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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 DAR ES SALAAM 001267 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR AF/E RMEYERS, AF/RSA FOR MHARPOLE 
PASS TO DRL FOR FCRUMP 
AID WASHINGTON FOR AF OFFICE 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/17/2017 
TAGS: PHUM PREL PGOV EAIDEGZ TZ
SUBJECT: TANZANIA: DEMOCRATIC PROCESS STUMBLES IN PARLIAMENT 
 
Classified By: Deputy Chief of Mission D. Purnell Delly for 
reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). 
 
Summary 
-------- 
¶1. (C) In response to his questioning of an opaque and 
irregular mining industry deal made by the Government of 
Tanzania (GOT), a popular Member of Parliament from the 
opposition CHADEMA party was recently suspended from 
participating in parliamentary sessions for four months.  The 
blatant overstepping of parliamentary rules by the majority 
CCM party backfired, resulting in public outcry across the 
country.  The episode is indicative of the GOT's continuing 
problems with corruption, efforts to conceal corrupt 
activities, public frustration at perceived strong-arming by 
CCM, and the opposition's limited ability to counter the 
majority party. End summary. 
 
Background: The Buzwagi Gold Deal 
--------------------------------- 
¶2. (SBU) The Tanzanian mining industry (primarily gold 
mining) has come under intense criticism in recent years, 
leading President Kikwete to direct a review of the GOT's 
deals with mining companies during his December 30, 2005 
inaugural address.  Government and industry practices are 
complicated by a Byzantine system of regulations, including 
tax, transparency, and environmental rules that many GOT 
officials are unable to decipher. 
 
¶3. (SBU) In this context, Minister of Energy and Minerals 
Nazir Karamagi flew to London in February 2007 on behalf of 
the GOT to sign a contract with Barrick Tanzania (a 
subsidiary of Barrick Gold Corporation of Canada) to allow 
Barrick to develop a gold mining project in Buzwagi (northern 
Tanzania).  The signing of this contract was secretive and 
marked by irregularities.  For example, at the insistence of 
Minister Karamagi, the contract was signed in a London hotel 
as opposed to the Tanzania High Commission, and the text of 
the contract has never been made public.  It remains unclear 
whether any laws were broken by the Ministry or Barrick in 
the course of the deal.  However, the scrutiny applied to the 
deal by opposition political parties, local media, and 
various civil groups, combined with the GOT's overreaction to 
this scrutiny, has now developed into a political maelstrom 
in its own right. 
 
Zitto's Claims in Parliament 
---------------------------- 
¶4. (SBU) On July 17, Honorable Kabwe Zitto, Member of 
Parliament for Kigoma North district (DOB: Sept 24, 1976), 
initiated a debate on the Buzwagi deal in Parliament.  Zitto 
is a young, popular, outspoken member of the CHADEMA party. 
Zitto criticized the deal, specifically questioning how a 
particular section of the Income Tax Law of 1973 was being 
applied to Barrick, why the contract had been signed at a 
hotel in London, and why any contract had been signed at all 
during a period when the government was ostensibly reviewing 
international mining contracts following the President's 
directive of December 2005.  During the ensuing debate, 
Minister Karamagi defended his actions and those of his 
Ministry.  After Karamagi's address, Zitto stated that 
Karamagi had not told the truth regarding the revision of the 
Income Tax Law of 1973 and its application to Barrick, and 
filed a Notice of Intention to bring a private motion to 
investigate the circumstances under which the deal was made. 
 
¶5. (SBU) Note: On August 24, East Africa Law Society 
Secretary General Alute Mughwai, who has followed the matter 
 
SIPDIS 
and been quoted at length discussing it in the press, told 
PolOff that based on Parliamentary transcripts, neither Zitto 
nor Karamagi appeared to fully understand the legal issues 
they debated on July 17.  However, according to Mughwai, 
Zitto's motion was tabled in accordance with the standing 
orders of Parliament. End Note. 
 
¶6. (SBU) A month later, on August 14, Honorable Zitto made a 
motion to investigate the Buzwagi deal, following up on his 
earlier Notice of Intention.  From the floor, he questioned 
the tax treatment of Barrick, the secretive signing in 
London, the absence of environmental impact assessments, and 
the absence of advice from the Mining Advisory Committee 
prior to the signing.  Zitto's motion to form a probe of the 
 
DAR ES SAL 00001267  002 OF 003 
 
 
deal was debated at length, and was rejected by Parliament in 
a vote along strict party lines with all Members of 
Parliament from the four opposition parties voting for the 
probe, all CCM members against. 
 
CCM Response: Suspend Zitto 
--------------------------- 
¶7. (SBU) Following the rejection of Zitto's motion, Mudhihir 
Mudhihir, a CCM Member of Parliament, moved that Zitto be 
penalized for making unsubstantiated statements to Parliament 
and slandering Karamagi during his statements on July 17. 
The motion passed, again along strict party lines, with the 
result that Zitto was suspended from Parliament for a period 
of four months. 
 
