Constitution should give liberty audit body to hire personnel, advises CAG

The Controller and Auditor General (CAG) yesterday told the Constitutional Review Commission (CRC) that the National Audit office of Tanzania (NAOT) should be free to work independently without interference.

Ludovick Utouh said this in Dar es Salaam when presenting NAOT views in Dar es Salaam to the CRC chaired by Judge Joseph Warioba. The commission is in its second phase of collecting opinions from various groups within the country.

Utouh noted that his office needs to be like Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA), Bank of Tanzania (BoT) and other bodies.

With the mandate to hire its workers, NAOT would be able to reduce the existing staff gap in the audit body, CAG said. NAOT seeks permission from the government whenever it needs to hire an employee.

Also CAG stated that the government usually works on proposals and recommendations they submit.

Veteran politician and a member of the country’s independence movement Sir George Kahama was among persons who presented views to the CRC yesterday.

However, he would not brief the media on what he proposed on the new constitution. “I am an ethical person, I can’t speak to journalists. I came here for the CRC and not media. You can take my picture…it is enough.”

Dar es Salaam City Mayor Didas Massaburi also turned up to give his views on the envisaged new Constitution. However, The Guardian on Sunday could not get his views.

The second phase of CRC meetings - which are open to political parties, NGOs, the media, professional affiliations, religious groups, farmers’ groups, traders, workers’ unions and other groups - started on January 7 and is expected to end on January 25.

So far the commission has gathered opinions from all 30 regions across the country, during which some 1,365,337 people are on record top have attended the constitutional review meetings – at which 64,737 individuals made verbal contributions and 253,846 made written representations.

Tanzania’s population is estimated to be 44.9 million. According to President Jakaya Kikwete the new constitution would be inaugurated on April 24, 2014 when Tanzania marks 50 years of the Union between Tanganyika and Zanzibar.

SOURCE: GUARDIAN ON SUNDAY

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