LEGISLATURE SUPPORT The Narrative Report of The Activities Implemented PROJECT 2011 - 2015 From April to August, 2012

LEGISLATURE SUPPORT PROJECT The Narrative Report of The Activities 2011 - 2015 Implemented From April to August, 2012 LEGISLATURE SUPPORT The Narrative Report of The Activities Implemented PROJECT 2011 - 2015 From April to August, 2012

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1.0. Introduction pg01 2.0. The Narrative Report of the Activities Implemented from April- August, 2012; pg01 2.1.The Launching of the Legislatures Support Project (LSP) 2011-2015. pg02 2.2. The Workshop on Budget Circle for Members of Parliament and Staff. pg05 2.3. The Workshop on Climate Change for Members of Parliament and Staff. pg08 2.4. Training Seminar on Leadership And Parliamentary Skills for Members of Parliament and Staff. pg11 2.5. The Workshop on Ict Awareness And Development Organized for Members of Parliament and Staff. pg13 2.6: The Workshop on Budget Tracking For Members of Parliament and Staff. pg15 2.7. The Workshop on Impacts of the Climate Change Organized for Members of Parliament and Staff pg17 2.8. The Meeting of the Senior Staff to Discuss a Work Plan For July-December), 2012 of The Legislatures Support Project pg19 2.9. The Workshop on Research Methodology Parliamentary for Parliamentary Staff. pg19 2.10. Training workshop on Leadership and Parliamentary Skills Part II Organised for Members of Parliament and Staff. pg23 2.11. The Media Workshop on Parliamentary Reporting organized for Media and Parliamentary Staff. pg25

i LEGISLATURE SUPPORT The Narrative Report of The Activities Implemented PROJECT 2011 - 2015 From April to August, 2012

THE NARRATIVE REPORT OF THE ACTIVITIES IMPLEMENTED FROM APRIL TO AUGUST, 2012

1.0. Introduction.

he Parliament of Tanzania through Legislatures Support Project (LSP) has implemented 11 activities between April- TAugust, 2012. The activities implemented were those which were supposed to be implemented in the 4th quarter from April- June, 2012, but due to the delay most of activities had to be implemented from July to August, 2012.

On each activity the National Director of the Project in collaboration with different departments related to the topics on discussion invited various Resource Persons to present papers. The Resource Persons were mainly from the Ministries related to the areas of discussions, Academic Institutions, Civil Society Organizations and some from within the Parliament Office. The participants of the workshops were drawn from different committees and departments depending on subject matters on the discussion. On each activity the Chairperson of Parliamentary Committee was involved in identifying the areas of discussion and appropriate time for the workshop. In addition, the Guest of Honor was invited to officiate the workshop. In each workshop the coordinator of the Project or the Project Officer was given an opportunity to explain to the participants in brief on the Legislatures Support Project and the objectives of each Workshop

The following is a summary of the activities implemented between April- August, 2012.

• The Launching of the Legislatures Support Project 23rd April, 2012, Dodoma

• The Workshop on Budget Circle, organized for Members of Parliament and Staff 9 June, 2012, Dar- Es Salaam

• The Workshop on Climate Change organized for Members of Parliament and Staff , 24 June, 2012, Dodoma

• The Workshop on the Leadership and Parliamentary Skills organized for Members of Parliament and Staff 1 July, 2012, Dodoma

• The Workshop on the ICT Awareness and Development organized for Members of Parliament and Staff 8th July, 2012, Dodoma

• The Workshop on Budget Tracking organized for Members of Parliament and Staff 10 July, 2012, Dodoma

• The Workshop on the Impacts of the Climate Change organized for Members of Parliament and Staff 15 July, 2012, Dodoma

• The Workshop to Discuss the Work Plan of the Legislature Support Project for July- December, 2012, organized for Staff Representatives from all Department, Units and Sections, 20th July, 2012, Dodoma

• The Workshop on the Research Methodology organized for Parliamentary Staff 21 July, 2012, Dodoma

• The Workshop on the Leadership and Parliamentary Skills organized for Members of Parliament and Staff 22nd July, 2012, Dodoma

• The Media Workshop on Parliamentary Reporting organized for Media people and Parliamentary Staff 12 August, 2012, Dodoma

2.0. THE NARRATIVE REPORT OF THE ACTIVITIES IMPLEMENTED FROM APRIL- AUGUST, 2012;

The following is a summary of the Narrative Report on each activity implemented. The summary of the narrative report highlights the topics presented, number of participants attended and where those participants came from and the Resource Persons. The report also highlights on areas of discussion, the Chairpersons, the Guest of Honor and recommendations from participants.

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2.1.THE LAUNCHING OF THE LEGISLATURES SUPPORT PROJECT (LSP) 2011-2015.

Rt. Hon. Mizengo Peter Pinda, MP, Prime Minister talking to H.E. Dr. Thomas D. Kashilillah, the Clerk of the National Assembly Dianne Corner, British High Commissioner sitting at the high table delivering introductory remarks during the Launching of the during the opening session. Project.

This activity took place on 23 April, 2012, at Msekwa Hall, Dodoma. In this activity the participants were informed about Legislatures Support Project (LSP) 2011- 2015. This Project is supported jointly by UNDP, DFID, African Bank, Indian High Commission, South African High Commission and Development Partners who contribute to One UN Fund such as Norway, Ireland and Sweden. The launching of the Project was attended by, Hon. Mizengo Peter Pinda,MP, Prime Minister of the United Republic of Tanzania, Rt. Hon. Anne S. Makinda, MP, Speaker of the National Assembly, H.E. Diane Corner, British High Commissioner, Mr. Philippe Poinsot from UNDP, Hon. Freeman Aikaeli Mbowe, MP, Leader of the Official Opposition, Members of Parliament, Dr. Thomas D. Kashilillah, Clerk of the National Assembly and various senior officers of the National Assembly.

During the launching various speeches were delivered including the speech by the Rt. Hon.Speaker, British High Commissioner, Representative from the UNDP, Leader of the Official Opposition, Clerk of the National Assembly and Project Coordinator. The details of their speeches are summarized below. Also various relevant materials related to the project in both Kiswahili and English language were made available to all participants.

The Clerk of the National Assembly Dr. Thomas Kashilillah was invited to brief Members of Parliament on the Project. He said the project aimed at capacity building for Members of Parliament of the National Assembly of Tanzania and House of Representatives of Zanzibar in order to fulfill their Constitutional role of representation, oversight and legislation. The Project aimed at reducing or eliminating challenges facing members of Parliament and Staff in undertaking their activities in the areas of enacting laws, overseeing the Executive, authorizing long and short term plans and ratifying treaties and international agreement.

After his welcoming remarks, Mr. Elisa Mbise, the Project Coordinator (LSP) of the National Assembly briefly explained on the Project. He informed the participants that this project aimed at strengthening and enhancing the capacity of MPs/Reps and their Committees to better exercise their interrelated functions; law making, oversight, National budget approval and oversight and representation of constituents/citizens. Strengthen the Parliamentary staff of both legislatures to help them deliver effective services.

He emphasized that the Project contains five important areas ; enhance legislative capacity, Oversight and accountability,

H.E. Diane Corner, the British High Commissioner addressing Mr. Elisa Mbise, the Project coordinator of LSP in the Parliament the Members of Parliament during the launching of the Project. of Tanzania explaining on the Project to the participants during the launching of the project

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Effective Representation of Citizens and Constituents, Gender Mainstreaming in all Parliamentary functions and capacity building for effective Parliamentary administration and Management. After this brief various speeches were delivered.

During the opening British Commissioner H.E. Diane Corner informed the Members of Parliament that the project intends to help to strengthen both the Parliament in Tanzania and the House of Representatives of Zanzibar. Parliaments need to be effective, vibrant, willing and able to fulfill their democratic mandate.

She also informed Members of Parliament that, Britain has been a longstanding partner with the National Assembly in Tanzania and for many years has being undertaken number of initiatives to support the National Assembly. She assured the Members of Parliament that UK will remain committed to ongoing support to Parliament of Tanzania through different ways. She also informed members of Parliament that, as part of this on going support, DFID is contributing 1.5 million Pound sterling to the current Legislatures Support Project as the largest Development Partner contribution to this Project. The UK believes that, the project will help to strengthen and enhance the capacity of MPs and Representatives and their Committees to better exercise their core functions of law making, Executive Oversight including National Budget approval, oversight and representation of constituencies.

The fourth speech was from Mr. Phillippe Poinsot, UNDP Representative; he informed the participants that UNDP is committed to build better Parliaments and stronger democracies worldwide. It has supported the needs of the

Representatives and Parliamentary staff in several Parliaments in recent years. It is with this strong, timed-tested relationship in mind that, we meet today to launch the Legislatures Support Project. UNDP is pleased to partner with

Mr. Phillippe Poinsot, UNDP Representative addressing the A cross section of Members of Parliament listening to speeches members of Parliament during the launching of the Project during the launching of the Project

National Assembly because we share the same understanding that development depends on good governance and good governance depends on strong Parliaments. Strong Parliaments enable governments to respect the will of their own people.

He emphasized that, the project will provide support to strengthen Committees including the establishment of a Committees Research Fund and will assist members in the oversight of the National Budget Cycle. Members will be offered ICT training allowing them to harness the enormous potential of modern and developing technologies and social media to connect with the public in a responsive and responsible manner. There will also be assistance to the Parliamentary staff to continue to upgrade their support to Members of Parliament. He hoped that by the end of the Project, the Project will have contributed significantly to improving research capacities and the quality of communication between the National Assembly and their constituents.

Rt. Hon Anne Makinda S. Makinda, The Speaker of the National Assembly informed Members of Parliament that, she was very delighted to witness the historic launch of the four years Legislatures Support Project (LSP). On behalf of the Parliament of Tanzania, she thanked the UNDP and Development Partners for kindly agreeing to support the Parliament and for making this project a reality. She thanked the Co-funders of this project, the British High Commission, the African Development Bank, South African High Commission, Indian High Commission and the DFID for their generous funding and for their commitment to ensuring the success of this Project.

She assured Members of Parliament that, the UNDP and other Development Partners are committed to this Project and the Parliament of Tanzania will do everything possible to ensure effective implementation of this important undertaking. She emphasized that, in the Project document there is a total of USD 7,884,057 which are needed to implement this Four Years Project. Out of this amount, some USD 1,847,597 remains unfunded. This is huge sum of money will obviously impact negatively on the success of the Project. She to called upon other Development Partners to join hands by providing this amount so that the Project attains its seven priority areas with maximum efficiency and effectiveness.