¶8. (C) In an August 21 meeting, Member of Parliament and 
CHADEMA Secretary General Wilbrod Slaa told PolCouns that 
Mudhihir had attempted to make this motion several times 
during the August 14 debate on Zitto's motion, but that the 
Speaker of Parliament Samuel Sitta (CCM) had not granted him 
the floor.  According to Slaa, at one point Sitta told 
Mudhihir, "It is not yet time for that," leading the 
opposition to believe that the entire episode to suspend 
Zitto had been plotted ahead of time within the CCM 
leadership. 
 
Public Outcry, Threats Ensue 
---------------------------- 
¶9. (SBU) The combination of Zitto's popularity and reputation 
as a respected critic of the administration, the severity of 
the punishment, and the perceived injustice both to Zitto and 
his constituents led to an immediate media frenzy.  Within a 
week, numerous civil society groups had issued statements 
condemning Parliament's action.  The East Africa Law Society 
(EALS) released a statement saying that the punishment was 
undemocratic and contravened Parliament's standing orders. 
In a conversation with PolOff, EALS Secretary General Mughwai 
stated that the suspension was illegal, and likely 
unconstitutional as well.  Civil society groups held 
demonstrations in Dar es Salaam and across the country 
showing support for Honorable Zitto, and called for the 
immediate resignation of Speaker of Parliament Samuel Sitta. 
In a full page editorial in the August 24 "Citizen" 
newspaper, Professor Issa Shivji (retired professor of law at 
the University of Dar es Salaam and considered by many to be 
the country's foremost legal scholar) offered scathing 
criticism of the ruling party and provided detailed, 
technical criticism of the majority's claims to legality in 
its actions. 
 
Punishment Overstepped Parliamentary Rules 
------------------------------------------ 
¶10. (SBU) As a technical matter, the Standing Orders of 
Parliament do allow for punishment of a member who lies or 
slanders another member.  However, for such punishment to 
occur, the member must be accused at the time he makes the 
statement in question, and he must be given an opportunity to 
prove that the statement is not a lie.  A variety of lesser 
punishments are provided for in the rules, including 
suspensions of one, five, and twenty days.  For third time 
offenders (which Zitto was not), stiffer punishment is 
allowed.  In its suspension of Honorable Zitto, the majority 
relied on a provision in the rules that allows Parliament to 
dictate any punishment it chooses for severe infractions. 
The majority ignored the rule that even in severe cases, the 
accused must be given an opportunity to prove that his 
statements were in fact true. 
 
¶11. (SBU) In response to the public outcry, Speaker Sitta, 
the Deputy Speaker, and the Clerk to the Assembly (all CCM 
officials) released no less than six statements forcefully 
proclaiming the legality of Parliament's action.  One 
statement of the Clerk to the Assembly, Damian Koka, went so 
far as to warn "the so-called activists" who had protested 
Parliament's suspension of Zitto that "their words aim at 
misleading the public on Parliament's decision," and claiming 
that as such, they violated the Law of Parliamentary 
Privileges, Ethics and Powers.  The Clerk added that 
Parliament would not hesitate to take legal action against 
any individual who violated this law. 
 
Warning to Hon. Zitto:  Watch your step 
 
DAR ES SAL 00001267  003 OF 003 
 
 
-------------------------------------- 
¶12. (SBU) Since his suspension from Parliament, Kabwe Zitto 
has embarked on a national tour to explain and rally support 
for his case, promote government accountability, and campaign 
against those members who engineered his suspension.  As of 
September 7, national and regional police issued a warning to 
Zitto and others to refrain from "issuing statements that 
threaten law and order" and announced that they were 
launching an investigation of all Zitto's recent activities 
and statements. 
 
Comment 
------- 
¶13. (C) In imposing an unusually harsh punishment on a young, 
popular MP for his questioning of suspicious government 
activities, the CCM majority clearly underestimated the 
Tanzanian public's frustration with both perceived corruption 
on the part of GOT officials and the high-handed tactics the 
ruling party has used to silence criticism of such officials. 
 While it remains unclear whether any laws were broken in the 
signing of the Barrick contract, the deal has now become 
synonymous with the scandals that have plagued the energy 
sector in Tanzania.  The CCM majority's actions in Parliament 
constituted a blatant abuse of power and a threat to the 
democratic process, and CCM is suffering politically from the 
miscalculation. 
 
¶14. (C) CCM's saving grace in this instance has been the poor 
handling of a golden political opportunity by the young Kabwe 
Zitto and his CHADEMA party.  Instead of taking a cautious 
approach, gaining public sympathy and playing the role of 
reluctant martyr, Zitto has engaged on a poorly conceived 
campaign to "teach a lesson" to the CCM majority - a goal he 
has little chance of accomplishing.  It remains to be seen 
whether the opposition will be able to harness the public 
outrage that his suspension created to effect any real change. 
GREEN