Tanzania is in the process of drafting a New Constitution. For the process to be successful, there are members chosen in the Constitutional Assembly, who debate in the parliament and agree what set of laws are to be incorporated in the Constitution.
The members have already been chosen long ago, the debates have started again after a hiatus of some time. There has been some "progress" in identifying the Burning Issues that need to be addressed.
Below are some statements made by some of the Members recently.
"There is no competent court that can handle Muslim issues on marriage, divorce and Inheritance"
"They (Tanzanians in Diaspora) insulted us and we don't need them either"
"Condemned same sex marriages and proposed that the new constitution should prohibit the abominable practice within the United Republic of Tanzania"
Source : http://dailynews.co.tz/index.php/local-news/35817-kadhi-court-union-citizenship-debate-rock-ca
Let us look at the statements carefully:
1 ) "There is no competent court that can handle Muslim issues on marriage, divorce and Inheritance - Except the Kadhi court"
This statement was made in the support of Introducing Kadhi court(A court that is designed for Muslims, the laws of which are based on Shariah)
Needless to say, this is beyond ridiculous. Why should Muslims be treated differently from members of other faiths ? There should be the same set of laws that apply to every citizen of this country. Introduction of Kadhi court would bring instability in the Tanzanian society. For a country to progress further, there should be no place for different set of laws for individuals of different faiths. People who wish to live under the Shariah law, should immigrate to countries where those laws are already implemented. WE DO NOT NEED AN APARTHEID SYSTEM BASED ON RELIGIOUS BELIEFS.
2) "They (Tanzanians in Diaspora) insulted us and we don't need them either"
This was said by someone who opposed the Dual Citizenship. His reason for rejecting it, was that those, who have left the country have "Insulted" us.
Seriously, Mr. Member of Constitutional Assembly, Are you even aware of the current state of Globalization ? People move from one country to another for Greener pastures and in order to work in some countries, they have to become their citizens. They do not wish to renounce their identities as the Tanzanians, BUT they are left with no choice BECAUSE our constitution doesn't allow people to have Dual citizenship. Their renunciation of Tanzanian passports does not mean, they are breaking all the ties with us or INSULTING us, as you are saying.
The truth is, we need the Tanzanians in Diaspora. They have the years of experience of living in Developed societies, they have ideas of making our societies a better place to live. Allowing them to have Tanzanian passports again, will make them more patriotic towards our country. SO STOP BRINGING YOUR NONSENSICAL ARGUMENTS IN THE CA.
3) "Condemned same sex marriages and proposed that the new constitution should prohibit the abominable practice within the United Republic of Tanzania"
Our laws already do not allow same sex marriages and I do not see that we will allow this in the future either. HOWEVER, we should have laws that do not allow discrimination on the grounds of Sexual orientation. Whatever two consenting adults of the same sex do in their private bedroom should not concern anyone but themselves. Our laws should not interfere with their private lives dictating whatever they are doing as "Wrong" and punish them for the same. The laws to criminalize Homosexuality were heavily influenced by religious beliefs. Most of the religions, also condemn sexual relations between two consenting adults, of the opposite sex before marriage, why don't we criminalize that too ?
We need to stop these double standards and decriminalize Homosexuality.
MOST IMPORTANTLY, WE NEED PEOPLE WHO ARE EDUCATED AND CAN THINK OF THE FUTURE INSTEAD OF THOSE WANT TO LIVE IN THE PAST IN OUR CONSTITUTIONAL ASSEMBLY.
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