President shouln’t be above law: view

By Godfrey Kahango (The Citizen Correspondent)

Chunya, Mbeya.

The new constitution should have a clause which provides for the prosecution of a sitting president in order to make the head of state more accountable than at present.

The proposal was made recently by residents of Chalangwa and Choka wards in Chunya District, Mbeya Region. They said the current constitution which shields the president from prosecution was not good because as a person the holder of that office was also liable to making mistakes. Speaking before the Constitution Review Commission (CRC) recently, a Chalangwa Ward resident, Mr Elia Mwansasu, 60, warned that protecting a sitting president from prosecution might make him exercise tyranny.

“The sitting president might decide to do anything because he/she knows that nothing will be done against him/her, and that is not good,” he suggested. He added that because everybody was equal before the law there was no need to make anybody above it.

Another resident from Choka, Ms Felician Mwinuka, said it was unfair to have a person who cannot be made accountable in case he/she commits a crime while in office. Meanwhile, many residents in Chunya District who aired their views before the CRC said land was among issues which should be well elaborated in the proposed new law.

They proposed that the constitution should allow individuals to own land as opposed to the current system in which all land is regarded as state property under the trusteeship of the president. Mr Elimu Japhet, 32, from Chalangwa Ward, said land was the major mode of production. It was therefore unfair to deny people the right to own this important resource, he argued.

He said land conflicts would be greatly reduced if people were allowed to own land, declaring:

“No village leader will enter into dubious contracts with investors if every villager owns a piece of land. If leaders want to invite investors they will have no option other than involving the people who own land.”

Source: The Citizen (28/08/2012): http://www.thecitizen.co.tz/news/4-national-news/25293-president-shoulnt-be-above-law-view