New constitution should rein in high office thieves

Attilio Tagalile

The issue of Tanzanians holding millions of dollars – most of it illegally acquired – in foreign banks resurfaced in the august House in Dodoma this week, which brought to the fore the fact that there is a great need for relevant clauses to be included in the envisaged new Constitution.

In case some people have forgotten, under Mwalimu Julius Nyerere’s government, it was illegal for any national who resides in Tanzania to open a bank account in a foreign country.

However, the abandonment of the Arusha Declaration (along with the Leadership Code) under what has come to be referred to as “Zanzibar Declaration” during the second phase government (under Ali Hassan Mwinyi) appears to have encouraged the growing trend by some Tanzanians, including political leaders, to open bank accounts abroad.

Under the Leadership Code, it was illegal for Tanzanians to have bank accounts in foreign countries, and the requirement was more stringent for those holding senior office in government or public corporations.

Those holding leadership positions were also not allowed to have shares or hold directorship in any company (including foreign).

And now that stashing money in bank accounts abroad is increasingly becoming a problem in Tanzania, the new Constitution will have to be very clear on this issue.

Instead of separating matters relating to leadership ethics from the Constitution, there is a need for everything, including having clauses that bar Tanzanians living in the country from servicing bank accounts abroad.

That will be the only way of dealing with those who think they can continue to steal money belonging to Tanzanians and then proceed to hide in foreign accounts.

Secondly, the new Constitution must be very clear on what should be done to those who have violated the Constitution with regard to having forbidden foreign accounts.

It should be categorical that such people should automatically lose their ill-gotten wealth through confiscation by the state.

The same should apply with regard to their terminal benefits, in case of pensioners who have been in one form of employment or another.

Such people should not only automatically lose their pensions and other terminal benefits, but the State should also prosecute such people.

And as a disincentive to those who think they can continue with what they know best, stealing for the rainy day, the new Constitution should be retrospective.

Yes, immediately the new Constitution comes into operation, say by the year 2015, it should start going after those who have been taking this country for a ride, saboteurs and those who have been stealing from the government and public institutions.

The other area that ought to be taken very seriously by the new Constitution is in the realm of elections.

The question of putting in place a free and independent electoral commission should be clearly spelt out in the new document.

And those appointed to serve in the electoral commission must be men and women of unquestionable integrity.

The importance of having in place a free and independent electoral commission manned by people of very high integrity lies in the fact that anything short of that is certain to lead to immense problems!

Indeed, it is the dubious electoral commissions we have across the continent that have at the end of almost every election led, not only to having persons of questionable character in power, but also walkouts, electoral disputes some of which have culminated in litigations and even violence leading to loss of innocent lives and properties.

But for a free and independent electoral commission to succeed, it must be supported by having in place biometric voter registers which will not only take care of cheats but also that which would ensure there are free and fair elections.

For any other kind of voter register would be susceptible to numerous problems such as manipulations.

And in order to avoid what has befallen the present Constitution, that is, remaining an unknown mystery to a majority of Tanzanians, once written, the new Constitution should be made to ensure that as many citizens as possible are familiar with its contents.

One way of attaining this will be to ensure every educational and training institution in the country provides a copy of the document to each and every graduate upon completion of his/her studies.

NB: Mr Attilio Tagalile is the editor of the web-based Corruption Tracker System (www.corruptiontracker.or.tz), which is funded by Finnish and Swiss embassies and operates under a non-government organisation, Agenda Participation 2000.

Source: The Citizen (19/08/2012): http://www.thecitizen.co.tz/magazines/61-uhuru50/25042-new-constitution-should-rein-in-high-office-thieves