Almost all major opposition parties have promised to deliver a new constitution. They have made this part of their strategy to woo voters to choose them in the October 31 elections. Some of them have promised a major overhaul of the current constitution so as to make it more appropriate.

As ambitious as it may sound, some parties have promised to deliver a new constitution within the first 100 days of their coming to power! But can they deliver this promise?

Developments in Kenya, which has just promulgated its new constitution, are seen as a motivation for these parties, which insist they can deliver on their promise. Their argument is that if Kenya has done it, Tanzania can achieve the objective too. Amid these promises they are acutely aware of Kenya's long journey to a new constitution. They know that it has taken Kenya decades to arrive at the current set of laws.

If Kenya's experience is anything to go by, it might not be the best example for Tanzania as far as writing of a new constitution is concerned. This is because antagonism in writing a new constitution had put Kenya in a collision course, which saw some friends become enemies. The process has been punctuated with maneuvers which derailed efforts to have the constitution in place.

Some individuals, not necessarily those in power, have over the years opposed the implementation of the new constitution. Ironically, in Tanzania the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM), which claims to be a transformative party, seems not to be in favour of having a new constitution.

The ruling party believes that with the major transformations that the country has undergone over the five decades since independence, there is little need for a new constitution. The general feeling is that the current laws are enough to cater for the needs of Tanzanians. However, what happened in Kenya has renewed calls to have a new constitution. Politicians, political analysts and activists have called upon the government to write new laws that will reflect the current social, economic and political conditions.

They argue that the existing constitution is aged and outdated. They point out that there are major oversights it the current constitution, noting for instance that despite amendments from time to time, it still describes Tanzania as a socialist country.

They claim that the current document refers to the country as following socialism and self-reliance ideologies, while in actual fact Tanzania is more of a capitalist and free market economy, a system it has been embracing since the 1990s.

The experts also cite other important issues such as liberties and freedoms, land issues, type of governance, the Union and citizenship issues, as among issues which make the writing of a new constitution necessary.

While voicing his opinion to the Election Platform on whether Tanzania needed a new constitution, the University of Dar es Salaam senior lecturer and political analyst, Dr Ezaveli Lwaitama, said the issue should not be the new constitution, but what would make its content.

He said Kenyans were celebrating what was in the new constitution rather than a mere document. "Having a constitution which does not answer problems which citizens face is as good as having no constitution at all," he said.

Dr Lwaitama said Tanzania's current constitution was written with the basic aim of controlling elements of colonialism. The constitution also sought to consolidate African leadership and that is why it gave more powers to the president and other political leaders and not common wananchi.

According to Dr Lwaitama, the new Kenyan constitution gives power to wananchi to make decisions on important issues concerning their lives and the way they wish to be governed. The fact that Tanzania's constitution does not provide for this, emphasises the need for it to be looked at afresh.

"I think it is the right time for the government to give people the freedom and opportunity to decide what should be in the Constitution.

After 49 years of independence, I am sure the elements of colonialism have already evaporated and African leadership has taken root," said Dr Lwaitama.

He noted that while other East African countries have either written new constitutions or overhauled their old constitutions to reflect the current needs, it was only Tanzania, which is considered a peaceful democracy in the region, that has been lagging behind.

"We have witnessed changes in Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda and now Kenya, while Tanzania has avoided a serious debate on a new constitution," he said. He added: "I think wananchi should start exerting pressure on the candidates during campaigns so that they can commit to putting in place a new constitution should they win the elections.

It is through a new constitution that we would be able to bring all the changes that the parties and candidates have been advocating for in their campaigns." A political science lecturer at Mzumbe University, Dr Elisant Gabriel, said the Tanzanian constitution was very confusing. He said the Constitution was made up of Articles which did not reflect the current situation, thereby rendering it meaningless.

He said there was need for thorough research that would help experts determine what would be included in the new constitution which could open the door for a better future for the country and its people.

On the promises being made by politicians to deliver a new constitution in 100 days, Dr Gabriel, who attended the promulgation ceremony in Kenya, said writing a new constitution was a tough job. He noted that people needed to be educated, not only on the importance of having constitutional changes, but also the kind of changes that would be beneficial to the country.

He warned that if the writing of a new constitution was not done judiciously, there was the danger of ending up with a document that was worse than the existing one.

According to Dr Gabriel, Tanzania needed to learn a lot from Kenya, especially on issues of trust among political parties and politicians. He said this would help avoid political pressure when considering important issues to be included in the mother law. He noted that cohesion was important to avoid mistakes in drafting the new law that could have adverse consequences and prove hard to rectify.

"After what happened in Kenya, I believe Tanzania can manage to come up with a very good constitution. I believe we have learnt a lot of lessons from the neighbouring country," he said. But Dr Benson Bana, a senior political science lecturer at the University of Dar es Salaam, sees no need for writing a new constitution in Tanzania.

He favours amendments to the current document and suggests that major oversights be rectified rather than subjecting it to a total overhaul. "I think we should avoid copying everything from others... The Kenyan political environment is very different from ours," argues Dr Bana. However, Dr Bana agreed that there were areas in the current constitution that needed major fixing.

He said it was important to entrench and allow the smooth application of democratic principles. According to Dr Bana, there was need for amendments that would allow the introduction of private candidacy as well as reducing presidential powers.

He said the reduction of presidential powers should involve the vetting of his appointments by Parliament. "Appointment of people to important posts, such as that of the Inspector General of Police and the director of the Prevention and Combating of Corruption Bureau (PCCB), shoud be approved by Parliament," he suggested.

A Dar es Salaam-based lawyer, Yonathan Mbuga, told the Election Platform that it was unfortunate that Tanzania was still using a constitution that was developed during the single party era to manage a multiparty system.

He was of the opinion that the country's constitution had failed to live up to changing times and that it was important for Tanzania to have a new basic law that reflected the current and future changes.

He said the new constitution would enable Tanzania to manage development in all sectors of human life. It would enable Tanzania to effectively manage and meet the requirements and standards of modern politics and good governance.

However, the High Court advocate warned that it would be important to have enough time and wider participation in the writing of a new constitution, otherwise the resultant document would be impotent.

University of Dodoma (UDOM) lecturer Paul Loisulie also supported the idea of writing a new constitution that would meet current needs and changes. He said leaders and wananchi must change their mindset and start thinking of making serious changes that will positively impact the current and future generations.

Among parties that have promised a new constitution in their election manifestos are the Civic United Front (CUF) and the Chama cha Demokrasia na Maendeleo (Chadema).