FDD spokesperson Antonio Mwanza says Civil Society Organisations should facilitate public access to the contents of the Bill of Rights before demanding another Referendum.

In a Facebook update today, Mwanza said the contents of the Bill of Rights were a mystery.

 “I have heard a lot of people from the Civil Society Organisations demanding that we hold another Referendum on the so called expanded Bill of Rights. The question I have is ‘Have you seen the Bill of Rights? Do you know what is contending in it? Actually how many people have had sight of this Bill of Rights?’” he asked.

Mwanza said there is need to sensitise citizens on the importance of the Bill of Rights to avoid another failed Referendum.

 “To begin with, the so called Bill of Rights is a mysterious document which very few people have had sight of. Very few people know the exact content of this document. So before we rush for another Referendum we must do the following: make public and accessible the Bill of Rights, allow for mass public scrutiny and debate of the actual content of the Bill of Rights and reach consensus, carry out mass sensitization and education on the actual content and importance of the Bill of Rights, hold a stand-alone referendum after mass debate, consensus, sensitization and education has been done,” said Mwanza.

 “We must learn lessons from our past failures or else we will all perish. The previous Referendum failed not because people voted no but because it failed to garner enough votes (the 50% constitutional threshold whether you vote ‘no’ or ‘yes’.”