Parliamentarians on study tour to India

Written by ROSE ATHUMANI 

NINE members of the National Assembly and Zanzibar’s House of Representatives leave on Sunday for India on a five-day study tour on Right to Information Laws. The tour has been sponsored by the Media Council of Tanzania (MCT).

The delegation comprises seven MPs from the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Community Development and two members from the House of Representatives – one from the Standing Committee on Livestock, Tourism, Empowerment and Information and the other from the Constitution and Legal Affairs Committee.

MCT Executive Secretary, Mr Kajubi Mukajanga said in Dar es Salaam  that the study tour was in the Council’s annual work plan to send legislators to learn from a developing country which has enacted legislation on Right to Information. He said the tour would cost MCT 67, 247 US dollars.

The tour, according to him, is meant to afford the legislators with an opportunity to be enlightened on India’s legislation on Right to Information so that they could better advise the parliament on the best way to pursue the same.The legislators from the National Assembly are; Juma Nkamia (Kondoa South – CCM), Rebecca Mngodo (Special Seats-Chadema), Ramadhani Haji Saleh (Bumbwini-CCM), Hussein Mussa Mzee (Jangombe-CCM), Assumpter Nshunju Mshana (Nkenge-CCM), Moza Abeid Saidy (Special Seats-CUF) and Said Mtanda (Mchinga-CCM).

Members of the House of Representatives are; Ali Mzee Ali (CCM-Appointed) and Ismail Jussa Ladhu (Mji Mkongwe-CUF).“We picked India because it is a developing country, with similar environment as our own. Our MPs and Representatives will get experience that will help us come up with our own legislation,” Mr Mukajanga explained.

The legislators will be accompanied by three MCT officials including one from Zanzibar office and the secretary of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Community Development, Mr Chacha Nyakega.MCT’s experience in the past five years in pursuing the Right to Information legislation indicates that there are suspicions that the legislation might trigger chaos and confusion on how to deal with official information, Mr Mukajanga said.

Mr Juma Nkamia (Kondoa South – CCM) who will lead the delegation, said it is important for MPs to visit other countries to learn so that they can advise the government and parliament in a move to improve and bring development to the country.Mr Nkamia praised MCT for the initiative to sponsor the legislators, saying experiences learnt in India would improve the country’s envisaged Bill on Right to Information.

Mrs Mngodo said for 16 years she had worked in the media industry,  has vast experience on difficulties of accessing information that the media fraternity goes through.She said the process to get a law on Right to Information started few years ago and the five day trip to India will place the legislators in a best position to advise the government and Parliament on best way forward to enacting the law.

Source: Daily News (23/09/2012): http://www.dailynews.co.tz/index.php/local-news/9801-parliamentarians-on-study-tour-to-india