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Hon. Anne S. Makinda, MP, Speaker, addressing Members Rt. Hon. Anne S. Makinda, MP, Speaker, Showing to the of Parliament during the launching of the Project the Opening participant of the Project to H.E. Diane Corner, British High Session Commissioner after the launch of the Project

Hon. Freeman Mbowe, MP, Leader of the Official Opposition A cross section of the participants listen tentatively to the speeches, delivering the Vote of Thanks during the launching of the Project from left front row Ms. Nora Pendael from UNDP, Mr. Lawrence R. Makigi, from Parliament and Mr. Mark Montgomery- DFID

Rt. Hon Anne S. Makinda, MP, Speaker, handling a copy of the project to H.E DianeCorner, British High Commis- sioner after the launch of the Project

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She concluded by saying that, the Parliament of Tanzania in collaboration with the government will make sure that, the annual budget of the office is augmented in line with these key priority areas. On the areas of research, she mentioned that, the Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs can be engaged to do research to find ways of widening the tax base, so that our expenditure tallies with overall revenue generation. As a Parliament, there is a feeling that, it was not devoted enough time to addressing the revenue side of the budget. Instead we have concentrated only on the expenditure side. The Parliament also can engage the Committee on Social Services to undertake a study on how to sustainably reform the country’s health sector. She hoped that the Project would assist in this endeavor.

The last speech was from Hon. Freeman A. Mbowe, Official Leader of Opposition. In his speech, he told the members of Parliament that, this project will also help the opposition to enhance their capacities in the areas of representation, oversight and law making process. The opposition must be well resourced if it is to do its work in any real and effective way. It is vital therefore that sufficient public funds are allocated by the Government/ Parliament to allow this to happen. It is simply not possible for an opposition to challenge the Government which has free access to the entire civil service, consultants, and all kinds of experts, unless such funds and resources are made available. In relation to Shadow Ministers, the there is a need to understand term Shadow. It is the opposition Shadows task is to examine all matters proposed by Government to amend, reject, and campaign against. This area needs to be capacitated, the project can play a role on these areas as well.

He emphasized that, the implementation of the Project should also consider the capacity building for members of opposition. He thanked the Development Partners for the support of the Parliament both Members of Parliament and staff members and in this sense to support members of opposition one its secretariets.

2.2. THE WORKSHOP ON BUDGET CIRCLE FOR MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT AND STAFF.

One day Workshop on Budget Circle was organized through the Legislatures Support Project (LSP) and it took place on 9 June, 2012, Dar- Es Salaam and it was attended by 125 Members of Parliament and Staff. Six (6) Parliamentary Committees were involved; Finance and Economic Affairs Committee, Public Accounts Committee, Parastatals Organizations Accounts Committee , Local Authorities Accounts Committee, Economic Infrastructure Committee, Community Development Committee and selected Parliamentary Officials.

Four resource persons presented papers, the following are the topics presented and discussed during the Workshop; • Understanding the National Budget Process in Tanzania: Budget preparation, implementation, Monitoring and Evaluation presented by Monica Mwamunyange, Commissioner of Budget, Ministry of Finance and Economics Affairs • The Role of Parliament ( and Parliamentarians) in Ensuring an Effective Budget Process, presented by Prof. H. Bohela Lunogelo, Executive Director Economic and Social Research Foundation • The Role of Parliaments in Budget Process and How to Make members of Parliament Effective: experiences from other Parliaments presented by Elizabeth Weir, former MP, Parliament of Canada • Challenges Facing the Budget Process in Tanzania and its Solution presented by Jamal Msami, REPOA

Before the opening of the Workshop, the National Project Coordinator of the Parliament of Tanzania Mr. Elisa Mbise briefed the participants about the Legislatures Support Project and the objectives of the workshop. The Workshop was officially opened by Hon. John Momose Cheyo, MP, Chairperson of the Public Accounts Committee. He first welcomed the participants and Resource Persons to the workshop, he thanked the Parliament for organizing a workshop to discuss the Budget Process in Tanzania. He informed the participants that, the budget circle is a very important notion to be understood by Members of Parliament and staff because it is a tool for development of any country. It can also serve as a mechanism for resource allocation among different needs and priorities as well as bring about economic stability and growth. The skills and knowledge on how to improve the budget process is very important to be understood by Members of Parliament for the people’s welfare.

Four papers were presented and discussed, during their presentation the facilitators highlighted various issues and gave information background on various areas related to Budget Circle. The first facilitator informed the participants that, budget is an important instrument for implementation of policy decisions to achieve social, economic and political ends. The formulation of the budget requires a series of processes and involves a number of players and stakeholders. Budget as a public instrument is based on a legal framework which gives it the necessary mandate. The first stage of the budget process is drafting where by the Ministry of Finance is the main coordinator. The second stage is legislative process, where by the budget is tabled to the legislature, consideration by Parliamentary Committees, the Parliament discusses, accepts, amends or reject the budget. The third stage is budget implementation whereby the funds apportioned to spending department, Ministry of Finance monitors spending and where there is a request for adjustment if necessary. The last stage is monitoring and evaluation or auditing; the Supreme Audit institutions assesses departmental accounts and performance. The audit reports published and reviewed by Parliament. She also informed on the legal instruments which regulate the budget process, these includes Constitution, Public Finance Act and annual Appropriation and the Finance bills.

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The second facilitator informed the participants on the powers of the Parliament, that, Parliaments do possess a wide range of budgetary powers, but often fail to exercise them effectively or responsibly. Legislative oversight of the budget remains inhibited by technical and institutional constraints, that are external to legislative organization.

He emphasized on the importance of the budget by saying that, once adopted, the budget becomes an essential financial management tool for monitoring and controlling ongoing activities. A budget does not exist in a vacuum, instead it should respond specifically to the countries and specific sectors context. The MPs must therefore be empowered with basic knowledge on the planning process and procedures of the budget process, research capacity backstopping is essential. He also explained on the key stakeholders in Budget Process.

He informed the participants on how to be effective in the budget process, Involvement of Non-State Actors in the Budget Process as part of social accountability, these are very important for the Parliament to be effective. It is also important that in the budget process there is a need to pursue vision, a vision is a long term mission, it requires focused leadership, consensus building and consistency in pursuing development agenda in stages. More often than not it will require sacrifices by the population due to trade-offs needed in implementing prioritized programmes. The Development Vision has to be owned by all irrespective of party affiliation and ideological persuasion, irrespective of having a single party or coalition government.

He emphasized strongly that, there is a need to adopt the notion of thinking out of the Box, for the Parliament to be relevant it should be able to proactively address some emerging issues particular to Tanzania before they proliferate out of control and affect the chances of having effective budget processes. If the tax payers are questioning the expenditure pattern of the government, then the Parliament should come with directives to stop all the questionable areas of expenditure in order to gain the confidence of the tax payers and achieve an effective budget process by raising extra revenue and cutting down the expenditure. There is a need for addressing urban planning chaos and invasion of land reserves for infrastructure development. Failure to address the chaos through illegal usual means results to delay implementation and escalated costs of implementation of infrastructural projects.

The third facilitator, former MP of the Parliament of Canada started by defining the term budgeting. Budgeting is concerned with the translation of financial resources into human purposes, the budgeting is also focused on value for money, spending less, spending well and spending wisely. The budget must capture economy, efficiency and effectiveness, must focus on setting and measuring goals and objectives.

She emphasized that an effective budget process must focus on the oversight role, focus on targeted areas to develop knowledge, develop network of outside experts, work with the Auditor General. There is a need to consider what can civil society offer and look for training opportunities. There is a need of building budget research capacity for Parliament, improving transparency of the budget process and pre-budget consultations. There is a need to work with departments to set goals and objectives and regularly review if goals are met. There is a need to work with the media to build capacity for budget reviews. The objectives of oversight is to verify that, budget implementation does not deviate from what is appropriated without reference to Parliament

The fourth facilitator also informed the participants on the Budget Process in Tanzania that, it is composed of the formulation of budget policy objectives, priorities and revenue projections. Preparation of budget guidelines, involvement of stakeholders, preparation of revenue and expenditure estimates , scrutiny of estimates and results. He mentioned various challenges facing the budget process in Tanzania, the first one is myopic disconnection of budget from long term strategic planning. Planning matters as the strategizing of revenues and expenditure needs to be aligned to tangible service delivery outputs and prioritized accordingly. The second challenge is unlimited needs and limited resources. Revenue projections through which spending are planned not reflecting actual collections and weak fiscal bases in local government Authorities. There is poor preparation of expenditure estimates and revenue projections.

Another challenge mentioned includes information asymmetry, many reports produced but not published, reports without sufficient information on key matters such as relationship between budget, policies and macroeconomic goals. The last challenge mentioned was poor legislative and audit oversight of budgets, MPs have insufficient time to discuss and approve budgets.

The participants discussed all the papers presented, discussed on the challenges facing budget preparation which is an important stage. That there is a need for members of Parliament to be involved. They discussed why the budget is presented late to members of Parliament during the committee meetings held in Dar- Es Salaam, the consequence of budget being presented late, they usually do not have time to discuss extensively by the relevant Parliamentary Committees. Members of Parliament are rushed for presentation of the budget in Dodoma.

They discussed on the challenges facing them in the budget process in general, these includes lack of institutional and human capacity of Parliament to execute the oversight, there is a need to establish the Budget Office for MPs to operate from, this can help the Oversight function especially the budget process in Tanzania. They also discussed on the limitations imposed on the amendment powers of Parliament/MPs by some laws, regulations and rules of procedures. The Parliament may only decrease existing expenditure/revenues estimates, in other words the legislature can neither increase existing items nor create new one.

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They also discussed on the spending ministries to commence spending or make commitments with the orders of the Minister of Finance through the issue of warrants by the Commissioner of Budget. They discussed on the need for the Parliament to start the Budget Process earlier before the end of the financial year, say start the Budget session in April and by June 30th the Budget session should be over. The Participants recommended the following;

• The current laws are inadequate in empowering the Parliament and its committees to be effective on the budget processes, Parliament lacks powers to alter budget figures. There is a need to organize a workshop to discuss the legal instruments used in the budget process in order to recommend amendments to improve the efficiency of the budget process in Tanzania.

• Constitutional provisions restrict Members of Parliament from making any major changes to the budget once the cabinet has passed it, this should be reviewed and amended.

• Because there is no provision for a Parliamentary Budget Office, Budget Act and Budget Committee. The absence of any guiding budget law has created difficult in the budget process. There is a need for members of Parliament and Parliamentary staff to make a study on the importance and role of the Budget Office in other the Parliment and Budget Act. It is also vital to know how other Parliaments operate, so as, to enable to establish a fully-fledged Budget Office in Parliament with appropriately qualified personnel and legal division to help Members to perform the National Budget process.

• The Constitution provides that, once the budget motion is not passed the Parliament will have to be dissolved and general elections called. Such a provision acts as a major disincentive for members of Parliament to critically/scrutinize the budget. There is a need to discuss on this and amend to remove, this provision for the betterment of the budget process for people’s interests.

• Current regulations such as Standing Orders do not permit conducive situation for staff to give professional advice to their committees, Their role is merely record and guide on procedure matters only. In order for parliamentary staff to be of great help and value to their respective committees, there is a need to discuss the current standing orders in comparison with other standing order from different Parliaments and propose changes to enable Committee Clerks to give professional advice to chairpersons and the committees and these roles should be mentioned in the Standing Orders.

