Bunge-Lenye-Meno-A-Parliament-with-Teeth-for-Tanzania-LAXNNAJ547

Mr Speaker
Empowering Bunge
The first priority in our five-year plan is in-house training for
parliamentary staff. We want it to be a merit-based civil service, serving
MPs. We want to take them to visit other parliaments, and to introduce
competitive exams. So the service will be of a much better quality than
before, empowering Bunge.
The second aspect is a legislative programme to entrench the separation
of powers, trying to elevate Bunge so that its independence is not in
question. We started with the National Assembly Fund, but we want to
go much further than that so that committees do much more than they
can now.
The third priority is to develop a legislative calendar which is owned by
Bunge. We should not be sitting back, waiting for bills coming from
government. We want to introduce legislation or changes in legislation.
If the voters are clamouring for something, we can’t just sit back like we
have been doing.
For example, there are complaints about fair competition in business.
Obviously there is a process of negotiation with the government, but
the parliamentary committees should be able to introduce a private
member’s bill to encourage best practice.
Constitutional reform
Some constitutional changes will be necessary to achieve a more effective
parliament. There is public appetite for this: people want independent
MPs. If you look at the nomination process for someone wanting to go
into parliament, it can deter serious candidates. People who don’t behave
in a certain way won’t secure the nomination, and that can put paid to
their career – it’s difficult to do anything about that.
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