Delays in Tanzania’s Constitution-review process could derail development programmes as the government diverts funds to meet the extra cost of the crucial undertaking.

With the milestone of inaugurating the Constituent Assembly having been pushed back on account of delays in establishing the standing orders and electing a chairperson and deputy, all indications are the process will take longer than the stipulated 70 days.

President Jakaya Kikwete had been scheduled to inaugurate the Assembly on Friday, February 21, but this was put off to allow for establishment of standing orders and election of key officials.

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The Constitution Review Act 2013 empowers the Assembly to extend its sitting to 90 days if the allocated 70 are not sufficient. However, owing to the delays already experienced, debate on the draft constitution may only start 21 days after February 18, when the Assembly convened.

Any additional days would impose a heavy bill on the government, which has so far spent Tsh8.2 billion ($5 million) to reconfigure the National Assembly hall to accommodate 629 Constituent Assembly members, who are themselves set to receive a total of Tsh189 million ($117,000) per day in allowances. Each member is entitled to Tsh300,000 ($185) per day.

Funds for the Constituent Assembly have been taken from development projects in various sectors budgeted for in the 2013/2014 national budget, according to Deputy Minister for Finance Mwigulu Nchemba. He, however, would not divulge the details, only saying the cash was removed from different ministries.

The impact of this is already being felt within the ministries. Last week, while in Dodoma, the Minister for Livestock Development and Fisheries, Dr Titus Kamani, told livestock research agencies the government may not be able to finance all development projects in this year’s budget owing to the high cost of running the Constituent Assembly. Dr Kamani asked the agencies to prepare project proposals to seek alternative funding.

Following the delay in the inauguration, the Assembly’s interim chairman and Zanzibar Speaker of the House of Representatives Pandu Ameir Kificho appointed a 20-man committee team on February 21 to advise him on the formation of standing orders in a period of five days.

On Monday, Mr Kificho announced that the committee had requested two more days, which he granted.

The decision to grant the days meant the Assembly had to sit on Friday 28 to debate and pass the standing orders after spending two days, Wednesday and Thursday, in a seminar on the modalities of the orders.

Once the standing orders are passed, the election of chairperson and deputy will take place early this coming week, followed by the swearing-in of Assembly members.

If the Assembly sticks to an earlier issued timetable, the election of chairperson and deputy will immediately be followed by three days of swearing-in of Assembly members.

The assembly will then start business on March 7, when the draft proposal will be presented to it by Constitution Review Commission chairman Judge Joseph Warioba after the inauguration of the assembly by President Kikwete.

According to the draft of the Constituent Assembly standing orders, soon after the draft constitution is presented to the assembly, the chairman will adjourn it for a period deemed ample enough for members to read and understand the draft.

When the assembly returns, the assembly chairman will then announce the names of committee members and their duties in accordance to standing orders.

The committee members will then be required to deliberate on specific areas allocated to them by the said orders before it is brought back to the Constituent Assembly for debating.

With so much anticipated business ahead, there is apprehension that even 90 days may not suffice.

Prof Sospeter Muhongo, the Minister of Energy and Minerals, and Mr Nchemba have both expressed fears that 90 days will not be enough if action is not taken to speed up the Assembly’s business and avoid further extensions.

“I would advise the assembly not to extend time because the government does not have extra funds to sustain it; as a nation, we have given the constitution-making process priority and reallocated scarce funds to it,” said Mr Nchemba.

In order to make up for the time already lost, he said the assembly will have to extend the number of hours it had originally planned to work per day, starting much earlier and finishing late.

The assembly planned to start business at 10am each day, break at 1pm, and resume business again from 5pm to 8pm. Mr Nchemba said, instead, the assembly will have to start at 8am, break at 2pm, resume at 4pm and finish at 9pm.

Reacting to the granting of extra time to the committee dealing with standing orders, Minister of Energy and Minerals Prof Sospeter Muhongo called on all members to unanimously agree that there will be no more extensions of time.

“My advice to the assembly is that we all need to agree that there will be no more extensions once we resume. And we should start observing deadlines strictly,” he said.

The opposition, however, is against the pressure on time, with CUF chairman Prof Ibrahim Lipumba saying time spent in preparation of standing orders is not the issue, as it is the making of appropriate orders that is important.