Keep off Zanzibar voters roll, donors told

Keep off Zanzibar voters roll, donors told


By Salma Said, Zanzibar and Vicent Mnyanyika, Dar

Zanzibar yesterday told the European Union (EU) and the United States (US) to stop interfering in Tanzania�s internal affairs.

But the opposition Civic United Front (CUF) called on the United Nations Development programme (UNDP), which funds the voter registration, to suspend aid to the Zanzibar Electoral Commission (ZEC) for allegedly mismanaging it.

Speaking to reporters at his office, the Zanzibar State minister in the Chief Minister�s office, Mr Hamza Hassan Juma, told the EU and the US that Tanzania is a sovereign state.

Responding to the donors� comments on the voter registration problems in Pemba, Mr Juma called on the EU, US, and their representatives to Tanzania to respect the government and rule of law.

�The Government of Zanzibar is not operating in fear of donors or any external directives. It has its Constitution and laws governing its affairs and the country�s democracy,� he said.

Likewise, the minister went on, Zanzibar is an autonomous state guided by a constitution and other laws and its government was not operating under the force of other people or any external community.

In their comments, EU and US called for an immediate correction of shortcomings, which have cropped up during the voter registration in Pemba.

In a joint statement issued in Dar es Salaam, representatives of the major donor countries, which fund the national Budget by over 34 per cent, said they were �seriously concerned about what appears to be flawed elements in the voter registration process in Zanzibar.�

In response, the Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation minister, Mr Bernard Membe, said though he had not received the envoys� statement, they were free to air their views and advice on the issue.

He said the Government was equally concerned about the reports on voter registration problems in Zanzibar, but would ensure that all eligible people are registered as voters.

But Mr Juma said yesterday that �the Revolutionary Government of Zanzibar has its own leadership, including laws governing election processes which were passed by the House of Representatives.

�It is not the EU or US which should provide leadership for our government. This is a country with respect to its laws and follows good governance principles, democracy and human rights.

�The EU should have conducted an in-depth investigation in Pemba before making their statements,� said Mr Juma.

He also accused opposition parties of planting its supporters to protest the voters� registration and inciting them to break rules and laws governing it.

He warned the opposition that the Government would not tolerate their incitement, which had disrupted the registration.

He singled out the Civic United Front (CUF) secretary general, Maalim Seif Sharif Hamad, as one of the politicians fuelling protests and inciting people to break registration laws and procedures in Pemba.

For his part, the Zanzibar Electoral Commission (ZEC) director, Mr Salum Kassim Ali, told The Citizen that they had no problems as they were operating according to laws governing Zanzibar�s election process and would not call off the exercise.

He said even the EU and US in their joint statement named the Union Government and that of Zanzibar together with politicians as the ones to blame but not ZEC.

Said he: �We are well prepared; we are conducting the exercise fairly without bending the laws and we generally have no problem there.�

But the CUF national chairman, Prof Ibrahim Lipumba, remarked: �By continuing to support ZEC while the whole exercise for registration of voters is flawed and Zanzibaris are systematically denied their right to vote, the UNDP will be helping in preventing an environment for a free and fair election in Zanzibar.�

He called on the UN system, including the UNDP, to issue a statement on the alleged irregularities in the registration process and suspend assistance to ZEC for it was being used to deny Zanzibaris their right to vote.


The EU heads of mission in Tanzania who signed the joint donors' statement include the ambassadors of Belgium, Denmark and the European Commission Delegation.

Others were those of Finland, France, Germany Ireland, Italy, The Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, which currently holds the rotating presidency, United Kingdom, Canada, Japan, Norway and United States.