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Mtikila files petition to contest establishment of...
2007-10-19 10:17:24
By Keregero Keregero
Reverend Christopher Mtikila yesterday filed a constitutional petition in the High Court of Tanzania in Dar Es Salaam, to contest the establishment of Mahakama ya Kadhi, for the reason that it runs counter to the country`s constitution.
Mtikila is the second petitioner after the Full Salvation Church. They have both lodged a petition with the Attorney General.
In their petition which has been annexed with several photocopied Islamic writings including the Quran as translated by Sheikh Abdullah Saleh Al-Farsy, former Kenya`s Chief Kadhi, the petitioners pray the Court to declare unconstitutional any involvement whatsoever by the Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs, Law Reform Commission and Parliament of the United Republic of Tanzania in the issue of Mahakama ya Kadhi.
The petitioners, who believe that the said court is an instrument of the Islamic religion as per the Qoran, regard the establishment of the court by separate religions or other groups of citizens of this country as unconstitutional.
They therefore ask the court to bring to justice all persons in public service who are bent on trampling the Constitution of the United Republic of Tanzania through the establishment of the court in question, much as for any other relief the honourable court may deem fit and just to grant.
Mtikila and party contend that their petition is set to protect the Constitution and the laws of the United Republic of Tanzania against the unconstitutional moves by the 4th phase government of the United Republic of Tanzania and the Parliament to establish the Kadhi court.
They contend that doing so would violate Articles 107A, 3, 9(a)(f)(g) and (h), 13 and 19., a move that is likely to disturb the present state of religious harmony in the country.
In their view, so long as Mahakama ya Kadhi is an instrument of the Islamic religion, and the fact that Tanzania is a secular state, its establishment need not involve the government and parliament of the United Republic of Tanzania.
That is within the meaning of the provisions of Article 19 and 20(1) of the Constitution of the United Republic of Tanzania, 1977.
According to the petitioners, the establishment of the said court would amount to discriminately satisfy the needs, rights or other requirements of the Islamic group of citizens on the basis of their religion.
The petitioners contend that Mahakama ya Kadhi is a construed as associated with misunderstandings as witnessed in Nigeria, Somalia and elsewhere.
They see the establishment of Mahakama ya Kadhi as connected with actual Islamisation or forced conversion of the country into an Islamic Republic through eradication of particularly the Christian Faith.
The petitioners further argue that such a court is absolutely unconstitutional as it enforces the notorious Sharia law
which runs counter to the sanctity of human life and dignity by random executions and barbaric amputation of limbs.
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