National Youth Consultation on Constitutionalism and Rule of Law Country: Tanzania Consulting Organization (s): United Nations Association

of Tanzania and Youth of United Nations Association Coordination: Omary Hassan (YUNA Tanzania) Robert Kasenene (UNA Tanzania)

Background
The national youth consultation in Tanzania on constitutionalism and rule of law was conducted through a two week online survey, which reached 3270 people in total via diverse social media channels (twitter, facebook and google plus) that the host organization, UNA Tanzania and YUNA Tanzania maintain. The survey was conducted through www.surveymonkey.com where a total of 5 queries were shared based on the consultation guideline. An additional question to restrict contributions from only young people was also added, and this asked respondents which age bracket they belonged to within the 15 to 35 years margin. Up to 87 responses were given, with 10% of the respondents being those between the 21 25 age bracket; 65% between 26 30, 25% between 31 35 and 0% between 15 19. Brief Analysis of the Responses A bulk of the responses given were very short yes and no. This suggested to the consultation that knowledge, exposure and participation among the youth populace in the country have limited engagement on governance, leadership, human rights, constitution and rule of law related programs and issues in the community and schools. Granted a broader analysis of the reasoning for such low level engagement may suggest otherwise due to the biasness of the exercise (conducted for a short time and through a single medium). For such a large group to show limited knowledge and experience on the issues suggests little interest on the subject matter.

Findings
1. Which of the following age bracket do you belong? (15 20; 21 25; 26 30; 31 35) As indicated, 87 responses were given. 10% of the respondents were from those between the 21 25 age bracket; 65% were between 26 30, 25% between 31 35 and 0% between 15 19. 2. What has been the status of democracy in Tanzania over the last 5 years? The general sentiment among many of the respondents was that Tanzania has seen positive growth in its democracy index compared to previous periods. The basis for this was that there is; Increased access to information; there are more channels to access information on what different parts of the government machinery are doing. With increased internet connectivity and penetration of new media, the government has been seen to make a concerted effort to make information on the programmes it is implementing available for public consumption. Participants also praised the use of social media as well to this effect. Increased transparency and accountability; with increased access to information and increased participation of local communities in decision making process (e.g. the local

budget and development planning process), it was the general conclusion that we seeing more transparency and accountability from the government. Respondents cited however that leaders from local government authorities, to regional and national levels is still hard to access and thus difficult to deliver and follow-up on particular community concerns often times. Respondents concluded to this effect that strengthening governance mechanisms will in turn make considerable improvement to democracy in the country. Furthermore, a series of legal, constitutional and administrative reforms have been undertaken in order to make representative democracy work. General elections have been held between 2005. Various civil society organizations have been formed engaged in different activities including lobbying and advocacy for good democracy. The emergence of the free media is also one important development under the multiparty system in Tanzania. Reforms in the local government are under way geared at promoting peoples participation in the policy process. All these are taking place amidst the process of economic liberalization, which has resulted into privatization of the previous state-owned parastatals accompanied with the expansion of private capital. The main challenges then are; To what extent do all these institutions of liberal or representative democracy foster peoples participation to decision-making in the state and in other spheres. Are there instruments for participatory democracy in Tanzania goes in result to development.

3. Do you feel young people take active part in the democratic processes? To this question, almost all participants responded yes. One respondent however added that participation of young people is often misconstrued as being only good for driving violence and criminal acts in the democratic process. The consultation lead organizations concluded with this sentiment that young people seek to have a more meaningfully defined role. They seek to have more targeted and elaborate information to engage in electoral processes, to make informed choices and to contribute to operationalizing the electoral mechanisms. In defining democracy, it is a general feeling across board for Tanzanians that the ability to choose and define government is central to a democratically strong nation. 4. Do you think the rule of law is adhered to in Tanzania or are laws are modified possibly to suit the Government in power? The response for many of participants was no, and that the rule of law is skewed towards the government in power. While this may have been a response to show concern among the respondents on this, a few answers took a different note and supported the rule of law being skewed to the government in power. Policies and programs must be implemented; therefore laws must be in favour of the government in power if anything is to be done. UNA and YUNA Tanzanias conclusion on this is that as a country, Tanzania still needs considerable reforms in the legal sector. These reforms include those to improve the situation on access to information, human rights, political participation, procurement and much more.

There are on-going efforts through the Legal Sector Reform Program but progress compared to resources invested is unequal. 5. Do you believe that elections are free and fair and that elected leaders represent the wishes of the people? 20% of the respondents said yes, 52% said no and 28% gave slightly detailed responses. From the detailed responses, respondents gave Tanzania a high score and spoke of elections in 2010 as being, to a great degree, free and fair. They spoke of the considerable voter turnout and the diversity seen in elected officials to the national parliament as indicators for that. Others spoke of the challenges seen in voter registration and voting processes in different constituencies as being an impediment. To a great extent, the general feeling was that Tanzania has matured as far as elections are concerned due to a vibrant political scene. 6. Are there constitutional impediments that limits the participation of young people in electoral and democratic processes in Tanzania? Respondents cited the issue of age limitations for higher office in the country as being the only limitation for young people. This was further elaborated to inform decisions on leaders selected to lead different sectoral positions, where only in the early days of Tanzania (early 1960s to mid-1970s), Tanzania saw a young leadership pushing policy and development in the country. Leadership now is however reserved for the elite, especially in the more established political entities. Respondents were however optimistic that many of these challenges would be addressed in the current process to develop a new constitution for the country. The process has seen considerable engagement of the general populace, with different segments of the population engaging through different channels to contribute to the new constitution. Young people have led consultations at different levels and are participating in national structures to ensure their voices are heard and aspirations reflected.

Conclusion
The quest for democracy, coherent constitutional practice and strong rule of law demands that the entire spectrum of society is engaged. Young people are no exception. In fact, young people are critical by way of the demographic size they represent. They must be seen as drivers of democracy. There must be investments to harness their productive potential in society that can transform economies and improve incomes; key ingredients to successful and democratically sound nations.