Did They Perform? Assessing fi Ve Years of Bunge 2005-2010
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Policy Brief: TZ.11/2010E Did they perform? Assessing fi ve years of Bunge 2005-2010 1. Introducti on On July 16th 2010, following the completi on of the 20th session of the Bunge, the President of Tanzania dissolved the 9th Parliament. This event marked the end of the term for Members of Parliament who were elected during the 2005 general electi ons. Now that the last session has been completed it allows us to look back and to consider how MPs performed during their tenure. Did they parti cipate acti vely and represent their consti tuencies by asking questi ons and making interventi ons, or were they silent backbenchers? The Bunge is the Supreme Legislature of Tanzania. The Bunge grants money for running the administrati on and oversees government programs and plans. The Bunge oversees the acti ons of the Executi ve and serves as watchdog to ensure that government is accountable to its citi zens. To achieve all this, Members of Parliament pass laws, authorize taxati on and scruti nize government policies including proposal for expenditure; and debate major issues of the day. For the Bunge to eff ecti vely carry out its oversight role, acti ve parti cipati on by Members of Parliament is criti cal. MPs can be acti ve by making three kinds of interventi ons: they can ask basic questi ons, they can ask supplementary questi ons and they can make contributi ons during debates. This brief follows earlier briefs, the last of which was released in August 2010. It presents seven facts on the performance of MPs, including rati ng who were the most acti ve and least acti ve MPs. The informati on in this brief was retrieved from the public Parliamentary On-line Informati on System (POLIS) posted on the Tanzania Parliament Website (htt p://www. bunge.go.tz) in August 2010. The full data set can also be downloaded from the Uwazi website (www.uwazi.org). This note was produced by Uwazi at Twaweza housed by Hivos Tanzania. Uwazi, P.O.Box 38342, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Telephone +255 22 266 4301. Fax +255 22 266 4308. Email: [email protected]. Web: www.uwazi.org Released October 2010 1 2. Seven facts about the past five years of the Bunge To assess how active MPs were during the last five years, we report on the activities of all MPs, those who were elected (231) as well as MPs in Special Seats (75), Presidential Appointees (10) and those from the Zanzibar House of Representatives (5) and the Attorney General for a total of 322 MPs. In few instances we distinguish between MPs who do and do not serve in Cabinet. Where this is the case, this is clearly indicated. Fact 1: CCM MPs made most contributions in the Bunge A total of 25,765 contributions were made for all 20 sessions with an average 80 contributions per MP. CCM leads with 21,196 contributions, followed by CUF with 2,713 contributions, CHADEMA with 1,647 and UDP with 209 contributions. That CCM was most active is to be expected, since 278 MPs (or 86% of all MPs) are CCM as opposed to 32 (10%) CUF, 11 (3%) CHADEMA and 1 (0.3%) UDP. Fact 2: CCM MPs were least active in Parliament Figure 2 shows how different parties fared when assessing the number of interventions per MP. With respect to basic questions, CHADEMA ranks first with an average of 20 basic questions per MP. CHADEMA also ranks first in supplementary questions with 40 supplementary questions per MP. The UDP (1 MP in Parliament) ranks highest in terms of making contributions. The ruling party, CCM, ranks last in one category, supplementary questions with 16 supplementary questions per MP. CUF ranks last in making contributions with 48 contributions per MP and UDP never asked a single basic question. Considering the total number of interventions CCM ranks last with 76 interventions per MP, followed by CUF (85), CHADEMA (150) and UDP (209). 2 Figure 2: Average number of interventions per MP, by party Fact 3: Elected members are more active than nominated MPs Figure 3 depicts elected members as the most active in all three categories. MPs from the Zanzibar House of Representatives and those nominated by the President participate least in sessions of the Parliament. Note that this category excludes the Attorney Gen- eral. Figure 3: Number of interventions per MP by member type 3 Fact 4: Male MPs are slightly more active than female MPs The Ninth Parliament of Tanzania comprised of 222 male MPs and 100 female MPs. As shown in Figure 4 and in all three categories, average contributions per male MP exceeded those of female MP by a slight margin. Fact 5: Cabinet members do not participate actively in Parliament In Parliament there are 48 cabinet members, 26 Ministers, 21 Deputy Ministers and the Prime Minister. These are all CCM MPs. Out of these, 41 never asked a single basic question for all the five years they were in Parliament. Out of the 267 MPs who are not cabinet members and who are not high government officials (including the (deputy) Speaker and Regional Commissioners), 39 MPs never asked a single basic question. 