If this proposal is approved, it means the government, which is
currently spending some Sh190 million daily in allowances paid to the
629 CA members, will need to cough up an extra Sh480.4 million to
procure the two maces.
Dodoma. The Constituent Assembly has dropped the suggestion that the government buys two ceremonial maces for about Sh500 million.
The government would have forked out the sum had
the CA adopted the proposal in the draft standing orders that required
the assembly to have the maces as symbols of authority.
According to proposals moved by the committee
charged with reviewing and fine-tuning the draft standing orders, the
State was supposed to procure the maces that would have been kept in
Tanzania mainland and Zanzibar after the conclusion of the CA.
The committee had suggested that each of the
1.2-metre maces should weigh 4.5 kilogrammes, with the gold content
being at least 3.5 kilogrammes. But speaking on Friday evening when
winding up debate on the draft standing orders, the committee’s
chairman, Prof Ricky Mahalu, said the team would no longer push for the
purchase of the maces.
He said it had been concluded after wide consultations that the maces would be an unnecessary expense for the State.
“We have come to the conclusion that the cost of
the maces is too high for Tanzanians. We are therefore dropping the
idea,” Prof Mahalu said.
He added that the committee would make some changes to the provision that called for the purchase of the maces.
According to current world prices, a kilogramme of
gold costs slightly over $42,800 (about Sh68.5 million). For the 3.5
kilogrammes required for each mace, the bill would have been $150,125 or
Sh240.2 million per mace.
Earlier, the committee had suggested that one mace be kept in the Mainland and the other in Zanzibar.
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