Written by Fumbuka Ng’wanakilala | From Reuters Africa

Tanzania will hold a referendum in April on a new constitution, its Attorney-General said on Wednesday, angering opposition parties which boycotted the drafting process and reject the draft charter.

The row over the new constitution, which would replace one passed in 1977 when the east African Tanzania was under one-party rule, risks intensifying political divisions ahead of elections next year.

Main opposition party Chadema said it would ask a court to block the proposed constitution because it was passed without a quorum by an assembly dominated by the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) party on Oct. 2.

The three main opposition parties walked out of the drafting body in April, saying President Jakaya Kikwete’s CCM, which has been in power since Tanzania’s independence from Britain in 1961, was ignoring their suggestions for political reforms.

“The referendum date is set on April 30, 2015. The campaign period shall commence on March 30 and end on April 28,” Tanzania’s Attorney General, Frederick Werema, told Reuters. Werema said the government would hasten to update the electoral register to ensure the referendum goes ahead.

Before quitting the constitutional assembly, opposition parties and civil society groups had called for reforms including limiting presidential powers and the establishment of a federal system of government.

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