An important conference of some 200 members of the CCM Central and National Executive Committees was held in March, symbolically in Butiama, the home village of the nation’s founding father Julius Nyerere. There were two main items on the agenda – firstly, what to do next in terms of disciplinary action or prosecution of those accused of corruption and secondly, what to do next in Zanzibar after almost two years of detailed negotiations led by the Secretaries General of the CCM and the leading opposition party in Zanzibar, the Civic United Front (CUF), to resolve the ongoing political differences in the Isles.

Hopes in Zanzibar, especially in Pemba which supports CUF overwhelmingly, were high because it had been widely reported that a power sharing agreement (Muafaka) had been finally reached and only needed ratification by CCM’s Central Committee. After what was reported as having been an acrimonious six-hour meeting however it became apparent that elements of the CCM party in Zanzibar, including apparently President Karume of Zanzibar, were not prepared to accept power-sharing with the opposition. The CCM declared that before such an arrangement could be concluded there would have to be a referendum in which the people of Zanzibar would be able to vote for or against such a proposal.

This caused astonishment and anger amongst the opposition parties whose MP’s walked out of the National Assembly meeting in Dodoma and later organised a massive and peaceful protest demonstration in Zanzibar. Much of the national media was also critical of the CCM. The Citizen wrote: ‘The politicians may have their differences but the people still want them to work together in the interests of Zanzibar.’

At the time of going to press CUF announced that it was ruling out any further dialogue with CCM on the dispute but CCM Secretary for Ideology and Publicity, John Chiligati said that it was wrong for CUF to claim that CCM had scuttled the Muafaka. He said: “CUF will march until they get sore feet but their attempts to break off negotiation with CCM will not help them.” Muafaka could not be reached by negotiation teams without the approval of the party leadership. He said the teams merely prepared recommendations. “After CUF gets tired of demonstrating they will return to the table” – Nipashe.

Mwananchi has reported that as people were celebrating the 44th anniversary of the 1964 Revolution in Zanzibar some had begun to ask questions as to what it had really involved. They wanted to apologise for what they did. One of them, Ali Omar Juma (aka Lumumba). declared that he had nightmares remembering how innocent people were hacked, their houses raided and their property robbed. He said the basic aim was to liberate the country, but some of those who joined the crowd had ulterior motives which were ‘inhuman and cruel’.

Deputy Secretary General of CUF (Zanzibar), Juma Duni Haji was later quoted as saying in Nipashe that the 2010 elections would be marred by violence if the Muafaka was not implemented. Speaking at the University of Dar es Salaam on occasion of the 44th year of the Union, Duni said President Kikwete knew full well that without a coalition government there would be no free and fair elections in the island. Talking about the ‘marginalisation’ of opposition supporting Pemba island Pemba, Duni said that of the 15 Zanzibar ministers only one came from Pemba, there was one deputy Minister and only two permanent secretaries.

There were flaws
The Zanzibar Electoral Commission (ZEC) finally published its full 70-page report on the conduct of the 2005 elections in the Isles in early November. It confirmed that there were irregularities including interference by security forces, particularly during the time when people were being registered for the polls. According to the report, summarised in the Guardian, law-enforcement agents made all security decisions during the registration of voters and the actual casting of ballots without involving the Electoral Commission. The report recommends that local government leaders popularly known as shehas be vested with less decision- making power. 1,197 voters were found to have registered twice.
CUF narrowly lost the 2000 and 2005 Isles general elections to the ruling CCM. It blamed the defeats on irregularities in the entire electoral process and called, unsuccessfully, for a re-run of the poll.

