BungeNe ewsletter Issue No 007 MAY 2013 Parliament for the last seven Weeks in Budgetary Session The 11th Parliamentary Session, which is the budget Members of Parliament have scrutined the Gov- session, is in its 7th week since it started on 9th April, ernment and made sure that national develop- 2013. Up to now 283 normal questions have been asked ment priorities are been considered in every min- and answered in the Parliament. Within this time istry as a way of fulfilling their constitutional about 420 supplementary questions were asked and mandate of representation, legislation and oversight. all of them received answers from the Government. The number of Members of Parliament who have According to the Parliamentary Standing Orders, contributed to the budget discussions per each min- every Thursday, it’s Prime Minister’s questions and istry up to now is as follows: The Office of Prime up to the end of May more than 20 questions had Minister [114 Contributors], President’s Office [17 been asked and answered by the Prime Minister. Contributions], Office of Vice President [6 Con- Despite of the normal Q&A session in the Parliament, tributors], Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Co- during this session, Parliament has also continued operative [45 Contributors], Ministry of Water discussing and approving ministries budget estimates [43 Contributors], Ministry of Natural resources for the financial year 2013/14. So far 28 ministries have and tourism [34 Contributors], Ministry of Jus- already presented their budget estimates in the House. tice and Constitutional affairs [7 Contributors]. After the change of the Budget Cycle to the current Others are the Ministry of Defense and Na- one, the entire exercise of discussing and approv- tional Service[9 Contributors],Ministry of ing the budget estimates has received a ernomous Home affairs[43 Contributors], Ministry of contributions from the Members of Parliament. health and social welfare[38 Contributors], 1 Ministry of Community Development, Gender and This success is built on the effectiveness of the new- children[9 Contributors]; Ministry of Infrastructure ly created Budget committee, which has been ad- [45 Contributors]; Ministry of Industry and Trade vising all Ministries on its budget in each sector. [8 Contributors]; Ministry of Transport [33 Con- tributors]; Information, Youth, Culture and Sport [30 The formation of this committee has been a suc- Contributors]; Energy and Minerals [24 Contribu- cess in effectiveness of the Parliament spe- tors]; East African Corporation [7 Contributors]; cifically in this budget session as the parlia- Despite approving the above-mentioned Minis- ment has been advising the Government well. tries budget, the Parliament has done its role of advising the Government and asked some Min- istry to review their Ministrial Budgets they serve before tabled for approval in the House. Women MPs want more skills to table Private Member’s Bills and Motions Chairperson of the TWPG Hon. Anna Abdallah gesturing to the Women Mps while she was opening a one day workshop on how to table Private members motions and Bill. Right is the secretary of TWGP Hon. Angela Kairuki and sitting left is the Deputy Chair Hon. Dr. Mary Mwanjelwa Association of Women MPs in the Parliament of Opening the seminar, the Chairperson of the Tanzania (Tanzania Women Parliamentarian Group TWPG Hon. Anna Abdallah (Mp) asked all its - TWPG) this month conducted a one-day semi- MPs regardless of their political-party affiliation nar for all Women Parliamentarians aiming at im- to effectively engage with the Office of the -Par proving their comprehensive understanding on liamentary Legal Adviser on how to prepare and the best form of self-presentation and tabling of table the Private Member’s Bills and Motions. Private Members Bills and Motions in Parliament. Hon. Abdallah added that, Women Parliamentar- The seminar was one of the capacity building organ- ians are responsible in solving problems facing ized by TWGP aiming at improving Women Mps in the peoples in the country, especially those affect- order to effectively engage themselves in legislative ing women and children, by engaging on bringing process with competent ideas that reflect people’s lives. more bills and motions in the house that focus to 2 tackle their problems. Furthermore it is the effective Parliament formed Special Committee way of putting the Government accountable to Wa- to defuse Mtwara Gas Crisis nanchi represented by Mps in the House. She added “Honorable Members, this is my eighth term in the House, there is still little awareness for many women Mps on how to table Private Members Bills and Mo- tions in the Parliament. I believe if we take advantage of this kind of awareness seminars, they will help us very much to effectively