Policy Forum Members met on the 16th of August, 2013 in accordance with the Constitutional Review Act of 2011 to deliberate on the provisions of the Draft Constitution and outline areas of improvement to be sent to the Constitutional Review Commission before the August, 31st deadline.
Despite the fact that the Tanzanian government has brought in a new budget cycle, citizens are yet to be fully engaged in the budget process, it was claimed recently in Dar es Salaam. This was said by Honorable Member of Parliament (MP) Luhaga Joelson Mpina during the July Policy Forum breakfast debate at the British Council.
In 2012 and 2013, Policy Forum has been facilitating training on Social Accountability Monitoring (SAM) to various groups including councillors and district staffs, CSOs members and citizens in Rufiji, Kilwa and Kibaha districts so as to empower communities to participate effectively in district governance based on their right to social accountability. This capacity enhancement enables civic groups and communities to evaluate evidence of the implementation of finance management processes and make recommendations to improve these processes.
Although most of the Tanzania Commission for Human Rights and Good Governance's (CHRAGG) recommendations are honoured, some are ignored or rejected notwithstanding their merit. In addition, there is no clear legal procedures to enforce CHRAGG’s recommendations in courts. This was said by Mr. Emmanuel Barigila an officer from CHRAGG during the Policy Forum breakfast debate held on the 28th June 2013 at the British Council.
US President Barack Obama and the media might be traveling to my country this week to talk about such ‘sexy’ matters as the US’ economic race with China or peace and security issues. However if America is truly serious about pushing democratic governance around the world, it’s the less ‘sexy’ matters that are even more crucial.
For quite some time now, Policy Forum has been at the forefront in advocating for an establishment of a Parliamentary Budget Office (PBO) in Tanzania. In many countries, PBOs are usually independent non partisan entities within the legislature that examine the draft annual budget proposed by the executive and provides analytical support to parliamentarians so as enhance their ability to question the tabled proposal and enable them to propose alternative budget proposals. Establishment of this institution in Tanzania will significantly help the MPs in executing their oversight role.
Fellow country men and women, the announcement posted by the Government of the United Republic of Tanzania through Tanzania Petroleum Development Corporation (TPDC) last week for the 4th Tanzania Deep Offshore and North Lake Tanganyika Licensing Round at this juncture triggers serious concerns amongst civil society organisations in Tanzania.
21/5/2013
Chairman,
Tanzania Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (TEITI)
P.O. Box 9333,
Dar es Salaam,
Tanzania
Dear Sir.
Re. Consultation for Contract Transparency
Reference is made to the EITI International Secretariat updated Communique dated 14 February 2013 on the above subject.
On 3rd May, 2013, Minister of State (Policy, Coordination and Parliamentary Affairs), Mr. William Lukuvi announced to the National Assembly the government’s decision to nullify the 2012 form four examination results and its directive to the National Examination Council of Tanzania (NECTA) to re-standardize the results.
The water sector budget for the financial year 2013/2014 has been reduced to 398.4 billion Tanzanian shillings from 588.1 billion which was allocated to the sector budget in 2012/13, a reduction of about 190 billion shillings. Speaking during the Policy Forum's Breakfast Debate Mr.Fidelis Paul, Policy Analysist of WaterAid, said the reduction will result in the government continuing being donor dependent. He said looking at the 2013/14 national budget 36% of the total budget will be generated from domestic revenue while 64% of the development budget will depend on donors.