By Spy Uganda Correspondent
Tanzania will begin the drafting process of a new constitution after the country holds it 2025 general elections.
A statement issued by State House says a new constitution will be among other long-term issues that will be addressed then.
This comes after the release of the country’s main opposition leader Freeman Mbowe, of the Chadema party.
He alleged his court case was politically motivated because he had started a movement demanding a new constitution.
Last week, in an exclusive interview with the BBC, President Samia Suluhu Hassan refused to discuss the constitution, saying it was a “matter between herself and Tanzanians”.
But there has been mounting pressure from activists and opposition parties demanding a new constitution.
- Mainland government;
- Zanzibar government;
- Union government (Union of mainland Tanzania with Zanzibar).
This model was however rejected by the constituency assembly at the behest of Tanzania’s ruling party, CCM, headed by President Jakaya Kikwete. They believed, and to continue to believe in a two-tier government: mainland Tanzania and Zanzibar.
Amid an opposition boycott, the assembly later accepted a less ambitious, ‘Kikwete-approved’ draft constitution, even though it was never put to a popular referendum as planned, since the vote was called off ahead of the October 2015 elections.
During his tenure, the late president John Magufuli had publicly declared that his government would focus on attaining economic goals rather than constitutional change.
