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| Bunge in session |
President Jakaya Kikwete has reportedly blessed the increase in
seating allowances for Members of Parliament from 70,000/- to 200,000/- per
day.
This was said yesterday by Prime Minister Mizengo Pinda, when
supporting a statement by the Speaker of the National Assembly, Ms Anne
Makinda, during a charged briefing session of the MPs ahead of their session
which starts here this morning.
Sources from within the closed-door meeting said the two senior leaders
were forced to stand and give the clarification following a heated exchange
among lawmakers who were divided in two
camps, with a majority of them supporting the pay increase.
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| Bunge building in Dodoma |
Sources told The Citizen that Mr Pinda told the MPs that the President
had okayed the new allowances following an exchange between Mr Zitto Kabwe (Kigoma North-Chadema) and Juma Nkamia
(Kondoa North -CCM).
The exchange ensued after Mr Nkamia blamed Mr Zitto for acting as if he
was the President’s spokesman by stating publicly that State House had not
sanctioned the new allowances. But Mr Zitto defended himself, saying that
according to regulations, if the President sanctioned any changes to MPs’
entitlements, he was supposed to do so in writing.
“But I have not received any such directive, just like Mr Nkamia or any
other MP. How can I support sitting allowances that have not received explicit
authorisation from the President?” queried Mr Zitto. This prompted Ms Makinda
to rise and tell the meeting that the President’s office had allowed the
application to up the sitting allowances.
When some MPs showed that they still doubted the Speaker’s statement,
Mr Pinda stood and assured the meeting that President Kikwete had indeed
assented to the new allowances but had advised Parliament to know “how it might
deal with the issue.” He did not explain.
Sources said further that after the announcement by Mr Pinda a majority
of MPs pounced on the few who were against the increase of allowances, notably
Mr Zito Kabwe, Mr January Makamba (Bumbuli-CCM) and Dr Hamis Kigwangala
(Nzega-CCM), and branded them rebels for publicly denouncing the allowances.
After the increase, an MP will now be entitled to Sh330,000 each day he
attends a House session. This would translate to Sh200,000 sitting allowance,
Sh80,000 per diem and Sh50,000 for fuel.
Meanwhile, all eyes and ears will be focussed on Dodoma as Parliament
begins its first session in 2012 today.
Many wananchi are eager to follow the House proceedings in the next two
weeks and put the government to task over various issues that contribute to
wananchi’s economic hardships.
Most wananchi who spoke to The Citizen in random interviews pointed out
that the parliamentarians should put to task the government on what it is doing to improve the standard of living
of Tanzanians which has deteriorated in the recent past.
For his part, Dr Benson Bana of the University of Dar es Salaam said
the MPs should push the government to come up with a strategy which will save
the Tanzanian shilling.
Source: The Citizen, www.thecitizen.co.tz , reported by the Citizen reporter
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