• There is a need to discuss the Revenue Side of the budget, the Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs should be given the responsibility to do research on how to expand the tax base in order to increase the revenue to match with the expenditure. Before the research is done there is a need to organize a workshop to discuss ways of enhancing the tax base in Tanzania

• There is a need to discuss on the timeframe of the Budget Session in Tanzania. The financial year in Tanzania starts from 1 July and end on 30th June. The Parliamentary budget session takes place from June to August every year. There are almost three months wasted without execution of the budget. There is a need to change the Parliamentary Budget session to start in April and by end of June should be completed. Appropriate measures should be taken to fulfill this obligation.

• Because the tax collection is weak a lot of revenues is lost especially in Local Government Authority. There is a need to improve the tax collection mechanism in order to improve the revenue. Members of Parliament need to discuss the tax collection mechanism in order to improve it.

• The budget digest is very important for MPs to understand the budget process. There is a need for Committee Clerks to prepare briefs (budget digest) to members well before their meetings commence. Physical equipment, especially laptops and desktops, printers are quite necessary in order to facilitate the work for the Committee Clerks and even Members of Parliament in the budget process, there is a need to provide to Committee Clerks.

• In order to improve the budget process, there is a need for Members of Parliament to have their constituency office established and that such offices needed to be properly staffed and equipped with all facilities. Parliament can deliberate by select a civil society organizations which would be regularly collaborating with in parliamentary programs especially those to do with the budget oversight at the constituency level and at committees and parliamentary levels.

• Capacity building for Councilors on budget process is very important. There is a need for capacity building at Council level on issues related to budget process.

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2.3. THE WORKSHOP ON CLIMATE CHANGE FOR MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT AND STAFF.

The workshop on Climate Change was held on 24 June, 2012 in Dodoma. The Parliament of Tanzania through Legislatures Support Project organized a one day Workshop on Climate Change for Members of Parliament and Staff. The Workshop was attended by 140 members of Parliament and Staff from the following Committees; Land, Natural Resources and Environment, Energy and Minerals, Industry and Trade, Infrastructure, Social Service Affairs and some Selected Parliamentary Officials. Four Resource Persons and a Discussant presented papers. The following are the topics presented and discussed;

• The Climate Change in Africa: Analysis of Environment, Vulnerability of Climate Change and impacts of Climate Change presented by Mr. Richard Muyungi, from Vice- President’s Office ( Enviroment) • The Science of Global Warming and Climate Change; the Role of Parliamentarians in Tackling Climate Change through Building a Green Economy in Tanzania presented by Dr. George Jambiya, from University of Dar- Es Salaam • The Role of Parliaments and Climate Change, presented by Dr. Sinda Hussein Sinda, from University of Dodoma • The Climate Change Adaptation in Africa: what is adaptation, operational policies and Guidelines for Parties to access resources from the Adaptation Fund, some key barriers for adaptation presented by Dr. Amani Ngusaru, from UNDP • Climate Change an inside views presented by Hon. Pindi Hazara Chana, MP Chairperson for Parliamentary Committee on Constitution, Legal Affairs and Administration.

Before the opening of the Workshop, the Project Officer of the Legislatures Support Project of Parliament of Tanzania Mr. Lawrence R. Makigi briefed participants about the Legislatures Support Project and the objectives of the workshop. The Workshop was officially open by Hon. Abdulkarim Esmail Hassan Shah, Mp, Vice Chairperson of the Committee on Land, Natural Resources and Environment. On his opening speech he informed the participants that, this workshop is one of the series of the workshop which are organized through the Legislatures Support Project. The project is managed by Planning and Communication Department under the Supervision of the Parliamentary Services Commission. He requested the participants to take this important occassion to discuss the issue of climate change and at the end of the workshop; they come up with recommendations to be forwarded for government to take actions for the betterment of the people.

Four detailed papers were presented, the first presenter started by displaying world maps depicting ecosystem service values by country and undernourishment. He pointed out and explained five capitals needed for development. These include, Human capital-people, Finance Capital-money, Social Capital-network and relations, Physical capital-infrastructure such as buildings, roads, bridges, Natural Capital-natural resources, both renewable and non-renewable. If the government, Parliament and the public at large will not take serious on mitigating climate change all resources will not produce benefits to our people.

He mentioned the consequences of unsustainable management of natural resources, so it is important to review our expenditure on improvement of sustainable Dr. Amani Ngurasu from UNDP and Dr. Richard Myungi from management of ecosystem that support socio-economic VPO exchanging ideas before they start presenting their papers on progress, to invest in protection and expansion of forests climate change and to invest in reducing soil erosion. He pointed out some of the benefits of investing in natural capital as being to contributes immensely to the economy by creating employment, to deliver a wide range of critical and valuable ecosystem services and to provides water, food and energy security. He concluded by urging that Members of Parliament need to make difficult and brave decisions just as parents do when investing in the future of their children , to develop home grown green economy, to advocate strongly for green economy roadmap, and push for planning and finance to take the lead and encourage the private sector to invest in environment. There is a need to create enabling conditions for a green economy that establishes sound regulatory frameworks, remove harmful subsidies, prioritize green investment, utilize market mechanisms and taxation, build capacity through training and technology transfer.

The second presenter pointed out that Africa is the most vulnerable continent as far as climate change is concerned. Tanzania is not an exception in the effects of Climate Change. It is due to this phenomenon that there are unpredictable floods, heavy rains, droughts, change in ocean pattern such as the rise of sea level, reef damage, etc. All these have serious effects in agriculture such as loss of productivity, loss of inputs, increase of post harvest losses, food shortage and soaring of food prices.

On Mitigation, he talked about designing policies and multisectoral climate change response approach by involving,

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different sectors such as water sector, agricultural and food security, energy, wild life and tourism, land, forestry and wastelands, human health, infrastructure, transport and settlement. There is a need to integrate climate change issues into development planning, there is also a need to raise the issue of climate change to the highest political priority. There is a need to be proactive towards existing public funds for develop adaptation projects/ programmes. There is a need to improve domestics’ investment framework. There is a need to establish National Climate Change Financing Mechanism to smooth its implementation. There is a need to strengthen the institutional structure for climate change coordination at national level. There is a need to improve awareness on Climate Change impacts and adaptation knowledge at all levels especially in the villages. There is a need to complete Climate Change Strategy and think about developing a National Policy on Climate Change.

He mentioned some key barriers to adaptation such as market failures, lack of information and awareness of climate change impacts. He also informed on principles of Good Adaptation, so adaptation must be sustainable to mitigate the threats posed by the impacts of climate change and to capitalize an potential opportunities presented by it. Adaptation must be proportionate and integrated; assessing climate change risks should become a daily business and part of normal risk management in our offices. Adaptation should be collaborative and open. Adaptation must be effective, efficient and equitable, actions should be context specific, implementable and enforceable. Actions in our environment should weigh costs, benefits and risks involved

He concluded by saying that the loss of natural forests around the world contributes more to global carbon emissions each year than even in the transport sector. Curbing deforestations is a highly cost-effective way to reduce carbon missions, large scale international pilot programmes to explore the best ways to do this could get underway very quickly. The poorest countries are most vulnerable to Climate Change. He emphasized by saying that it is essential that climate change be fully integrated into development policy and that rich countries honor their pledges to increase support through overseas development assistance.

The third presenter started by pointing out that Africa is the continent that has all the criteria to grow in a giant economy, however it is being faced by a number of challenges including Climate Change. Climate change is the natural cycle through which the earth and its atmosphere accommodate the change in the amount of energy received from the sun. Climate goes through warm and cold periods, taking hundreds of years to complete one cycle. Changes in the temperature also influence the rainfall, but the biosphere is able to adapt to a changing climate if these changes take place over centuries. Unfortunately, human intervention is currently causing the climate to change too fast. The

Dr. Sinda Husein Sinda emphasizing on the role Parliament in The cross section of the participants listening to the presenter Dr. mitigating the impacts of climate change Richard Muyungi from VPO from left Hon. Habibu Mnyaa, Hon. Pindi Chana and Hon. Abdulkarim Shah, MP causes of climate change was largely influenced by human activities over the last 200 years, particularly the burning of fossil fuels (oil, coal, natural gas) and the clearing of forests have increased the concentration of the greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

He mentioned on the major polluters these are the most industrialized countries. These contribute to between 80 and 96% of green house gas. The African continent contributes between 3 and 4% only of the green house gas, apparently, Africa is the most threatened to the climate change. Africa is the most vulnerable region in the world to climate change, water and food security are under the biggest threat from the climate change. Some effects of climate change to Africa and Tanzania in particular include, increase in temperature, unpredictable climatic seasons, insecurity due to unforeseen disasters such as floods, hurricane and storm, rise of sea levels leading to disappearance of some islands.

He also mentioned an important agenda and the role of Parliament in fighting the effects of climate change. The main agenda for the Parliament is to oversee the implementation of National and International strategies in fighting climate change and enjoy opportunities that arise as a result of those strategies. The Parliament has to give enough weight on

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A cross section of Member of Parliament listening to the presenter A wide range of the participants listening to the presentation of the resource person.

issues of climate change. Members of Parliament should strive to have enough knowledge on climate change to enable them enlighten their electorates in their areas of representation and jurisdiction.

The fourth presenter started by explaining the role of Parliament as a policy making body. He mentioned the main cause of Climate Change and strategies to control greenhouse effects. There is a need to have both adaptation and mitigation measures. Adaptation measures include infrastructure improvements, technological measures such as improved fertilizer use, to conduct awareness campaign, to have effective disaster relief and emergence response programs and risks transfer such as insurances.

He emphasized by urging the Parliament to establish and formulate environmentally progressive policies which may lead to control and manipulation of the climate change impacts under the conditions prevailing in Tanzania. There is a need to develop effective plan addressing climate change, to mainstream climate change in all sector plan and budget, to support more research on vulnerability and impacts analysis of climate change, to enhance policy research, knowledge and capacity building in areas of climate change and its impacts, to mobilize additional innovative finance within the planning process to address climate change.

The last presenter was a discussant who informed the participants on Climate Changes impacts especially in developing countries. She said that women are the most vulnerable and marginalized and Climate Change compounds the situation. Men are not vulnerable because they are naturally strong, women and men face different vulnerabilities due to their different social roles. Women are powerful agents of change and their leadership is critical. Women can help or hinder strategies related to energy use, deforestation, population, economic growth, science and technology and policy making among other things. She concluded by saying that, following views for International Treaties on Climate Change to operate in Tanzania they have to be domesticated by including them into the national laws. It is important to have by laws on environment and climate change issues at the Local Government level because that is where most government policies are implemented. The National Constitution should point out issues on environment and the right for people to live in clean and unpolluted environment. There is no national budget allocated for climate change issues instead almost all the budget is donor funded.

After these presentations, the participants had the following contribution. The government should have proper plans in environmental protection and the Parliament should see to it that, the government implements its plans.

