WanaJF: Mambo sasa yamekucha: Lakini angalizo ni pale Lissu anaposema kuwa Makinda anadanganya anaposema suala liko mahakamani hivyo Bungeni haliwezi kuzungumzwa. Angalia kwenye red.
Opposition to drag Makinda to Bunge Panel
* For being partisan when leading House motions
By Sylvester Joseph in Dodoma
THE Opposition camp in Parliament is set to take the Speaker of the National Assembly Anne Makinda before Parliamentary Standing Committee responsible for Parliamentary Standing Orders to answer complaints of being partisan when leading motions in the House.
Speaking to reporters at Bunge offices in Dodoma yesterday, Opposition camp Chief Whip, Tundu Lissu (Singida East-Chadema) said they had prepared the required documents, which will help them in questioning Makinda's integrity.
Lissu said the official opposition was disappointed with the manner at which Makinda's is handling issues of national interest whenever raised by legislators from the opposition.
He said the official opposition was by yesterday (Friday) ready to tender their complaints before the Bunge Committee.
Lissu said their concern was on how the Speaker had been intervening whenever she sees any government minister cornered in explaining government actions that are seen to contravene the Constitution.
The outspoken opposition MP said the camp was forced to take action against the Speaker following Thursday's incident when Makinda prevented Prime Minister Mizengo Pinda from answering questions from two Chadema MPs who wanted to know what
action have been taken against police who were alleged to have kill civilians in Tarime.
Lissu said the Speaker misused her powers to suppress the two MPs (Lissu and Special Seats MP, Ester Matiko) by falsely claiming that the case was already in court and that the National Assembly was not supposed to discuss it because it would interfere with Judicial independency.
"On Thursday, during the PM Questions, I wanted to know what steps were taken against the police who killed innocent citizens during various incidents and at different times at North Mara Gold Mine owned by African Barrick Gold in Nyamongo Tarime.
"My counterpart, Ester Matiko, also asked the PM what action was taken against the police who were alleged to have been perpetrating the killing and rape against women and little girls in Tarime.
"The Speaker intervened in these two occasions, claiming that the PM was not supposed to answer because the cases are already in court and therefore it will be seen as if Parliament was interfering in judicial powers.
"The truth is that no case has been filed in court that involves police killing. The only case in court is against me and others, but I am not charged for killing. If at all there were cases on the killing, then we could have heard police arraigned before the court.
"So it was not right for her to prevent us from getting a straight answer from the PM on behalf of the government," he said.
On Thursday, Lissu told the Parliament that according to State of Tanzania Human Rights of 2010 report released by Legal Human Rights Centre (LHRC), 52 civilians were killed by police in that year, and that the report was supported by reports
released by US States Department on Tanzania that shows that the police have been involving themselves in extrajudicial executions.
"Since January 2008, until last week, the police force within Tarime Police Special Zone killed 26 civilians from Nyamongo villages in North Mara. So my question goes; is it the government policy to defend the police who kill civilians without taking action?" he asked the PM, but never got an answer.
In his statement to the press, Lissu said since the killings started, postmortem was carried out on only five bodies of deceased, while no autopsy was done on the other 25 people, who died in suspicious circumstances.
He said the opposition camp will also query why Makinda has refused to release reports from the findings on a case that involved Pinda and Arusha Urban MP, Godbless Lema.
"When Honourable Lema said in Parliament that Pinda issued a false statement in the House on the Arusha killing, the Speaker wanted Lema to provide evidence proving his claims. He provided the evidence but Makinda is sitting on the results. The law requires her to read before the House, the finding of any claims made by an MP in Parliament. She had not done that," Lissu said.
Lissu was keen to point out that the aim of their appeal was to ensure that Parliament does its work without fear or favours, but not to humiliate the Speaker of the National Assembly.
Source: The African on Saturday