With the official announcement that the referendum on Tanzania’s draft constitution will be held in April next year, the battle lines have been drawn.

The Catholic Church, which had voiced discontent over the conduct of the Constituent Assembly, plans awareness campaign on the proposed law while the Presidential Communication Directorate is proposing a budget of Tshs2.5 billion ($1.43 million) to conduct a media campaign for a “Yes” vote.

READ: Kikwete declares 30-day campaign period ahead of referendum

The Tanzania Episcopal Conference is yet to decide whether the church will campaign against the draft or simply create awareness, the chairman of its peace and justice commission Bishop Severine NiweMugizi, told The EastAfrican.

“But my personal stance on this is clear. It is No,” he said.

According to Bishop NiweMugizi, the church plans to use its network, which goes down to family level through small Christian communities, to make the people understand the gist of the proposed constitution and make informed decisions during the referendum.

The Catholic Church, which boasts 10 million followers in Tanzania, has a major influence on the politics.

In the 2005 elections, Catholic clerics supported Chama cha Mapinduzi (CCM) presidential candidate Jakaya Kikwete, who was facing Prof Ibrahim Lipumba of the Civic United Front. Prof Lipumba was suspected of harbouring Islamic fundamentalist sentiments.

On one occasion, an outspoken Dar es Salaam-based priest, Fr Baptist Mapunda urged a congregation to elect President Kikwete because he was “God’s chosen one”.

The church’s stance is believed to have contributed to President Kikwete’s win.

Therefore, a decision by the church to oppose the draft constitution could constitute a major threat to the ruling party, which is determined to pull all stops to have it passed.

According to Bishop NiweMugizi, the church’s current dissatisfaction is partly because President Kikwete failed to honour a gentleman’s agreement between him and leaders of political parties, under the auspices of the Tanzania Centre for Democracy, whom he met in September.

At this meeting, it was agreed that the Constituent Assembly sessions would be suspended to make room for national consensus.

The meeting, which came after the opposition walked out on the review process, accusing CCM of high-handedness and also resolved that the country would go for minimum reforms to create a level playing field for the 2015 General Election.

Contentious clauses

The opposition parties, civil society organisations and faith–based organisations were angered by the deletion of clauses they felt were key to a constitution that gave power to the people.

Among the clauses were a three-tier government structure, separation of powers where a Member of Parliament cannot be a Cabinet minister and giving voters power to recall non-performing MPs.

Following the gentleman’s agreement, the Constituent Assembly continued and on October 4, 2014, its chairman Samuel Sitta announced the completion of the proposed constitution ready to go for a referendum, which President Kikwete announced would be conducted on April 30, 2015.

Bishop NiweMugizi, who heads the Church’s socio-political arm said the proposed constitution cannot yield the desires of the people.

READ: Tanzanian churches now step into Katiba fray

The Bishop was unhappy with the president’s failure to post-pone the Constituent Assembly following an agreement with political parties.

“There is no consistency in what the president is saying and what is actually done. It is all like play-acting. The president met with political parties and told us that they had agreed. All of a sudden you find that what is going on is contrary to what they told us,” said the Bishop.

He said there was no point in rushing for a constitution, which is expected to serve Tanzanians for the next several generations, without having a national consensus.

Prof Lipumba, said the announcement of the referendum by President Kikwete went against the law.

According to the Referendum Act, he said, the president must consult the National Electoral Commission on the need for a referendum.

A few days before the State House media blitz plan leaked, there were reports of plans to compromise opponents to accept the proposed constitution to save the government from embarrassment.

Even after being accused of hijacking the constitution-making process to its advantage, CCM remains adamant. The party’s deputy secretary general in Zanzibar, Vuai Ali Vuai, said the party is waiting for the campaign time to “tell the truth.”

“There are many people, including the opposition, who are spreading false allegations on the process. During the campaign we will interpret clause by clause for people to know what the proposed constitution says.

“There are those who say Zanzibar has ceded its land to the mainland and some say the new constitution will kill Zanzibar. None of this is true,” he said.

Asked how CCM is going to persuade the people who wanted a three–tier government to vote Yes for a two-tier government as proposed, he said: “That is very easy; it is not true that most of the people wanted three governments.”

It was reported that the Constitution Review Commission interviewed more people in places are dominated by the opposition than CCM’s stronghold.