The participants agreed that, Western countries are the major cause for the climate change so they should be urged to compensate for its effects to the developing countries. The government should ban the importation of used goods because they are the ones which emit greenhouse gases purposefully. Civil societies and other groups that engage themselves in environmental conservation should be assisted. Different laws that are related with environment conservation should be amended to make them effective. The general public should be educated on issues of climate change. Policies and adaptation projects should be locally made and not be imposed from outside.

They emphasised that, there is something lacking in Africa because a lot of efforts have been made at both national and international levels with regard to addressing the issue of climate change. Policies have been formulated, resolutions have been reached and declarations made. Also action plans have been drawn and funds set aside to implement them, but no big impact can be noted.

Africa is lacking the necessary support in terms of technology for renewable energy for example solar, wind, wave energy so as to reduce energy dependence on natural resources such as forest and water which are already at a depletion risk. Africa has not done enough to translate into actions the efforts that have been made at global and regional levels. The policies, declarations and resolutions need to be translated into actions and get accommodated in our national budgets for subsequent implementation. During the discussion the participants made some recommendations on how to respond to climate change;

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• There is a need to strengthen adaptive capacity, recognize vulnerability and minimize it, transform through leadership and action, drive international carbon emission reduction commitments, lobby for regional and international Climate Change assistances including technological transfer and funding. • Parliament should endorses the recommendations, declarations and resolutions on climate change, reaffirms the view that Africa has to unite and negotiate with other partners in western countries with one voice on the issues related to climate change. • Parliamentarians around the world especially in countries vulnerable to disasters to take a pro-active role in advancing disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation in order to protect lives and livelihoods. • The Parliament need to set up a platform bringing politicians and Executive together at the national and regional level so as to further contributes towards building and solidifying the common position with regards to the issue of Climate Change. • There is a need to build broad unity with civil societies, Parliaments at National and Regional levels, the business sectors, the intelligentsia is among the pivotal imperatives in fighting climate change. • Parliament should direct the governments to enact environment friendly legislation, Parliament is also supposed to ratify Conventions and Protocols which then means they have to be exposed to the negotiations in an appropriate way.

2.4. TRAINING SEMINAR ON LEADERSHIP AND PARLIAMENTARY SKILLS FOR MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT AND STAFF.

This was a one day Workshop for 140 members of Parliament and staff it was heldon the 1st July, 2012, Dodoma. The Participants were from Members of the Tanzania Women Parliamentary Group (TWPG), the Committee on Community Development, Chairpersons and Vice- Chairpersons of all Parliamentary Committees. This workshop was chaired by Hon. Juma Suleiman Nkamia, MP, the Vice Chair person for Parliamentary Community Development Committee. Three papers were presented, these were: • Government Efforts in Making Conducive Environment for Women in Political Involvement and How to make Parliamentarians Effective Members in Political spheres presented by Mr. Meshack Ndaskoi, from Ministry of Community Development, Gender and Children Affairs. • Legal and Institutional Frameworks which Hinder the Efficiency and Performance of Women Involvement in Politics and other Decision Making Bodies: Strategies and Skills required for women Parliamentarians to be effective Members of Parliament in political involvement presented by Edina Bungara from Legal and Human Rights Centre. • The Challenges Facing Women (Legal, Economic and Social) in Political Involvement; and How to Make Women Parliamentarians Effective in Performing their Duties and How to Solve those Challenges presented by Dr. Sinda Hussein Sinda, from University of Dodoma.

Before the workshop the Project Officer of the project, Mr. Lawrence Makigi, explained the essence of the workshop and the brief explanation of the Project. In his briefing, he informed the participants that, the workshop was organized to discuss how effectively women can be involved in the politics and decision making bodies, to discuss barriers which make women not to participate effectively in political field and their solutions.

The Workshop was officially opened by Hon. Ummy Mwalimu, MP, Deputy Minister of Community Development, Gender and Children Affairs. During her opening speech, she informed the participants that, the government has made some efforts to bring gender equality in the country. The government had made a lot to create conducive environment for the women to be involve in politics, various Regional and International protocols and conventions have been signed and ratified by Parliament. The government has tabled various laws in Parliament for amendments, and also the government has introduced various economic and social assistance for women. The government has created good environment for women to participate in politics and currently is advocating the policy of 50:50 representation in decision making bodies.

Three Papers were presented and discussed, the first presenter explaining the history of Tanzania Legal System, she briefed the Sources of Laws in Tanzania. She also talked about legal institution/bodies in Tanzania. She informed the participants how Legal and Institutional Framework hinders the efficiency and performance of women involvement in politics and other decision making bodies. The legal system of Tanzania embodies a lot of laws which accelerate gender biasness. She informed the participants that, after independence Tanzania immediately inherited most laws from the British Empire (colonialists) and customary laws. These laws were oppressive and exploitative to women.

Despite all these problems there are some opportunities that can help women to do away with gender violence. These include, Parliament sessions to discuss and come up with solutions, Parliamentarians should prepare and present private members bills and motions which are for women. The New Constitution Reform process can be used to amends some issues.

The second presenter started by putting forward the fact that in Tanzania women are more than men in terms of

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population that is women are 51% while men are 49%. Despite this fact in all formal sector such as in employment, representation in the Parliament and Local Councils, Ministerial Posts, Universities, Permanent Secretaries and their Deputies, Regional and District Commissioners, Regional Administrative Secretaries, Judges, Ambassadors, Commissioners and many more, men have outnumbered women .

He informed participants that, the government is reviewing its various policies to ensure that women issues are taken on board. Provision of loans to women as a way of economic capacity building, ensuring that all levels of education are non-discriminatory, establishment of ward based secondary schools and have enabled all qualified girls to have access to secondary education and introduction of gender issues in Higher Learning Institutions’ Curricula are some of the efforts to be made in this endevour.

The presenter also mentioned several challenges, some of these challenges been that, many women cannot contest and compete for political posts because of being economically weak. No gender based budget, there is a problem when dealing with women issues when it comes to the application of the law because of the evisting there are three legal systems: Common law, Customary law and Religious law. Each of these has a different approach when dealing with cases pertaining to women issues. Absence of enough boarding schools for girls has become a problem because many girls are at a risk of pregnancy, raping etc. Implementation of International and Regional Protocols depend of donor funding and all of them are written in English Language which is not known by many stakeholders.

The third presenter informed participants that more than 60% of Tanzania women live in abject poverty because of various reasons including use of inappropriate technology in food and cash crop production, lack of the rights to land ownership and heritage, limited access to credit and financial services because they have no land or property to serve as collateral, worse still very few banks, if any give credit for small scale farming, bearing in mind that farming is a highly risky investments. In some cases, collateral is not a problem but getting consent from the husband to take a loan is a yet another challenge.

He mentioned some strategies to address challenges these include presence of simple and appropriate means for making available dissemination and for providing training in production, management and maintenance of technologies. Provide information to the society about various technologies available in the country. There should be national plans to help alleviate women’s workload.

After all those presentations participants supported issues related to the proposal of women to be included in the proposed New Constitution. Women Special Seats need not to be looked down upon. Men should be involved because women already know their plights. Gender activists should also be commended because they are the ones who pressurized the government as a result they make policies and enact laws that are in line with women emancipation. All MPs are equal; it is the gender discrimination that makes them inferior. Political parties should work out some means of ensuring that women are fully involved at every level of part leadership. All government programmes should include gender issues so that women are also taken on board.

Tanzania is a party to a number of International Protocols that are geared towards alleviating women discrimination. It is important to go through all these protocols to see the extent to which the country has achieved gender equality. Media should also be involved in such seminars because they are part of the problem especially when it comes to gender sensitivity.

After the discussions the participants recommend various issues as follows;

• The organizers should plan and organize workshop with the same theme for all members of Parliament. Men should be part of the war against women oppression and discrimination if this war is to be successful.

• Gender education and awareness should be taught right from primary schools to enable the next generation to be gender sensitive in all what is taking place in the society.

• Members of Parliament should discuss challenges related to electoral system, election act, political, economic and social challenges in order to make them effective in political spheres.

• There is a need to address customs and traditions which hamper women participations in politics, there is a need for women MPs to empower other women to overcome traditions and cultures that discriminate women, eradicate harmful cultural and traditional practices against women

• There is a need to increase the capacity building seminars for women such as training on public speaking, use of media, leadership skills, training on various regulations and laws, how to prepare and push private members motion and bills.

• There is a need to review all laws and by laws which discriminate women and suggest for necessary amendments.

• There is a need for the government to give enough resources (budget allocation) to the Ministry of Community

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Development, Gender and Children Affairs to enable to perform its duties effectively. The budget allocation currently given cannot enable the Ministry to perform its duties effectively.

• There is a need to discuss the concept of Special Seats whereby many people are challenging them there is a need to come up with a better system .

• There is a need to amend the Constituency Development Catalyst Fund to enable women MPs from Special Seats to get funds and also there is a need to change rules at our Councils in order to allow women MPs from Special Seats to participate in Finance and Planning Committees.

• There is a need to organize a workshop to media people because there is a gender discrimination between women and men in presenting information in the media, most women issues are reported wrongly and there is a need for the media to follow media ethnics in their reporting.

2.5. THE WORKSHOP ON ICT AWARENESS AND DEVELOPMENT ORGANIZED FOR MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT AND STAFF.

The workshop took place on 8th July, 2012, Dodoma and it was attended by 160 members of Parliament and Staff from the following Committees; Infrastructure, Industry and Trade, Energy and Minerals, Constitutional, Legal and Administration, Social Service Affairs and Selected Parliamentary Officials. Four Resource Persons presented papers. The following are the topics presented and discussed;

• The Concept of E- Parliament, E- Business, and E- Government, Security Issues Related to the Use of ICT and Challenges Facing the Users of ICT in Africa and Its Solutions presented by Dr. Respickius Casmir, Ag. Managing Director, from University of Dar- Es Salaam, Computing Centre (UCC) • The Government Efforts in Making Conducive Environment in Enhancing ICT Sector in Tanzania presented by Eng. Dr. Zaipuna O. Yonah, Consulting Engineer in ICT and Director of ICTs,from Ministry of Communication, Science and Technology • How ICT can help to improve Communication, Information Retrieaval, Report Writing and Presentation to Members of Parliament and Parliamentary Staff and What Government, can do in Enhancing the use of ICT in Tanzania presented by Dr. A. K. Msabila, ICT Director, from Mzumbe University • The Role of Parliament and Government in Enhancing the Use of ICT presented by Didas Wambura, Assistant Director Planning and Communication Department from Tanzania Parliament

The Project Officer of the Legislatures Support Project of Parliament of Tanzania Mr. Lawrence R. Makigi briefed the participants on the Legislatures Support Project and the objective of the workshop.

