Seven civil organizations yesterday filed a petition at the High Court seeking nullification of the newly enacted Constituency Development Catalyst Fund (CDCF) Act which, they claim among other reasons, compromises powers of the National Assembly to supervise the executive.Led by the Legal and Human Rights Centre (LHRC), the organizations want the court to declare that the CDCF Act, which came into effect two years ago, is offensive to the Tanzanian constitution.

Kindly be informed that Policy Forum offices will be closed for our Annual Retreat from Monday December 13th to Friday 17th December, 2010.

The office will be opened and resume regular activity and operations on Monday 20th December 2010.

We apologize in advance for any inconvenience that this may cause.

On behalf of my fellow members from Civil Society Organizations, many of whom have greatly contributed to the content of this speech, I would like to express our sincere gratitude to the government of Tanzania for extending this invitation to participate at this annual policy dialogue. The presence of non state actors in this meeting indicates the recognition of the vital contribution CSOs have to the development agenda of Tanzania. Our greater expectation during the five days of this dialogue is to see our views and recommendations taken onboard by government as it implements policy.

Policy Forum and HakiElimu have urged institutions of accountability such as the legislature and the Controller and Auditor General (CAG) to become more effective in engaging in the budget process so that they can better scrutinize the budget proposals and their execution. This was said in the wake of the release of the Tanzania report of the Open Budget Index (OBI) for 2010, which will be launched tomorrow.

CSO Statement at the Joint Annual Health Sector Review Meeting for 2010. September 29 - 30, Blue pearl Hotel. Full text in pdf:

Reference:

http://www.policyforum-tz.org/sites/default/files/AJHSR2010_0.pdf

We, representatives of 55 Tanzanian civil society organizations and networks met in Dar es Salaam on the 18th- 19th of January 2010 under the coordination of Policy Forum, itself a network of over 90 civil society organizations to deliberate on the MKUKUTA implementation reports and the MKUKUTA review studies to be used for the drafting of MKUKUTA II.

Policy Forum, in collaboration with the Prevention and Combating of Corruption Bureau (PCCB) on the 26th of October, 2009 launched a Swahili booklet to fight corruption in elections. Entitled: 'Makosa ya Rushwa katika Chaguzi Tanzania', the booklet aims to help educate communities on how to recognise and fight acts of corruption during elections.

This is a second publication in collaboration with the PCCB as part of PF's objective of popularising policy and legislation documents by rendering them simple to mass audiences.

As part of our strategic and selective engagement in policy processes, the Policy Forum’s Local Government Working Group (LGWG) together with KEPA and the Embassy of Finland, on the 27th of August 2009 organised a one-day dialogue on fostering local democracy in Tanzania.

Finance and Economic Affairs Minister Mustafa Mkulo is this week expected to table in Parliament the  2009/10 budget estimates for the next fiscal year. Observers will be looking to see if it is development oriented, if it really is 'Agriculture First' as the theme for this year’s budget suggests, or whether it is equitable. From the Budget Guidelines, the draft briefs to Parliamentary Finance and Economy Committee (PFEC) and other sources, we are able to preview the 2009/10 budget:

WHAT SHOULD WE EXPECT FROM THE BUDGET?

Policy Forum elected its new Board of Directors during its 2009 Annual General Meeting held in Dar es Salaam on the 3rd of April. The outgoing chair, Mr. Hebron Mwakagenda of the Leadership Forum along with Theofrida Kapinga of TACOSODE and Andrew Williams of TNRF retired during this AGM leaving behind James Davey of Concern Tanzania, Rose Mushi of ACTIONAID Tanzania and Maimuna Kanyamala of KIVULINI to stay on for another year so that there is a balance between replacement and continuity on the Board. In his parting speech, Mr.