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

The Opposition
misappropriated and embezzled. If we are partners, nothing should be
hidden from parliament.
The case for devolution
The relationship between parliament and the executive in Tanzania is
emblematic of a wider problem. The government has a policy known as
‘D-by-D’, or Decentralisation by Devolution, but D-by-D has not
worked because the existing legislation has not changed.
Decisions come from the top in Tanzania. This is the structure of our
republic. Each district has a District Commissioner. He is in charge, but
his loyalty is to the president in Dar es Salaam, sometimes 1500 km
away. The District Commissioner answers to the president. He cannot
be held to account by local people.
In my consitituency of Karatu, CHADEMA has resisted pressure from the
top. We have been able to make our own decisions. When I was elected in
1995 for the first time, there was only one secondary school in Karatu.
Today we have 30 secondary schools and Karatu is an opposition
stronghold. We know that we will have to answer to the people in five
years. But the district commissioner in Karatu, whose salary is assured,
doesn’t have that kind of responsibility. He is an appointee of the president.
We have first hand experience of accountability in Karatu. We have seen
the kind of impact that would occur if you introduced an elected
regional commissioner, for instance. This is why CHADEMA advocates
a federal approach. We want the country divided into regions and
provinces, with elected and representative structures. That way,
decisions are brought closer to the people. It is only in that way that
you can develop the country.
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