The Workshop was officially opened by Hon.Prof. Makame Mnyaa Mbarawa, MP, Minister for Communication, Science and Technology. On his opening speech, he informed the participants that, the government of Tanzania since 1990s has made a lot efforts to make conducive environment for the ICT sector to grow. Currently the government of Tanzania is building the National Optical Fibre and it is on the final stage on its completion, this project is very important for world wide communication especially in Eastern and Central Africa particularly to telecommunication companies. This will reduce costs for about 90% and increase efficiency for members of Parliament and general users. He also explained various government efforts already in place for the development of the ICT and he elaborated some few challenges related to the use of ICT in Tanzania and Africa in general.

Four papers were detailed presented, the first presenter started by informing participants on the concept of e-Parliament this is a new means of communication and transfer of information between society and the Parliament, society between MPs. The objectives of e- Parliament include, improvement of the activity of the Parliament and its structures, development of interaction between the society and the Parliament and the society and MPs. Increasing transparency of Parliament’s operation for the society, involvement of entire society in the working processes of the Parliament and increasing society’s trust in the Parliament. He emphasized by saying that, e-Parliament is meant to organize the Parliament’s work in such a way that the information necessary for decision making ( laws, statistic reports, different archives) is accessible not only on paper but also electronically.

He also informed the participants that by using ICT, people can participate in making decisions on issues affecting their interests, communicate with members of Parliament through e-mail, web site, from any place with a computer and access to internet, make a request to the Parliament, receive information they are interested in relating to the work of Parliament.

The Presenter also informed the participants on e-Business, the term e-business and e-commerce are often used interchangeably. E-business covers online transactions, but also extends to all internet based interactions with business partners, suppliers and consumers such as selling direct to consumers, manufacturers and suppliers, monitoring and

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exchanging information, auctioning surplus inventory and collaborative product design.

On e- Government, he informed participants that the term e- Government use of ICTs by government ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs). Exchange of information with the Public businesses or other government departments, e-government is speedier and more efficient in delivery of public services, improving internal efficiency, reducing costs or increasing revenue and re-structuring of administrative processes. The full potential of e- Government can be realized only through a focused attention on people, process, technology and resources appropriately.

The presenter also informed the participants on ICT Security issues and challenges, information security can be defined as the protection afforded to an automated information system in order to attain the applicable objectives of preserving the integrity, availability and confidentiality of information system resources. He also informed the participants why do we need security, we need security because of motivation, increased reliance on information technology with or without the use of networks, the use of IT has changed our lives drastically, we depend on e-mail, internet banking and several other governmental activities that use IT.

He concluded by saying that, ICT literacy is a paramount element to e-Parliament, to successful implement e-Parliament, a comprehensive ICT training Need Assessment has to be carried out to establish the levels of ICT literacy for each MP and Parliament staff. Therefore, different ICT course modules be developed based on the results of Training Need Assessment and delivered to various categories of MPs and Parliamentary staff. If at all ICT is to be extensively used in the course of their day to day work, it is recommended to take measures that will enhance MPs and Parliamentary staff computer skills

The second presenter started by pointing out what the Parliament and government do in enhancing the use of ICT in Tanzania. He informed the participants that, information and communication technology (ICT) consists of hardware, software, networks and media for collection, storage, processing, transmission and presentation of information ( voice, data, text, images). The ICT if well managed can help a Parliament to achieve its aspiration for transparency, accountability, accessibility and better communication with electorates (citizens). ICT can make the democratic process more transparent, accessible and accountable by facilitating access of members of parliaments, Parliamentary administration, media and citizens to information and services. ICT can be instrument in strengthening citizen engagement, providing innovative ways to interact with citizens as well as enabled their access to Parliamentary proceedings and documents. The application of ICT to internal practices and service can help to make Parliaments more efficient in carrying out their legislative, oversight and representational functions.

He informed the participants that, ICT can help connect parliamentarians and parliamentary institutions with their counterparts in North and South, strengthening their knowledge and information on the issue they confront. He concluded by saying that, the use of ICT can help develop a comprehensive approach to identify, manage and provide access to critical resources to ensure that members of Parliament and citizens are adequately informed and to enhance connectivity among citizens and between citizens and Parliaments. ICT allows Parliament access 24 hours for 7 days, ICT allows Parliament global coverage. ICT allows online collaboration with large number of citizens or stakeholders.

The third presenter started by pointing out that, the government of Tanzania has already acknowledged that Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) can be harnessed to meet the goals of the vision 2025 as well as that of the TZ- MDGs on poverty reduction. In policy framework, it is ICT can indeed be appropriate tools for realizing effective communication processes to achieve among others, distribution and sharing of knowledge and information of supporting poverty reduction initiatives. In broad terms ICT refer to any technique or knowledge used to create, store, manage and disseminate information. Modern ICT tools include the internet, email, computers, mobile phones, digital cameras, online databases and portals. In a sense, ICTs enables communication, a process that links individuals and communities, governments and public, in participation and share decision-making.

He emphasized by saying that, poverty is what a poor person experiences or feels. It covers all those who can not cope with survival, security and enabling needs. The poor experience shortfalls in economic welfare, gaps in access to good quality education and health care. Deficiencies in the provisions of physical infrastructure and political barriers that stifle personal initiatives and self development. They are unable to participate in governance which is necessary for a healthy democracy and peaceful development.

He also informed the participants on poverty reduction, poverty reduction challenge is about how to empower people with knowledge and skills thus availing to them, new opportunities to improve their livelihood. In terms of income and expenditure this would mean increase in income and hence capacity to afford food, health services and other basic needs. The strategic approach is to use ICTs in a creative manner to level the playing field in economic, social, cultural and political terms by reducing the rapidly growing gap caused by a very asymmetric architecture of opportunities between the rich and the poor. As a matter of emphasis, the role of ICTs in poverty reduction is not limited to reducing income poverty, but also includes non-economic dimensions in particular empowerment.

He emphasized that the new ICTs are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, for this reason they can be mainstreamed into our daily activities. ICT is a global reach when ICTs are embraced in any socio-economic activity, geographic distances do not matter any more. This has changed the shape of the socio- economic activities. Using ICT there is reduced per unit transaction costs, relative costs of communication have shrunk to a fraction of previous

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values and this effect has impacted on the cost of business transactions. ICTs are impacting on all dimensions of life, education, health, quality of family, culture, leisure and arts, scientific and technological world.

He concluded that ICTs can also play an important role in combating corruption and making government institutions more transparent, by reducing the opportunities and incentives for and increasing the costs of corruption. If a citizens directly access a needed form, register a new small business using automated procedures, the opportunities for corruption are reduced. ICTs can also empower individual citizens to hold government officials publicly accountable. ICTs can play an important role in informing and empowering citizens and strengthening the capacities of a wide range of civil society organizations and institutions.

The fourth presenter informed the participants that, ICT is very important for members of Parliament and Staff. There is a need to start use ICT in improving the legislative process, oversight and representation. The ICT will improve the availability of information, speed the process and get actual information for the betterment of the citizens. There is a need for members of Parliament and staff to change from old style of working to the new style and start using the ICT .

On the ICT policy, the presenter informed participants that, there is a need to discuss on the National ICT Policy and recommends amendment in various areas related to ICT according to the Tanzanian environment. There is also a need to organize more workshop on ICT in order to create awareness to many members of Parliament and staff and the awareness on ICT should go to the rural areas

After the presentations, the participants made various contribution and some recommendations on how to improve the use of ICT and how to solve challenges related to ICT. The following are the recommendations;

• There is a need for the ICT Unit in Parliament of Tanzania to work hard and create conducive environment to enable members of Parliament and staff to use ICT in various activities.

• There is a need for the Parliament to establish blogs for members of Parliament help to get information for day to day use.

• There is need for the Parliament to start thinking of providing facilities which will enable all the important documents like bills, acts, order papers and all those documents distributed in the House to be done electronically, this will serve costs and time.

• The Legislatures Support Project should plan the training programme which will enable all Members of Parliament and Staff to be trained on ICT on different levels, the project should also think on providing of laptops and iPad to members of Parliament and staff.

• The participants agreed on the need for ICT securities, they request the government to work hard in order to prevent the steal of money by using ATM, because there are many people today are using ATM, M-pesa, Airtel Money and Tigo Pesa so the government should prevent any form of stealing money using those technologies.

2.6: THE WORKSHOP ON BUDGET TRACKING FOR MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT AND STAFF.

This was a one day Workshop on Budget Tracking for four (4) Parliamentary Committees; Finance and Economic Affairs Committee, Public Accounts Committee, Parastatals Organizations Accounts Committee , Local Authorities Accounts Committee and selected Parliamentary Officials. This workshop was organized on the 10 July, 2012, in Dodoma. One hundred and twenty (120) participants attended the workshop and two Resource Persons presented papers. The following are the topics were presented and discussed,

• The Skills and Techniques Need to be Used by Parliamentary Committees in Budget Tracking to Enhance Budget Monitoring and Evaluation in Tanzania, presented by Prof. H. Bohela Lunogelo, Executive Director from Economic and Social Research Foundation • What is Budget Tracking, Its Importance and Challenges Facing the Budget Tracking in Africa and Tanzania in Particular presented by Jamal Msami,from REPOA

The project officer of the project (LSP) of the Parliament of Tanzania Mr. Lawrence R. Makigi briefed the participants about the Legislatures Support Project and the objectives of the workshop. The Workshop was officially opened by Hon. Andrew Chenge, MP, Chairperson of the Finance and Economic Affairs Committee. He informed participants that, the budget tracking is very important to be understood by members of Parliament and staff, because it is a tool for development of any country.

Two papers were presented and discussed, the first facilitator informed the participants that, the Budget Tracking or sometime is known budget monitoring, control and evaluation are necessary for closer supervision of budget and projects

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implementation. This involves a continuous monitoring of the plans and budget in order to identify achievements and bottlenecks. He also informed the participants on mechanism for budget tracking, these includes; periodic reporting and follow up, Internal Audit, External Audit, Parliamentary control, budget reviews and adjustments, public expenditure tracking and project inspections.

He informed the participants on the factors affecting budget tracking, monitoring and evaluation in Tanzania, first shortage of personnel on monitoring and evaluation, shortage of materials/facilities, poor data base, insufficiency coordination in various levels. The time-span for the monitoring for many projects is too short for any meaningful assessment of budget. Lack of understanding of monitoring by many institutions, failure to involve end-users in the planning and evaluation of development projects.There is a missing link between policies, planning and budgeting. He also informed the participants that, there are tools for Budget Tracking and Budget monitoring including an action plans or work plans, a procurement plan, a monthly disbursement or cash flow plan and the progress review (quarterly physical targets

He also informed on strategies for effective Budget Tracking and Evaluation, he emphasized that Budget Tracking and evaluation should be built in at the start of budget preparation, there should be honesty between the institution/ organization’s staff members and the evaluator. A clear understanding of budget tracking and evaluation purpose should exist, goals and objectives should be clearly understood and stated in measurable terms

The second facilitator informed participants on the budget preparation, authorization and execution which are very important stages in understanding the budget tracking. It is essential to reflect and assess our self in order to move forward with assurance in the knowledge of what and where our strengthens and weaknesses lie. There is a need to do analysis on good governance principles of transparency, accountability and integrity through focusing institutions on the delivery of results, revisiting terms of contract, fostering internal and external accountability and identifying what to be done, by who and when. He informed the participants on how Budgets and Budget Tracking should interact, the budget tracking should be an integral part of entire budget cycle- preparation, approval, execution and review.