draft good and convincing Private Bills and Motions that focus on resolving peo- ple’s problems while they meet all the Standing Or- ders demands at the same time. She said Hon. Anna Abdallah Said to the TWGP at the Msekwa Hall. During the discussion, many Women MPs asked TWGP leadership to organize such kind of seminars regularly as they will impart more Speaker of the National Assembly Hon. Anne Makinda announcing understanding to Women MPs in the House. names of the Mps who will form the Special Parliamentary Committee that will work to find out the cause of Mtwara Crisis “This might be in practice so that education al- ways takes place for the purpose of reminding us The Speaker of the National Assembly, Hon. with house procedures and even legal requirements Anne Makinda has announced a Special Com- that are needed when on tabling the motion or the mittee with thirteen members select to probe Bill in the House. This will make us more compe- dispute-surrounding construction of a natu- tence and able to compete with Men MPs while ral gas pipeline from Mtwara to Dar es Salaam. Legislating. We have a lot of issues that we need to present in the House, but sometime we lack tech- The dispute caused riots in Mtwara this month and nical inputs on how to table them. As a result escalated on the day the Ministry of Energy and Min- many of us are no more vibrant in the House”. Said erals was tabling its Ministerial Budget estimates. one of the MP while contributing to the Seminar. The Speaker formed the Committee after the Gov- The Members agreed that they have to fulfill their ernment had issued its statement in the house, the mandates of representing people effectively as the Parliamentary Steering Committee met and decid- voice of wananchi by bringing into Parliament issues ed that a Special committee to be formed and lis- which need immediate solution from the Government. ten to residents of Mtwara over their skepticism in the government’s plan to construct the gas pipeline. “Parliament is the place where laws are made and where people put the Government accountable, we Hon. Makinda noted that in a calm environment the have to make sure that we do not leave that job to committee will tour Mtwara and meet various groups. Male MPs only, we are the Women in the Parlia- She urged residents to remain calm and give utmost ment and we represent hundreds of Women and cooperation and speak freely on their grievances. Children of this country whose voices must be heard in the House through us. So we have to en- “I call upon residents of Mtwara to cooperate to be sure that we raise the people’s voices while we are in open and free to speak their minds without fear. The the Parliament by bringing in their problems to be committee will have sufficient time to meet resi- solved.” Said Hon. Anne Kilango Malecela (MP). dents, groups, organisations and leaders,” she said. The workshop consisted of three topics namely The Speaker announced the names of the how to bring in a Private-Member Motion, Pri- Members of that Commitee shortly af- vate Members Bill and the Procedure to table ter the house approved the Ministry of En- the Government Bills in the House. The present- ergy and Minerals 2013/14 budget estimates. ers came from the Office of the National Assembly 3 She said the committee will be guided by four- Budget Committee shows it relevance clause terms of reference which includes prob- ing the source of chaos, make a follow up on various steps taken by the government, meeting stakeholders and get their views on gas projects and look at any other issues related to the mayhem. The team will be under the chairmanship of Hon. Charles Mwijage (CCM). Other members are Hon. Said Arfi (CHADEMA), Hon. Dalaly Kaf- umu (CCM), Hon. Said Nkumba (CCM), Hon. Cynthia Ngoye (CCM), Hon. Hamad Rashid Mo- hamed (CUF), Hon. Ramo Makani (CCM) and Hon. Muhammad Amour Chomboh (CCM). The newly formed Parliamentary Budget Com- Others in the team are Hon. Cecilia Paresso (CHADE- mittee has been showing its significance by effec- MA), Hon. Rukia Kassim Ahmed (CUF), Hon. tively advising the Government to prioritize is- Mariam Kisangi (CCM), Hon. Agripina Buyogela sues of National Interest in each Ministerial Budget (NCCR-Mageuzi) and Hon. Selemani Jafo (CCM) . during the ongoing Budget session in Dodoma. The Committee appears to be assert- ing its role by querying discrepancies on each Ministerial Budget between the policy and the final budget in the house for approval. Since the start of the Budget session in Dodoma, the Budget Committee has been meeting with vari- ous Ministries and Parliamentary sectorial Com- mittee to discuss and advice them on disburse- ments of funds to each Ministry’s budget estimates. The Committee has advices each Ministry to allo- Minister for Ernegy and Minerals Hon.