Tanzania: End the legislators expulsion drama

The recent events rocking the Parliament should not be tolerated if the sanity of the House is ever to be maintained. Last week alone, four legislators were ordered out of the House in circumstances that have seen many people branding it the house of comedy.

The first to be kicked out was the Nyamanga MP, Ezekiel Wenje, who was accused of being “disrespectful” to the chair, following a heated debate with the House Chairperson, Sylvester Mabumba. As if that was not enough, the following day, three more opposition legislators were ordered not only out of the debating chamber but off the Bunge grounds for ignoring the deputy speaker's directive not to switch on microphones without permission from the chair.

The legislators are Tundu Lissu (Singida West), Rev Peter Msigwa (Iringa Urban) and Godbless Lema (Arusha Urban). What boggles the minds of many is the fact that all the legislators that have been shown the door so far belong to the opposition camp and this proves right an old adage that where two elephants fight, the grass suffers. The two camps might be trying to prove a point here but that is hardly needed right now. There are more pressing issues the House should deal with rather than embarking on a fight or a struggle to prove superiority and show who is better between those in the ruling party and the opposition.

The growing and disturbing trend of disruptions in the House where legislators end up being chased has received mixed feelings among the people. But, what is important when it comes to this issue is that the people who are disadvantaged are the ones who voted these legislators into parliament. Firstly, those legislators who end up being chased out will be having important issues to iron out, of which the bureaucracy and procedures of the House seem to stifle; hence they remain defiant, in a bid to fully represent their constituencies.

The powers that be in the House should be tolerant and find other ways of punishing legislators they feel are being respectful. This is so because chasing them out of the house is tantamount to chasing the whole constituency as no one will be there to represent them. This is a disservice not only to wananchi but to the country as a whole as Parliament needs these legislators' contributions for it to come up with sound policies and resolutions.

The chaos cannot be tolerated and legislators should find common ground. As long as there is no threat to human life, the justification of expelling a person out of the House remains questionable and as there could be other means of dealing with these problems. This has to be nipped in the bud and failure to control it at this stage will prove disastrous as chaos will reign supreme in the House, a move that might see more legislators being thrown out of the house.

Constituencies sent legislators to the House, not to sleep as others often do, but to represent their interests and make sure that a lot of things are ironed out. When legislators who are trying to express themselves and having issues clarified are chased out of the House then who will blame them if they go and sleep, without contributing anything. Maturity and tolerance are needed in the House for progress' sake. Legislators have a duty to perform, not to fight personal battles, so discipline should be upheld without disadvantaging wananchi who elected them. (ends)