of the Budget session in Dodoma,<br />
the Budget Committee has been meeting with various<br />
Ministries and Parliamentary sectorial Committee<br />
to discuss and advice them on disbursements<br />
of funds to each Ministry’s budget estimates.<br />
Minister for Ernegy and Minerals Hon. Prof. Sospeter<br />
Muhongo dispalying some of the Ministerial Documents<br />
containing Ministerial Plan for Gas and Energy in the House<br />
The committee is expected to table the report<br />
within two weeks. It will then be debated<br />
in the ongoing session and the recommendations<br />
passed on to the Government for action.<br />
Residents of Mtwara have been resisting the<br />
construction of a pipeline to transport gas<br />
to Dar es Salaam for electricity generation.<br />
The 532km pipeline, to be built at a cost of $1.225<br />
billion, will transport the gas to the city to produce<br />
2,780MW of electricity. It is a joint project<br />
between China Petroleum and Technology Development<br />
Company (CPTDC), a unit of China National<br />
Petroleum Corp (CNPC), and the Tanzania<br />
Petroleum Development Corporation (TPDC).<br />
The Committee has advices each Ministry to allocate<br />
more funds to developmental projects, which are<br />
the main interest of the country’s development plan.<br />
Basing on the ministerial report for the finacial year<br />
2012/13, the Budget Committee was able to look<br />
on the Government Efficiency on the implementation<br />
and uses of taxpayer’s money through the projects<br />
which are executed based on value for money.<br />
Parliament is supposed to play an oversight role<br />
over the budgetary process to ensure that the<br />
nation’s priorities are adequately catered for.<br />
After years of Parliament without this Committees<br />
in the budget process, now MPs are agitated for<br />
a more active role and as a result they have formed<br />
this Budget Committee which is more transparency<br />
and very cooperative around the budgetary process.<br />
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NEWS IN PICTURE<br />
Speaker of the National Assembly Hon. Anne<br />
Makinda giving worlds of consolation to the Arch .<br />
Bishop Josephat Lebulu of the Arusha Arch-Diocese<br />
when she led a delegation of 25 MPs to visit the<br />
victims of the Olasite Church Bombing this Month.<br />
The Parish priest of the Olasite parish Rev. Father<br />
Pedy Kasterino escorting the Speaker of the National<br />
Assembly Hon. Anne Makinda and her delegation<br />
to see the damage of the Bombing<br />
of the Olastite Church in Arusha<br />
Irish Ambasador to Tanzania<br />
Hon. Fionnuala Gilsenan paying a courtesy<br />
call to the speaker of the National Assembly<br />
Hon. Anne Makinda in Dodoma this Month<br />
South Kigoma Mp. Hon. David Kafulila making<br />
contribution during the Climate Change<br />
Serminar in Dodoma this Month. The Serminar<br />
was organised by the Parliament in collaboration<br />
with UNDP under the Legislative Support<br />
Project as capacity building to Mps and Staff<br />
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<strong>Bunge</strong> Principal Information Officer died in Malaysia<br />
Once again the Office of National Assembly has suffered<br />
a great loss of its member of staff the late Ernest<br />
Xavier Zulu. The diseased who was born on July 10th<br />
1957 in Songea region at Maposeni – Ndilima village<br />
passed away on May 23rd, 2013 in Kuala Lumpur,<br />
Malaysia after he had suffered from brain trauma followed<br />
by head surgery towards the end of the year 2012.<br />
The late Zulu joined <strong>Bunge</strong> in 1997 after he had<br />
worked with the then Tanzania Broadcasting Corporation<br />
since 1976 to 1983 as an Assistant News<br />
Writer, The Uhuru/ Mzalendo Senior Correspondent<br />
in 1985 to 1990, The Express Newspaper Sub<br />
– editor in 1991 to 1994 and the Voice of Germany<br />
(Doche Welle) Senior Correspondent in 1995<br />
Due to his dedicated endeavor, in 2004 Mr. Ernest<br />
Zulu was promoted to Principal Information<br />
Officer, the position he held till he passed away.<br />
Eager to learn more and despite of his grown age, in<br />
July 2010 Mr. Zulu joined the Taylor University in Kuala<br />
Lumpur, Malaysia to pursue the Bachelor Degree<br />
in Media Communication and Administration, the<br />
course which was due to an end come November 2013.<br />
The above story speaks for itself as for how our beloved<br />
Zulu cherished education and went after it.<br />
Let it be a legacy and inspiration to young, old and<br />
to all of us who knew and worked with the late Ernest<br />
Zulu. To many he was referred to as a Teacher…<br />
The diseased studied at Mpera Primary School in<br />
Kahama from 1966 to 1970. For the Ordinary level<br />
studies, the late Zulu went at Bagamoyo Secondary<br />
School from the year 1971 to 1974 culminating<br />
with Diploma in Journalism from the then Tanzania<br />
School of Journalism (TSJ) in 1975 to 1976.<br />
In his quest to quench academic thirst, in<br />
1986 to 1987 the diseased attended International<br />
Journalism studies in Moscow, Russia.<br />
Survived with a widow and four children the late Zulu<br />
in 1997 joined <strong>Bunge</strong> as a Civic Education Consultant<br />
and in 1998 Mr. Zulu was fully employed by Office of<br />
National Assembly as a Senior Information Officer.<br />
The Office of the National Assembly in collaboration<br />
with the Embassy of Tanzania in Malaysia<br />
worked diligently to bring back to the cou<br />
try the remains of the body of Mr. Ernest Zulu.<br />
The Commissioner and the Mafia Island Member of<br />
Parliament who represented the Speaker of the National<br />
Assembly Hon. Abdul Karim Shah together<br />
with the Clerk of the National Assembly Dr. Thomas<br />
Kashilliah led the <strong>Bunge</strong> Staff in receiving the body and<br />
arranging funeral ceremony which took place in Songea<br />
at Maposeni-Ndilima village on May 31st, 2013.<br />
The Potrait of the late Ernest Zullu<br />
The Widow Mrs Theresia Zullu (Right) morning<br />
her husband<br />
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