He mentioned various challenges facing the budget tracking these challenges including information asymmetry, many reports produced but not published, reports without sufficient information on key matters such as relationship between budget, policies and macroeconomic goals. There is a disconnection of budget from long term strategic planning. There is also poor budget/ accounting discipline by MDAs and LGAs- overshooting of ceilings through special requests, reallocation- do we have to ring-fence every item, non disclosure of revenues collected.

There is weak legislative oversight of budgets, MPs have insufficient time to discuss and approve a budget. Another challenges is unlimited needs and limited resources, revenue projections through which spending is planned not reflecting actual collections. There is insufficient oversight by Supreme Audit institutions ( mainly) the CAGand internal Auditor, lack of proper channels of communication with the public and failure to issue reports on the follow up steps taken by the Executive to address audit recommendations for remedial action. Another challenge mentioned was human resources, too few dedicated and qualified Monitoring and evaluation officers, auditor and certified accountants in the public sector.

The participants discussed in detail all the papers presented and they agreed and recommend on the following; • Budget tracking stage is very important for enhancing the implementation of the budget process there is a need for members of Parliament to be involved fully in the budget tracking. • Because there are many challenges facing the budget process especially the budget tracking, these includes lack of institutional and human capacity of Parliament to follow the execution and oversight role. In order to work effectively on budget tracking. There is a need to establish fully-fledged Budget Office in Tanzania with appropriately qualified personnel and legal division to help members to the BudgetTracking process.

• The budget tracking need proper planning and set indicators and principles, there is a need for a parliamentary staff to prepare briefs on what need to done before to start working on Budget Tracking? There is a need to conduct a study on the best way of budget tracking in Tanzania and the report should be circulated to members of Parliament for discussion • There is a need for Parliament to start debating the quarterly reports of the budget execution to identify the weaknesses and what can be done to improve the budget process. • Because the process of the public expenditure tracking in Parliament of Tanzania is mainly done by PAC, POAC and LAAC with the assistance of Controller and Auditor General-CAG, this should be improved. • There is a need to organize the capacity building for members of the Watchdog Committees (PAC, POAC, LAAC) on the concept of the value for money, public procurement and how to make an effective public expenditure tracking.

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2.7. The Workshop on Impacts of the Climate Change Organized for Members of Parliament and Staff

This was one day Workshop organized for Members of Parliment and Staff on 15 July, 2012, in Dodoma on the Impacts of the Climate Change. The Workshop was attended by 140 Members of Parliament and staff. The Parliamentary Committees which participated on this workshop were from Lands, Natural Resources and Environment Committee, Energy and Minerals Committee, Infrastructure Committee, Industry and Trade, Constitutional, Legal, Affairs and Administration Committee and some selected Parliamentary Officials. On this workshop three papers were presented and discussed.

• Social, Political and Economic Impacts of Climate Change in Tanzania and the Government Efforts in Mitigating the impacts and its challenges- Presented by Dr. George Jambiya from the University of Dar es salaam.

• Legal and Institutional Framework existing in Tanzania for solving the problem of Climate Change its challenges- Presented by Dr. Richard Muyungi from the Office of the Vice President (Environment)

• The Role of Parliament in Addressing Climate Change in Africa and Tanzania in particular Presented by Dr. Amani Ngusaru from UNDP.

The workshop was officially opened and chaired by Hon. James Daudi Lembeli, Mp. the Chairman for Lands, Natural Resources and Environment at Committee. In his opening remarks he said that the Environment Department is placed in the Vice President’s Office simply because issues of environment deserve much weight hence in the Office that has a corresponding weight for environment to be dealt with in an appropriate manner. Despite its importance, the Office of the Vice President (Environment Department) in the Financial Year-2012/2013 has been allocated only 10 billion shillings. This shows that there is little concern on environmental issues hence no much attention will be given on Climate Change. He urged Members of Parliament who attended the workshop to be keen, listen to the presentation carefully so that they can be able to advise the government appropriately.

Three Papers were presented and discussed, the first facilitator informed the participants that there is a strong necessity for international efforts under a legal regime that calls for serious adaptation and mitigation efforts by all countries, particularly developed countries with technological capacity to cut down carbon emissions. About 80% of Carbon emissions are mainly from the energy, transport, industrial and processing sectors. However in so doing there are challenges to be overcome, these include: the need for continuous capacity building at all level and to all actors and communities on climate change.

There is a need for mobilization and provision of financial and technological support to build institutional capacities. There is a need for better knowledge and stronger institutional arrangements with good strategies and action plans to address the challenges and tap on opportunities. The needs for integration into development process and plan both at national and local government level. For this to happen the participation of legislators and parliamentarians is of paramount importance.

The presenter went further to point out the existing global and national institutional arrangements to address Climate Change. He said in addressing climate change there is a need for collaborative efforts both at global and national level. That is why there is the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change to which Tanzania is a party. This is aimed at addressing climate change as both a national agenda and an international legal requirement. He listed down institutional arrangements that are there to address climate change at national level which are regularly monitored and provide guidance on best options to address climate change in the country.

He concluded by emphasizing that, the challenge of understanding the legal context within which climate change action are implemented is real. Since the Climate Change is real and will overwhelm government capacities in the efforts to address its impacts while continuing to address other development challenges at local level, Parliamentarians have a great role to play, from international to local level. Therefore the continued engagement of parliamentarians offer not only sustainable adaption actions but also mitigation opportunities

The second presenter started by mentioning five Capitals that are a prerequisite for development; these are human capital, financial capital, social capital, physical capital and natural capital, that is, Natural resources both renewable and non-renewable ones. Of all these natural capital (water resources, land, forests, wildlife, marine & fisheries, livestock, agriculture, minerals, energy and many others) is the backbone of the development at all levels, that is, Local Communities & most households, all levels at Local Governments, Central Government and basically the economy of Tanzania in general.

He said despite the abundant availability of this natural capital, there is a contradiction between resource endowment for economic growth, development, social wellbeing and alarming poverty in the midst of this wealth. The main reason for this contradiction is because we are effectively liquidating our natural capital, and losing sustainability hence depreciating this valuable and economically inseparable natural capital. He urged Members of Parliament to campaign for environmental conservation as a well manage Natural Capital. This contribute immensely to the economy bringing about much needed jobs. He concluded his presentation by urging the Members of Parliament and the community at

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large to make a sustainable use of natural capital by high investment in maintaining and enhancing natural capital, investing in the present and the future.

The last presenter informed participants that, the developed countries are responsible with climate change, developed countries caused the problem especially 1950-1999, the historic cumulative carbon emissions as percentage of global output by nation. But Africa and many small islands are on the frontline of climate change impacts. Climate change has great impact to the country in almost all sectors. So what should the government do is to be informed about the risks and help people to understand about climate change. Provide tools to cope with impacts of climate change. There is a need to build cooperation and partnerships on adaptation and there is a need to develop National Climate Change, Financing Framework and the Parliament is key to this approach. Existing policies are silent on how to address climate change and who should be responsible. There is a need for more direct link between climate change adaptation and national strategic plans. National capacity building is needed expert know-how, technical experience, education and training. The presenter went further to point out the existing Opportunities for Innovations that can lead to a better climate change management, these include; increase funding to research on adaptation research, introduce incentives for adopting adaptation technologies, promote South-South technology transfer, remove barriers to trade in climate- smart technologies (solar etc).

Because the Parliament’s job is to manage and maximize the capacity and to make government to effectively utilize available financial resources, ensure the provision of public goods and put security measures in place. Climate Change impact costs will increase government costs, particularly in the short-term so the Parliament must ensure long-term changes that will last beyond changing governments. Members of Parliament should know Climate change is a reality now and will continue to be in the future, requiring Parliament’s consistent attention.

The presenter concluded by reiterating that climates change is a development issue, and it is important to integrate climate concerns into the development process so there is significant responsibility and opportunity for Parliament to engage in climate change reform. It is important to build the knowledge-base and capacity of Members of Parliament and Parliamentary staff to engage in the climates changes agenda.

After all the papers were presented, they started their discussions by congratulating all presenters for their good papers that were well presented. They also urged the government to educate people on the prevalence of Climate Change. Also the education system in Tanzania should be responsive to the dangers of climate change and different proposed solutions suggested in view of environmental Conservation should be considered and if possible be put in practice and be implemented. Environmental conservation can be successful if people are involved in planning and establishment and execution of different projects. They agreed that, different government policies and programs should be in line with environmental conservation. This Policy of Kilimo Kwanza despite its importance if not carefully executed it may detrimental to the environment as there is an extensive use of chemical fertilizers that are not environmentally friendly.

The participants agreed that, Members of Parliament should make sure that the government imports solar and wind power appliances that can be used as a substitute to charcoal and fire woods. Not only that but also government should set aside some funds for environmental conservation instead of entirely depending on foreign donors. After discussions they made various recommendations these includes;

• Although Environment issues is placed on the Office of the Vice- President in order to give weight but the budget of this office is very low, the participants agreed that there is a need for the government to give enough budget on the issues related to climate change.

• Tanzania has a lot of natural resources but there is still prevailling poverty. There is a need to organize a workshop to discuss on how Tanzania can use its natural resources for poverty reduction. There is a need to invest in natural resources for the poverty reduction.

• It is important to mobilize our resources to mitigate the impacts of climate change, there is a need to set mechanism, institutional, legal and policy framework to deal with climate change.

• There is a need to organize a workshop on climate change and involve officials who deal with issues related to climate change and the public in general.

• There is need for the government to make sure the climate change policy is in place in order to fight the issue of climate change. The government should train experts on climate change because this matter is so complicated its solution needs expertise. There is also a need for capacity building for members of Parliament and staff to deal with issue of climate change.

• There is a need for government to give tax exemption for importation of all solar system equipments. And the government should plan well on the gas sector and should be distribute to the general public and encourage them to use gas. The government should now start to produce coals for the use locally and should be encouraged to use.

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• There is a need to get all research reports and brought in Parliament for discussions especially research reports on climate change and all reports for the Climate change which are held locally and internationally.

2.8. THE MEETING OF THE SENIOR STAFF TO DISCUSS A WORK PLAN FOR JULY-DECEMBER, 2012 OF THE LEGISLATURES SUPPORT PROJECT

Senior officials representing all Departments and Units attended the Mr. Lawrence R. Makigi speaking during the discussion of the Meeting to Discuss the Work Plan of the Project July- December, Work Plan of the Project July- December, 2012 2012

This workshop was organized on 20th July, 2012, Dodoma and it was attended by 30 senior officials of the National Assembly who were representatives from all Departments and Units in the Office of the National Assembly. The meeting was convened to discuss the Work Plan for the 1st and 2nd Quarter (July-December 2012) of the National Assembly of Tanzania, the Legislatures Support Project 2011-2015).

