Why govt withdrew Bills

Mahmoud Mgimwa, Finance and Economic Affairs Standing Committee chairman

The Government today withdrew two of its Bills on statistics and retirement benefits from Parliament amid speculations that the duration of the current 12th Parliamentary session could be cut to two weeks from the original three.
The Guardian on Sunday has established that the Statistics Bill, 2013 that was originally scheduled for tabling and eventual debated last Friday and the GEPF Retirement Benefits Bill 2013, scheduled for this Thursday and Friday, had been shelved until the next Parliamentary session slated for next October.
Both Bills had two-day slots in the Parliamentary business schedule that was released early this week, but there hasn’t been any official announcement by either the House Speaker’s Office or the Clerk to the National Assembly’s Office.
The Guardian on Sunday has learnt from authoritative sources privy to the Prime Minister’s Office and the Parliamentary Standing Committee for Finance and Economic Affairs that the Statistics Bill had been withdrawn due to major amendments, notably on the financial requirement of a new national statistics body, which under the proposed Bill should be autonomous from the Ministry of Finance.
A reliable source close to the Standing Committee for Finance noted that whereas the Bill, currently known as the National Bureau of Statistics to be governed by its own board, it lacks provisions for the body’s financial sustainability, a fact deemed as defeating the entire concept of autonomy.
Finance and Economic Affairs Standing Committee chairman Mahmoud Mgimwa confirmed that withdrawal of the Bill was made because his committee believed the government had run out of options.
Mgimwa also identified financial sustainability as a key area for the autonomy of the statistics body.
“There are good and useful proposals in the Bill but it is clear that absence of a section stipulating for financial sustainability would have adverse effects on the body’s operations,” Mgimwa, an MP for Mufindi North, noted.
He added: “In this modern era … statistics are a sensitive matter and key for development projects … the institution should be able to trade on those statistics within its mandate as stipulated in the law.”
When reached for comment, the Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office responsible for Policy, Coordination and National Assembly, William Lukuvi ,confirmed the withdrawal of the two Bills, saying they would be tabled during the October meeting.
However, Lukuvi declined more comment on the Bill’s withdrawal, arguing it wasn’t necessary.
However, the Director of Parliamentary Business, John Joel, said he was informed verbally about the withdrawal of the Statistics Bill, but maintained that his office new nothing of the reasons behind such a decision.
Joel indicated also that the current 12th Parliamentary session could be cut to two weeks from the originally scheduled three weeks for reasons yet to be made public.
The official House business schedule released mid this week shows that the meeting could end on Friday, September 13.
However, The Guardian on Sunday has been reliably informed that the National Assembly had provided money for travelling allowances and for other requirements for just two weeks, an indication of a shortened meeting.
After the withdrawal of the two Bills (Statistics and GEPF Retirement Benefits) there are now just three Bills – the Cooperative Societies Bill, 2013, The Constitution Review (Amendment), 2013 and The Referendum Bill, 2013.
Each of the three Bills has been allocated two days for presentation and debate.