The Muafaka talks
The talks aimed at reducing political tensions in Zanzibar, which started on 17 January 2007 and then stalled for two months, before regrouping on 31 August, continue. Continue reading →

According to the Chairman of the Civic United Front (CUF) Professor Ibrahim Lipumba, quoted in Mtanzania and other media outlets, negotiations which have been going on between his party and CCM for the last eighteen months have reached a blind alley. He told the press that there was a very slim chance of a successful conclusion to the talks, which were due to end on August 15, unless there was international arbitration. Lipumba attributed the impasse to a lack of political will in the Zanzibar branch of the ruling CCM party. “It seems that President Kikwete (who had said at his inauguration that he was determined to solve the impasse in Zanzibar) has given in to hardliners who have been resisting any changes or amicable solutions,” Lipumba said. Warning that the political situation in Zanzibar was very volatile he reminded people of what was happening in Darfur. Continue reading →

During his recent official visit to London recently President Kikwete was asked what was happening about the continuing tensions between the parties in Zanzibar as he had said that he was determined to resolve the problem. He replied that things were moving and that we would soon hear what was happening. Continue reading →

The CUF opposition continues to press for change in the isles and in particular, for new elections under international control. The party organised peaceful mass demonstration in Dar es Salaam and Pemba in early November to press for talks with the government. The party is still hoping that President Kikwete will intervene as he promised to do after his election in 2005. Meanwhile Zanzibar President Amani Karume, whose election is not accepted by CUF, said that there was no question of a new election nor a coalition government but that he was prepared to meet and talk with the National Chairman of CUF, Prof Ibrahim Lipumba. Karume said “By admitting that CCM got 53% in the last elections, Lipumba is in fact conceding defeat and recognising my government. There is now no reason why we can’t meet and talk” – Nipashe. Continue reading →

The Zanzibar High Court dismissed on October 3 a petition from ten Zanzibaris that questioned the legitimacy of the Union between the Republic of Tanganyika and the People’s Republic of Zanzibar which was set up 42 years ago. The claimants said the agreement was invalid because Tanzania’s Attorney-General’s office had failed to produce an official copy of the original agreement and it seemed to have been lost. Continue reading →

The situation in Zanzibar has been more calm than many observers anticipated after the hard fought elections in October 2005. One of the main reasons is that President Kikwete has made it clear that he is determined to relieve the tensions existing between the CCM-supporting island of Unguja and the Civic United Front (CUF)-supporting island of Pemba. However, CUF Secretary General, Seif Shariff Hamad, is getting impatient. He has said that the people of Zanzibar are not prepared to see Amani Karume celebrating his first anniversary as the isles’ President before the current political stalemate is resolved. He said “We know how good CCM are at playing with time. They talk a lot without action. We now want them to tell us what they intend do.” He said that the only way forward would be to form an interim coalition government prior to holding fresh elections – Mwananchi.

More than 400 people have been hired to implement Zanzibar’s major new anti-malaria initiative, which started in Pemba in July, and is aimed at spraying insecticide around some 220,000 houses. The compound being used is said to be environment-friendly and to have the potency to control the breeding of mosquitoes in and around households for at least six years. Known as parathyroid-lambdacyhalothrin (IOWP-ICON), the chemical is manufactured by Syngeta, a Swiss company. The exercise has received $2 million from the US government’s anti-malaria initiative and is intended to be repeated every six years. It is hoped to reduce malaria prevalence from the current 31% to below 15%.

Zanzibar’s legal status as a semi self-governing part of the Tanzanian Union is being questioned in court by ten Zanzibaris calling themselves the ‘G10’. They claim that the original eleven articles of the Union Constitution were hastily drawn up in April 1964 in the aftermath of the bloody Zanzibar revolution by the presidents of the two states which were then separate – Julius Nyerere of Tanganyika and Abeid Karume of Zanzibar. The G10 claim no connection with any political party. They have filed a civil case against the Zanzibar Attorney General, the Secretary-General of the Zanzibar Revolutionary Council, the Speaker of the Zanzibar House of Representatives, the UN Secretary General and the Secretary General of CCM for agreeing to the formation of the Union. But in August the High Court ruled out the possibility of UN Secretary General Kofi Annan giving evidence in the case.