The workshop was opened by Mr. Elisa D. Mbise, the Project Coordinator of the Project, who is also an Assistant Director from Department of Planning and Communication. He started by briefing participants on the Legislatures Support Project that the Legislatures Support Project was launched on 23rd April, 2012, by Speaker and attended by various stakeholders.

He informed on the objectives of the meeting and he said, after this discussion and new inputs from the stakeholders, we will prepare the work plan, the final Work Plan will be submitted to the Parliamentary Services Commission and to Donors and then back to the Office for implementation. So he urged participants, the representatives of their respective Departments and Units, to be keen and make sure that, they propose activities to be implemented in Work Plan for July- December, 2012. He emphasized by saying that, the Project will also support researches that are demand driven. That is any committee requiring a research on certain area will be given funds to support, whereby the research findings from the study will help the committee to achieve its objectives.

Participants applauded those who came with the idea of discussing the Work Plan to the stakeholders and to involve all departments and units of the National Assembly of Tanzania. They generally agreed with the proposal of issues incorporated in the Work Plan for July-December, 2012.

2.9. THE WORKSHOP ON RESEARCH METHODOLOGY FOR PARLIMAENTARY STAFF.

This was a one day Workshop on Research Methodology for Parliamentary Staff. The workshop was organized on 21st July, 2012, Dodoma, participants were drawn from all 7 departments, Units and sections in the Office of the National Assembly. Fifty seven (57) participants attended on the workshop and five resource persons presented papers. The following are the topics presented and discussed;

• Research Methodology; How to conduct Research and Data Collection for Parliamentary Use Presented by Mr. Lucas Katera from REPOA • Skills and Techniques on How to Write Research Proposal, Data Collection, Data Analysis and Report Writing presented by Dr. Donatilla Kaino from ESRF • Skills and Techniques on How to Prepare Bills digest presented by Mr. Martin Massawe, from Mzumbe University • Skills and Techniques on How to Prepare Budget Digest presented by Prof. Damas Muna from Mzumbe

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University • Challenges Facing Parliamentary Committee Clerks and Staff in general in Performing Research Activities for members of Parliament and what need to be done presented by Mr. Theonest Ruhilabake from Parliament office.

Dr. Matlida Kaino from ESRF presenting a paper on Research Mr. Lucas Katem from REPOA presenting a paper to Methodology to the participants. Parliamentary officials on how to collect data for Parliamentary use.

Before the opening of the Workshop, the Project Coordinator of the Parliament of Tanzania Mr. Elisa Mbise briefed participants about the Legislatures Support Project and the objectives of the workshop. Five (5) papers were presented and discussed, during their presentation the facilitators highlighted various issues related to research methodology, skills on how to write research proposal, skills in preparing bills and budget digests and challenges related to research activities. The first facilitator informed participants that, research is the activity of exploring scientifically a phenomenon. She informed participants the objectives of research, why is done research. She also mentioned types of research. She explained what is the Research Proposal. The main features of a research proposal are identification and specification of the research problem, theory and literature review, research questions and expectations (hypothesis), nature and methods of data collection and data analysis. Research findings, project or study limitations, time frame and resource requirements and selected references.

The presenter also informed the participants on Research Methodology, data collection, Data Analysis, and Research Report Writing. She also explained on the Contents in a Research Report, especially on the Main Text, the summary of findings, Tables and Charts.

The second facilitator also informed the participants on what research is all about, research is the systematic investigation and study of materials and sources in order to establish facts and reach new conclusions. Research is discovering or verifying information for a particular uses. Research is a way of thinking, examining critically various aspect of day- today professional work. On what is research methodology, he informed the participants that, research methodology is a procedure used in making systematic observations or otherwise obtaining, data, evidence or information as part of a research project or study. On steps to conducting research, he informed the participants that, the first stage is formulating a research problem, the first and most important should tell readers what you want to research. The second step is Conceptualizing a research design, determining appropriate method, i.e, study design per se, measurement procedures, sampling strategy, framework of analysis, and timeframe. Research design must be valid, workable and manageable, must have strong reason for research design.

He as told the participants that other step is constructing an instrument for data collection, selecting a sample, writing a research proposal, collecting data, processing data and writing a research report. The writing of the research report is the last and most difficult step in research because it is involves in informing the world, what one has done discovered, and conclusions drawn. Reports should be divided into chapters, sections and subsections

The third presenter who was given a topic on skills to write bill digest, he first informed the participants on what is a bill and who can introduce the bill. Analyzing bills is both technical and challenging because one need to determine major issues of policy contained in a bill, identifying the problems or issues a bill addresses and analyzing the solution it proposes. He informed the participants that in analyzing legislative bills what is important is getting started, it is important to have a factual and legal understanding of issues to be addressed by a bill. Start by determining the problem the bill seeks to resolve? All bills should be read carefully, but before reading a bill in detail, review the headings of different parts of a bill. This will help develop a clear sense of its structure. Also look at the section and subsection headings of a bill before reading it in detail. Try to determine how a section or a series of sections fit within the whole bill and their relationships. The key to thoroughly understanding a bill is to look at it carefully, systematically and methodologically. This requires that a piece of legislation is read more than once.

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With every reading, a comprehensive and more accurate understanding of a bill’s strengths and weaknesses will be gained. It is important to produce an outline of a bill in order to understand its logic. Always keep in mind that a bill is intended to become law, therefore provisions of a bill must be drafted to co-exist with other provisions of that law and/ or with other existing laws. As necessary locate and generally understand the relevant existing law to be amended.

He also said, there is a need to look carefully on short and long title, he said that short title briefly yet clearly states the subject matter of a bill. The short title appears on a bill’s cover page. The short title should be brief and allow the reader to easily understand the issue under consideration. The long title, commonly called the preamble, specifies the objectives of the sponsors of a bill. A long title should explain the context that led a legislator to decide to amend a law or create a new one. By referring to the problems as a bill tries to address and the solutions it proposes, the legislator defines his/her intentions. The long title stipulates the object and the scope of the legislation, its objectives, the people targeted, the territorial components, etc

He emphasized that there is a need to look at bill Structure telling the participants that, the structure of a bill affects its meaning, when reading a bill in detail always keep the bill’s structure in mind, remember that every section must be read individually, also each subsection does not exist on its own, but relates to its section. Breaking legislation down into sections and subsections not only separates ideas and topics, but promotes clarity and precision. There is a need to understand on what is the object and the scope of the legislation, what it says?, why it says this? What else it should says?, who is targeted by the bill, Who benefits from the bill, Who is hurt by the bill,if there exceptions, What rights, duties and/or obligations are defined in the bill, if the procedure prescribed in the bill fair and reasonable, if political goals are achieved by this proposed law, how will the law be implemented, Who will implement the legislation, What agency, department or ministry will administer the product, programme or activity resulting from the bill,

He emphasized by saying that does the bill include any provisions for oversight? Can this bill pass all tests of legality? Do experts consider all aspects of this bill to be consistent with the Tanzanian Constitution? Is it consistent with international conventions and treaties to which Tanzania is a party? Is it consistent with other existing legislation (statutes/acts)? Is it consistent with existing case law from the courts and administrative tribunal ( national and international) and common law? Is it consistent with legal authorities and local culture? A cross section of participants listening to the presentation on how He concluded by saying that, once bills are enacted into to write bills digest laws they are there to stay unless amended. In order to avoid legal uncertainties that could lead to lengthy and costly litigation, it is necessary to ensure that the bills passed by Parliament are as clear and transparent as possible. This benefits the citizens subject to the application of the law and the government leaders and civil servants charged with implementing, administrating and enforcing the laws of Tanzania. To fully understanding a bill’s political objective and ramification of its adoption, it is necessary to examine and scrutinize all components of the bill without exception. Every distinct section, sub-section has a particular role and meaning. In analyzing a piece of legislation, one must begin by understand the structure and basic concepts of the bill. From there, one must move on to focusing carefully on the bill’s specifics. Reading bills carefully permits ambiguous areas to be clarified and reduces the need for future amendments. Through careful scrutiny of legislation, MPs gain a comprehensive knowledge of proposed legislation and become more effective in the legislative process. In addition, it places MPs in a better position to explain legislation to the public and the media.

The fourth presenter who presented the topic on the skills of preparing budget digest, told the participants that, a budget is a financial plan and list of all planned expenses and revenue, it is a plan for saving, borrowing and spending. A budget is an important concept in microeconomics, which uses a budget line to illustrate the trade-offs between two or more goods. In other words, a budget is an organizational plan stated in monetary terms. Features of the budget, a budget helps to aid the planning of actual operations making managers to consider how the conditions might change and what steps should be taken now and encouraging managers to consider problems before they arise. A budget helps to coordinate the activities of the organization by compelling managers to examine relationships between their own operation and those of other departments.

On the role of Parliamentary Staff, he informed the participants that, before the budget is tabled in the National Assembly, the same is submitted to parliamentary staff for expertise advise to have the requisite skills that will enable them interpret the various aspects of the government budget.

The last presenter informed participants on what is parliamentary research. He said it enables the members of Parliament and the Parliament as an institution to work more effectively. Parliamentary research becomes an effective way of obtaining unbiased analysis to help to improve the quality of decisions of MPs. Despite the vital role parliamentary

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research play in making the Parliament effective in Tanzania, the phenomena and its practice are surrounded with challenges to practitioners and beneficiaries. He informed the participants on, the objective of Parliamentary research service which is to develop the roles of both officers and of Parliament in achieving the key Constitutional functions of Parliament such as scrutiny of the executive and protection of the interests of citizens.

On challenges encountered by Parliamentary Committee Clerks and other parliamentary staff in carrying out parliamentary research may be looked at the four dimensions, staff dimension, process dimension, MPs dimension and structural dimension. Parliamentary staff dimension, in this facet, the challenges are basing on the number, skills and ability to bear this demanding task.

On the MPs dimension, he informed the participants that, research is an activity which motivates when it is demanded and its results are rewarding and used. It might motivate if the consumers demand, respect and utilize the findings. In this dimension the challenge is on the readiness, appreciation and nature of consumers. If consumers (MPs) do not appreciate what is produced ( research findings), it demoralize the producers (Parliamentary staff, Committee Clerks and researchers).

On the Process dimension, he told participants that, undertaking parliamentary research is much more than recording facts. In addition, determine reliability of the facts in the document is equally important. This is about the questions of biasness and availability.

On structural dimension, he informed the participants that, parliamentary research is undertaken within a given structure, the procedures and systems of a such research are structural aspects. When components of the structure within which the research is taken are not coherent, the researcher, being Research Officer or Committee Clerk will encounter some difficulties. Because of the nature of parliamentary activities in Parliament, sometimes the need for information arises in a manner that is urgent.

