The report, which was released early this week by an NGO, exposed MPs who are active and not active in the House. While some people felt asking questions and contributing to debates in Parliament was the core business of the MPs, others said MPs' other roles outside the House was equally important in determining their overall performance.
A study "Do they work for us?"produced by a non-governmental organization has ranked the MPs to show those who were prolific debators and those who never spoke or asked questions over the last four years.
"Commenting on issues tabled in the House shows how effective one is. It would not be nice to just seat and keep quiet even if as an MP you are nicely implementing policies in your constituency, this is not enough," said Ananilea Nkya, Tanzania Media Women Association (TAMWA) Executive Director.
"If they cannot ask or give elaborations on what faces their voters, it will be difficult to help their people and demand open explanation on issues such as embezzlement of public funds," said Nkya.
She also noted that as long as MPs were paid sitting allowances they then should justify that pay by being part of the debates on the floor.
She said future reports should also include their work in the constituencies. A Political Science and Public Administration Lecturer at the University of Dar es Salaam, Bashiru Ally said questions and debate was an important factor.
"There is nothing important like communication, this is a core functional in any institution, if you are not communicating, no one will know problems facing your people, so they should speak out their concerns," said Ally. "They should also consider those who are contributing on policy making, as some cannot talk there but they talk when in the committees," said Mr Ally.
NCCR Mageuzi secretary general Mr Sam Ruhuza said generally Tanzanians would love to see their MPs talking in Parliament but he does not think it is important.
He says an MP's performance should be measured on the fulfillment of his promises to the electorate during election campaigns. "An MP could be very vocal in Parliament but not an action man on the ground, to talk or not in Parliament pretty much depends on an individual's character," he said.
He noted that the Commonwealth has laid down guidelines on how a good member of parliament should be, that is how that MPs engages himself or herself on national matters, secondly his constituency followed by his party and lastly but not least the self.