The constitutional review Act being given life by the Parliament in the year 2012 has proven to be one of the chains holding many individuals from enjoying their privilege and right of expressing themselves for the sake of a better and valid constitution that is total by the people and for the people.
Many critical legal scholars have tried to construe the rationality behind enacting the new constitution. One of them is Prof. Issa Shivji, a law professor at the University of Dar es Salaam. He pointed out a deferent reason and a rational one as to why Tanzanians need to enact a new constitution. His answer has roots in the traditional approach as whom the constitution governs? And it’s simple, since we all know that the constitution governs all people in a given territory and all states apparatus and organs as it is the supreme law of the land.
From this foundation it should be known that if the constitution is the supreme Law of the Land and everything else is subject to it as Cap 1 s(2) of the Kenyan Constitution 2010, empowers the constitution of the Kenya being the supreme law of the land by speaking on its self like in possession of own soul. Nailing down the fact there was a case of Samatta CJ v. Attorney General, 2001 EA 485 in which Honorable Justice said that the constitution is a living instrument having its own soul and consciousness. The root of this philosophy is traced as far as Montesqueiu period in 1740’s before the publishing of ‘The Spirit of Law’ in 1748, from this base the Constitution then is to be enacted by the people as the Law made will be above all and that makes it not right for only a few group of people to enact the whole body of law which is the key in all governing process.
Leaving some minor reason as the constitution being old or as many would have say that, it has been amended a lot which I think is also very common in all the earthly constitutions, even the said best constitution of the United States of America has got some in it. But the real reason for the enactment of this new constitution is that the current constitution was enacted by a group of few Individuals of the ruling party of that time and it was not the views expressed by the Tanzanians as whole but by few individuals who were not even blessed with permission from the people and that’s what is claimed to be the reason for the enacting of a new constitution.
By Oscar Oswald of www.sheriaminds.blogspot.com
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