4 Fact 6: Honorable Ndugai was the most active MP To identify the overall performance of MPs who are not Cabinet members, Regional Commissioners or (deputy) Speaker the three types of interventions were aggregated to create a unique performance score. Aggregation was done by adding the number of times an MP asked a basic or supplementary question or made a contribution. If this approach is used Hon. Job Ndugai is ranked as the most active MP with a total of 376 interventions: 29 basic questions, 60 supplementary questions and 287 contributions. The second most active MP is Hon. Jenista Mhagama followed by Hon. Dr. Wilbrod Slaa, Hon. Godfrey Zambi and Hon. Zitto Kabwe respectively. Table 1: Most active MPs in Parliament Job Yustino Jenista J. Dr.Wilbrod P. Godfrey W. Kabwe Z. Ndugai Mhagama Slaa Zambi Zitto CCM CCM CHADEMA CCM CHADEMA Rank 12345 Total 376 364 284 265 261 Contributions 287 275 159 163 180 Supplementary 60 63 103 69 56 Basic questions 29 26 22 33 25 Source of data: Parliament of Tanzania website (www.bunge.go.tz). Fact 7: Hon. Aziz was the least active MP Using a similar approach to that one used in Fact 7, Hon, Rostam Aziz of CCM was found to be the least active MP out of all ‘ordinary’ MPs. Hon. Aziz is the only MP in the parliament who did not make a single intervention for his five years term in office. Other least active MPs are Hon. Ai Suleiman, Hon. Ali Ali, Hon. Salum Salum and Hon. Yusuf Makamba. 5 Table 2: Least active MPs in Parliament Rostam A. Ali H. Ali H. Salum K. Col.Lt.Yusuf Aziz Suleiman Ali Salum Makamba CCM CCM CCM CCM CCM Rank 267 266 265 264 263 Total 0 2 4 4 4 Contributions 0 1 4 4 4 Supplementary 0 1 0 0 0 Basic questions 0 0 0 0 0 Source of data: Parliament of Tanzania website (www.bunge.go.tz). 3. Conclusion This brief has used information freely available from the Bunge website to assess the level of participation by MPs in the 20 sessions of the Ninth Parliament of the United Republic of Tanzania that took place between 2005 and 2010. It was found that great variation exists in activity levels between MPs. The most active MP was Hon. Ndugai with 379 interventions; the least active MP was Hon. Aziz with zero interventions. The number of interventions is, of course, only one indicator of MP performance. Other important roles include working in parliamentary committees and engagement with citizens in their constituencies. Nonetheless, this brief provides an important perspective to citizens to assess to which extend their MPs have worked in their interests. It also provides an opportunity for each political party and each MP to further elaborate how they have been serving the interests of their constituencies in the past 5 years. Such open dialogue is crucial for democracy and accountability to be deepened. 6 Annex 1: Ranking of Ordinary Members of Parliament (those that are not -high ranking Government officials) Basic Supple Contri Total Rank Name Sex Party Constituency Questions mentary butions 1 Job Yustino Ndugai M CCM Kongwa 29 60 287 376 2 Jenista Joakim Mhagama F CCM Peramiho 26 63 275 364 3 Dr. Wilbrod Peter Slaa M CHADEMA Karatu 22 103 159 284 4 Godfrey Weston Zambi M CCM Mbozi Mashariki 33 69 163 265 5 Kabwe Zuberi Zitto M CHADEMA Kigoma Kaskazini 25 56 180 261 6 Diana Mkumbo Chilolo F CCM None 41 88 120 249 7 Mgana Izumbe Msindai M CCM Iramba Mashariki 44 94 99 237 8 George Malima Lubeleje M CCM Mpwapwa 34 87 112 233 9 Juma Hassan Killimbah M CCM Iramba Magharibi 26 66 134 226 10 Susan Anselm Jerome Lyimo F CHADEMA None 23 46 146 215 11 John Momose Cheyo M UDP Bariadi Mashariki 0 24 185 209 12 William Hezekia Shellukindo M CCM Bumbuli 40 59 108 207 13 Siraju Juma Kaboyonga M CCM Tabora Mjini 27 47 126 200 14 Said Amour Arfi M CHADEMA Mpanda Kati 26 69 104 199 15 Prof. Raphael Benedict Mwalyosi M CCM Ludewa 32 58 103 193 16 Mohamed Habib Juma Mnyaa M CUF Mkanyageni 15 69 102 186 17 Magdalena Hamis Sakaya F CUF None 22 46 117 185 18 Hamad Rashid Mohamed M CUF Wawi 18 90 72 180 19 Salim Hemed Khamis M CUF Chambani 26 56 95 177 20 Lucy Fidelis Owenya F CHADEMA None 29 43 99 171 21 John Paul Lwanji M CCM Manyoni Magharibi 30 30 109 169 22 Michael Lekule Laizer M CCM Longido 29 65 74 168 23 Stella Martin Manyanya F CCM None 17 30 114 161 24 Mohamed Rished Abdallah M CCM Pangani 25 87 49 161 25 Lucas Lumambo Selelii M CCM Nzega 29 58 73 160 26 Zubeir Ali Maulid M CCM Kwamtipura 9 26 114 149 27 Bujiku Philip Sakila M CCM Kwimba 22 31 95 148 28 Emmanuel Jumanne Luhahula M CCM Bukombe 30 45 71 146 29 Mhonga Said Ruhwanya F CHADEMA None 30 41 74 145 30 Esther Kabadi Nyawazwa F CCM None 20