Another structural challenge is ill-equipped library and internet facilities, the Office of the National Assembly has got library with reference books and publications. The problem is that the number of publications is insufficient. On top of this there is a problem of irrelevant publications which do not help in research process. Our library system has no fund for subscribing to larger online library to be able to access journals and other publications. These materials are important sources of information in Parliamentary research. The library and research department faces the challenge is to be develop strategies to support the evolution of parliamentary libraries and research services so that they can provide more value for their clients.

To solve those challenges, he urged the participants to be proactive, both research officers and Parliamentary Clerks ought to be very proactive in their day to day activities. When Parliament is in recess staff should be proactive, think big and produce research documents on topical current issues of public concern that may be included in the future agenda of Parliament and its committee.

The second solution mentioned was equipping the library and its resource, one fundamental task that must serve as the foundation for parliamentary research is the literature review process. This is essential to ensure that the researcher has gathered all relevant information that is available on the issue or problem under investigation. Skills in finding information from libraries, the internet and electronic databases are important since they often hold volumes of valuable information from previous research.

Another solution mentioned was recruiting more staffs, many Parliaments have got center for information which are staffed with right and sufficient number of human resources. Our Parliament needs to address the problem of shortage of manpower in the respective department and section.

He concluded that, legislative (Parliamentary) research is conducted in a political environment. It affects, to a greater or lesser extent, what problems are analyzed, who does it, how it is done, what decisions are made as a consequence and how those decisions are implemented, Parliamentary staff that when searching, gathering, organizing and presenting information for MPs as an individual and to the Parliamentary committees, the following are to be given careful thought; Political consideration background of particular information needs to be given its due regards. Ethical consideration, the legitimacy and authority of the Parliament are enhanced when its actions are informed by ethical consideration. Therefore to enable the Parliament to come up with sound and viable decision based on quality of information, ethics and morality are central to the task. It is important to note that Parliament needs to be objective in its conduct, hence parliamentary researchers and Committee Clerks should not be inclined to particular beliefs or ideologies in conducting research and should always avoid presenting personal views.

After presentation participants commended the workshop that it provided a base for research that will enable them to perform their duty in a much better way. They observed that Parliament is a political institution so the research required should not be a conclusive one as it has to provide data that will help make members of Parliament to make their cases and argument in the House; The following were the recommendations;

• There is a need for the Parliament to have a link with Research Institution so that if there is any data or research finding required it becomes easier to get.

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• It was noted that despite the presence of researchers in the office, there are very few MPs demanding for researched data . Therefore there is a need to motivate them to inquire for researched data before making their arguments in the House

• The Parliamentary staff should be proactive by making research and making their findings available in Parliament library.

2.10. TRAINING WORKSHOP ON LEADERSHIP AND PARLIAMENTARY SKILLS PART II ORGANISED FOR MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT AND STAFF.

This was also a one day Workshop for 120 members of Parliament and staff. The Workshop took place on 22rd July, 2012, in Dodoma. In this workshop the participants were from Members of the TWPG, the Committee on Community Development, Chairpersons and Vice- Chairpersons of the all Parliamentary Committees. This workshop was chaired by Hon. Jenista Joachim Mhagama, Mp, the Chair person for Parliamentary Community Development Committee. Two papers were presented and discussed, these were:

• Status of the Implementation of International and Regional Instruments Related to Women and Gender Development presented by Mr. Meshack Ndaskoi, from Ministry of Community Development, Gender and Children Affairs.

• The Analysis of Discriminatory Laws Affecting Women’s Participation in Politics and Leadership presented by Edina Bushangara from Legal and Human Rights Centre.

The project officer of the project, Mr. Lawrence Makigi, explained about the essence of the workshop and the brief

Hon. John M. Cheyo, MP delivering his Opening Speech on Mr. Meshack Ndaskoi from Ministry of Community Development, Leadership and Parliamentary Skills for Women Members of Gender and Children Affairs Presenting Parliament explanation of the Project. On his briefing, he informed the participants that, this workshop is organized to discuss how effectively women can be involved in politics and decision making. The status of the implementation of regional and international instruments related to women and gender development. There will be also a presentation on analysis of discriminatory laws affecting women’s participation in politics and leadership

The Workshop was officially opened by Hon. John M. Cheyo, MP, Chairperson of the Public Accounts Committee. In his opening speech, he told the participants that, the government has made enough efforts to bring gender equality in the country but this is not enough. The ongoing new Constitution debate will also take into consideration gender equality so that, all aspects of gender discrimination should be addressed in new Constitution in order to improve the situation.

Two Papers were presented and discussed, the first presenter started by explaining types of laws, that is Common Law, laws received during colonial times and those imported from India. Post independence laws, codified and un codified customary laws. She also explained on the sources of law that is international principles, conventions and declarations e.g. Universal Declaration of Human Rights 1948, UN Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women ( CEDAW 1978) International Convention of Civil and Political Rights ( ICCPR 1966) , International Convention of Economic Social and Cultural Rights. African Charter on Human and People’s Rights 1981, and many others. She emphasized that Tanzania exercises dual system of international law, meaning for international laws and principles to be applicable in Tanzania, they have to be signed, ratified and domesticated into national laws otherwise they are only of persuasive value in courts law

She mentioned the existing discriminatory laws against women, the judicature and application of laws Act, Cap 358 of RE 2002. The Law of Marriage Act, Cap 29 RE 2002, Penal Code CAP 16 of RE 2002 and the Citizenship Act, CAP 357

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The Minister of Community Development, Gender and Children A cross section of Participants listening tentatively to the resource Affairs exchanging ideas with her Deputy Minister person

RE 2002. This law provides for the applicability of customary law and Islamic law in civil proceedings in the country. First Schedule Declaration of Customary Law provides for payment of bride price. Bride price is to be removed from statute books as it leads to violence against women, encourages oppressive traditional practices such as FGM Female Genital Mulilation. The fact that bride price is paid prevents many women and girls to come out of abusive relationships and marriages due to the fact that the bride price cannot be returned. This law is outdated and the fines provided is also minimal. Also the law provides for the continuation of gender based violence. However the law has put the value of currency in different value in relation to how many cows, goats and sheep depending on the district.

On Inheritance, she informed participants that, the law considers that women do not have property to pass on, while in reality many laws in the country have changed to acknowledge the same e.g. Land Act NO 4 and 5 of 1999. The administration of the estate of the deceased excludes the widow and by so doing is discriminatory and leads to many widows having their rights denied. Customary widows are not inherit only the elderly son then daughters can inherit. This undermines women property rights and the livelihood of widows.

On the Law of Marriage Act, CAP, 29 RE 2002 section 13(1) Minimum age of marriage, no person shall marry who being male, has not attained the age of eighteen years or being female, has not attained the age of fifteen years or the age of fourteen years. The provisions are discriminatory based on gender. All parties are to be eighteen years of age. Section 17 (1) Requirement of consent, a person who has not attained the apparent age of eighteen years shall be required, before marrying to obtain the consent of her father, if her father is dead, of her mother or if both her father and mother are dead, of the person’s guardian. There should not be marriages conducted under eighteen years and if marriage need consent should be from both parents.

On Tanzania Citizenship Act CAP 357RE 2002 section 11(1) Naturalization of women married to citizen of the United Republic. A woman who is married to a citizen of the United Republic shall at any time during the life time of the husband be titled, upon making an application in the prescribed form to be naturalized as a citizen of the United Republic. The same is discriminatory as it is provides for simple procedure to Tanzanian men to naturalize foreign wives and not the other way round.

On women in decision making positions, the mechanism of getting these women representatives, qualities and accountability still needs to be improved. Despite so the government has not attained its commitment 50/50. There is still no enough commitment in increasing women in other senior decision making positions. This goes to the mechanism of appointment to such positions.

In recommendations to solve various challenges, she informed the participants that in general, have in place a law that addresses gender based violence e.g. spousal/partner physical/psychological/economic abuse. The law to be amended to include the offence of sextortion (sexual corruption. Establish a mechanism for one stop centre when addressing the issue of women ( police, health services, welfare officer). Increase resources for the protection of women’s rights and social services in the country ( water, health, education, etc.) Abuja Declaration 15% of national budget to be allocated to health services.

On what MPs can do, she advised the participants to have women’s agenda in Parliament to address the issues that affect women in the country. Amend discriminatory and oppressive laws against women (government bills, private motions and private bills). Make sure all laws enacted are sensitive to the rights of women. Hold the government into account to address women’s rights and gender equalities

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2.11. THE MEDIA WORKSHOP ON PARLIAMENTARY REPORTING ORGANIZED FOR MEDIA AND PARLIAMENTARY STAFF.

This was also a one day Workshop on Media Parliamentary Reporting. The workshop was organized in 12th August, 2012, in Dodoma, participants were drawn from different media and parliamentary staff. One hundred and fifty (150) participants attended the workshop and four Resource Persons presented papers. The following are the topics presented and discussed during the workshop;

• Media Ethics and Challenges facing Parliamentary/Political Reportage presented by Mr. Ayoub Rioba from University of Dar- Es Salaam • Media Freedom and Its Limitations presented by Absolom Kibamba, chairperson of the media platform. • Parliamentary Standing Orders, Committees, Privileges, Ethics and Powers presented by Mr. Charles Mloka, Director of Parliamentary Committees, from Parliament Office • The Relationship between the Media and the Parliament, considering the trends of Media reporting on political issues presented by Said Yakub, from Parliament of Tanzania.

Before the opening of the Workshop, the Project Coordinator of the Parliament of Tanzania Mr. Elisa Mbise briefed the

The Guest of Honour Hon. Job Ndugai, Deputy Speaker and the Hon. Job Ndugai, MP, Deputy Speaker, speaking during the Resource Persons sitting at the High Table opening session

participants about the Legislatures Support Project and the objectives of the workshop. The workshop was officially opened by Hon. Job Ndugai, MP, Deputy Speaker and it was closed by Dr. Thomas Kashilillah, Clerk of the National Assembly

Four (4) papers were presented and discussed, during their presentation the facilitators highlighted various issues related to media ethics, challenges, media freedom and its challenges and relationship between the media and Parliament, considering the trends of media reporting on political issues. After presentation the participants discussed in detail and made some recommendations. These recommendations including;

• The need to organize capacity building training workshop as frequently as possible to educate the media people in different aspect who are reporting the parliamentary activities

• There is a need for the government to bring all laws which hinder the development of the media in Tanzania to be amended in order for the media to flourish

• The Parliament office should provide to the media people soft copies of all documents which are presented in the House to make easy for the media people to report the parliamentary activities.

• There is a need to prepare the Code of Conduct on Parliamentary Reporting in Tanzania

• The need for the Parliamentary Officials to visit Media owners and Editors to discuss various issues including educating the media owners and editors on how the Parliament conducts its business

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Mr. Elisa Mbise, Project Coordinator explaining the content of the Project and the objectives of the Seminar

Prepared by:

1. Mr. Lawrence R. Makigi 2. Mr. Angumbike Lameck Ng’wavi

Parliament Office, Dodoma, August, 2012

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