Dar es Salaam.Parliament has tracked down the names of 600 people who sent abusive text messages and made offensive calls to the Speaker of the National Assembly, Ms Anne Makinda.The names will be forwarded to the security agencies for legal action, according to the Clerk of the National Assembly, Dr Thomas Kashililah.
Leaders of the opposition Chama Cha Demokrasia na Maendeleo (Chadema) announced the mobile phone numbers of the Speaker and her deputy, Mr Job Ndugai, on Sunday and urged the public to pressure the two officials into resigning for “failing to oversee the Bunge business”.
The Chadema leaders made the move during a public rally at Temeke Mwisho grounds. But instead of sticking with the campaign, people reportedly texted insults and hate messages.While giving out the phone numbers of public figures is not an offence, according to Dr Kashililah, sending abusive text messages is.
In another development, Dr Kashililah said his office was in talks with the Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority on the possibility of a television channel to be called Bunge Television. The channel will record all Bunge proceedings and air them after they are edited, signalling the end of live broadcasts by TBC1. “We need to edit some of the proceedings because some discussions in the House Chamber are not meant to be aired,” Dr Kashililah said. “Parliamentary sessions have to be censored because some of the issues raised are not for public consumption.”
On the disbanding of the Public Organisations Accounts Committee (POAC) by the Speaker last week, Dr Kashililah said Ms Makinda followed Parliament’s Standing Orders, which sets the tenure of all standing committees at two-and-a-half years. The Chadema MP for Kigoma North, Mr Zitto Kabwe, chaired that committee.
Dr Kashililah added: “We sat with the Standing Committee for Constitution, Law and Administration. The quorum was met. Together, we decided that, in a bid to bring more efficiency, POAC should be merged to the Public Accounts Committee.”
Other committees have been either split or merged to make them more efficient. Chadema has stated that it does not recognise the decision by the Speaker to dissolve the POAC, arguing that it is contrary to Parliament’s Standing Orders.
Speaking at a rally in Dar es Salaam on Sunday upon returning from Dodoma, Chadema leaders said the dissolution of the POAC, which oversees the efficiency of the more than 200 public organisations, was a blow to accountability and the war on corruption. Chadema Secretary General Willibrod Slaa told thousands of supporters that Ms Makinda ignored Standing Order number 152 (3) that obliged her to consult the Parliamentary Standing Orders Committee before dissolving any committee.
Mr Kabwe said in a statement to media houses that the East African region and other countries that follow the Commonwealth parliamentary system have committees that oversee the management and efficiency of public organisations.
Meanwhile, the Legal and Human Rights Centre (LHRC) and The Citizens’ Parliament Watch (CPW) yesterday accused the Speaker and chairpersons of the National Assembly of favouring MPs from some political parties during the session that ended recently. They told a news conference that breaches of the Standing Orders had turned Parliament into a “laughing stock”.
The LHRC executive director, Dr Helen Kijo-Bisimba, and the CPW executive director, Mr Marcossy Albanie, said the Speaker did not have powers to disband the POAC. In disbanding the POAC, they added, the Speaker breached Standing Orders 115 and 116.
source:http://www.thecitizen.co.tz
No comments:
Post a Comment