According to Tanzania Daima President Karume of Zanzibar has complained to the British government that the CUF Secretary General does not respect ‘people’s verdicts’. He said this to the new British High Commissioner, Philip Parham, who called on him at the Zanzibar State House. Karume said it is risky to entrust power to opposition leaders who had no political culture of bowing to public demands. A statement by the State House quoted Karume as saying: “What can jeopardise political stability of the country is the fact that some leaders of opposition parties cling on to power, which is not acceptable in a democratic society.” Karume did not mention names but it became obvious that he was alluding to CUF Secretary General Seif Shariff Hamad who has been a Zanzibar presidential candidate in three consecutive elections. Karume told Parham that his government is currently concentrating on Pemba to bring about balanced and equitable development in the isles. CUF Director of Information, Salim Bimani, rebutted Karume’s statement, saying Hamad had always been democratically approved as presidential candidate by relevant party organs, but every time he wins the election CCM and Zanzibar government leaders doctor the results.

Opposition CUF MP’s have been voluble in their criticism of several recent government actions. Relations between the two parties in the House were not improved when Speaker Pandu Kificho banned CUF shadow ministers from reading speeches before he had perused them. CUF MP’s walked out of the House in protest after he said: “All statements to be delivered in this chamber – such as bills, private motions – have to be cleared with me. You have not complied with my directives, therefore I am not allowing you (the CUF Shadow Minister of Finance) to deliver your speech on the budget.” CCM MP’s praised the Speaker for his action, which he explained by saying that his objective was to “control rude and emotional speeches in the House.” Then, on August 5, according to Yussuf Yussuf writing in the Guardian, CUF Deputy Secretary General, Juma Duni Haji, said that his party would forward its complaint to the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) because they wanted the Commonwealth to know what had happened.

Zanzibar Chief Minister Shamsi Nahodha has defended in the House Education Minister Haroun Ali Suleiman. A number of MP’s want the Minister to resign as they accuse him of being responsible for the 800 ‘ghost workers scam’, in which the government has been losing TShs 73.8m/- every month in payments to non-existent public servants. Nahodha exonerated the Minister, saying he could not be held accountable for mistakes committed by his subordinates. “That’s not in our customs” he said. “In Zanzibar, there is no tradition that compels leaders (or ministers) to resign when facing such scandals.” The Chief Minister said that, if that norm existed, many political leaders would have stepped down for failure to fulfil their pledges, adding however, that the government was still investigating the matter – Guardian.

In its attempts to curb armed robbery in the Isles, the Zanzibar Government stated in July that it was deploying soldiers from the armed forces to supplement the efforts of the police. The soldiers would be on guard at business centres, road junctions and related places around the clock. The Police confirmed that several youths had been arrested in connection with armed robbery at a shop and soldiers had rescued businessman Mohamed Raza, from cross-fire with armed robbers who had attempted to raid his house – Guardian.

Several CCM and CUF Members of the Zanzibar House of Representatives joined forces in January to call for an end to political confrontation on the Isles and for more concentration on development.

The Zanzibar Electoral Commission (ZEC) said that complaints among the losers were common and that, during the election, they said that everything had been OK. But, on election day, when they realised that they had lost the election, everything went wrong.
Among the shortcomings in Zanzibar, which had been widely reported, were the management of the Electoral Register. According to Prof Samwel Mushi of the University of Dar es Salaam, some people had voting cards but could not find their names on the displayed lists of the register. There was a need for ZEC to review the law and ensure that the list was displayed at least a week before the election in order to solve some of the problems. Intimidation of the voters was another problem. The exceptionally high presence of security forces during registration and on the polling day may have made some people decide to remain indoors. The Inspector of Police had declared an operation code-named ‘Operation Dondola’ which was heavily manned by regular police, FFU and paramilitary groups based in Zanzibar. “In some places people going to registration centres met police barriers and were interrogated. Some people may have decided to turn back” he said. Continue reading →