Zanzibar: Timely steps needed before it is too late

Zanzibar: Timely steps needed before it is too late

By Nizar Visram

Dar es salaam

Tanzania

It is undeniable that Zanzibar is heading towards the cliff, that the situation in the island should be a source of concern to all those who have the interest of Zanzibar at heart

This is because while registration of voters is going on, dynamites are going off, bullets are flying, helicopters are firing tear gas canisters, houses are torched, people are exchanging blows and others get death threats while civilians are arrested by the police

Initially we were told that Pemba is the source of trouble because it has “always been” so, only to hear that violence has equally erupted in Unguja at Tumbatu island where choppers shower tear gas. As this fails to disperse the crowd police then resort to live ammunition.

In Tumbatu mothers run away from their houses set on fire with their children terrified by the sound of bullets. This has become part of the registration of voters.
Police and coastal guards (KMKM) leave their security posts at the registration centres and direct their guns at villagers, causing some of them to faint while others take the boats and escape from the atrocities. One elderly Tumbatu resident is rushed to medical centre after he faints.

Women carrying their babies and elders are seen abandoning their homes and hiding in the bush so as to escape from tear gas and live bullets

We are told members of CUF and CCM pelt each other with stones, exchange blows and attack each other with traditional weapons. In the course some are injured. This is what happens to one woman who is injured with stones and she has to be hospitalized.
And in Pemba several residents are forced to abandon their households and hide in the forest after police come knocking at their doors in the dead of night. We are informed that in the course police raid houses belonging to leaders of “a party”
Meanwhile, police vans with red flags as well as Red Cross vehicles are seen patrolling the streets
All this happens during the registration of voters. Elections have some months to go. It is not even campaign time. It is only the early stage of registration. It is anybody’s guess what lies ahead, keeping in mind the volatile history of the island
President Jakaya Kikwete himself has admitted that there is a crisis in Zanzibar. He then promised to personally intervene and find a solution. The result was talks towards reconciliation (Muafaka) between CCM and CUF.
But when the time came to sign the agreement Kikwete’s CCM made a volte face, asking for a referendum because it entails fundamental amendments in the constitution. It is the same Kikwete who was instrumental in Kenya and Zimbabwe reconciliation and power sharing process. Yet we did not hear anyone mentioning referendum there.

The current unrest in the island would not have happened if the Muafaka agreement were implemented. Be it as it may, it is not too late for President Kikwete to intervene and help in resolving the potential crisis. Let us stop harping about Zanzibar “internal” affairs, for the police force deployed in Zanzibar belongs to the Union government. Also those being registered by Zanzibar Electoral Commission (ZEC) are going to vote for Union MPs and Union President.
Thus it is inappropriate for the crisis to be put at the door of President Amani Karume. When he was pressed by foreign donors, as they often do, Karume immediately invited them for tea at his State House. He then gave order that Zanzibar residential ID card be issued without much ado. The donors finished their tea, returned to Dar es Salaam and continued pouring in billions

Those who hope that donors would intervene and take stern actions have been deluding themselves. They have not been doing so since 1995, simply because first and foremost they are here to defend their own national interests. They will only jump in when they feel their interests are jeopardized. That was the case with Kenya and Zimbabwe and that is how it is going to be with Zanzibar

And so we see Minister for Home Affairs Lawrence Masha paying a flying visit to Zanzibar accompanied by the Inspector General of Police (IGP) Said Mwema. They meet police brass in the island. They then issue a strict warning that police is determined to prevent any breach of public peace. They warn that stern steps would be taken against perpetrators
In other words political problem is dealt with police action. People want to know why Zanzibar ID card becomes a precondition for registering as voter. Why can’t birth certificate be accepted? And why should it be an uphill task to get the ID card? People also want to know why the voters’ register is confidential
These are political questions that should be answered politically. They can’t be answered by the IGP. What is required of President Kikwete is to intervene and meet all stakeholders in Zanzibar. It requires NEC to assume its responsibility and work with ZEC instead of washing its hands off the matter and throw the burden on the shoulders of ZEC

Meanwhile, in some registration centres not a single person turns up to register. Even ZEC admits that it is not too happy with the way the whole exercise is going at a snail pace. It said in Unguja North and Pemba North that the registration did not bring in the ‘expected result’. Yet we are told CCM congratulates ZEC for the job “well done”. This is certainly not the political solution that we are talking about.
All these problems did not crop up out of the blues. The signs were already there. In July this year the media was reporting how the people of Zanzibar were denied their right of registering as voters.
The matter was even brought up in the Parliament where some legislators from Zanzibar complained that island administrators from shehas to district commissioners were putting up obstacles for ‘certain people’ when applying for the Zanzibar ID card.
The current political crisis is not something unique in Zanzibar. It happened before the 1963 independence and went on with the 1964 revolution and with the elections in 1995, 2000 and 2005.
This time round as registration is marred by unrest things are bound to be worse during and after the elections. What is clear is that the island is heading for another nightmare if no timely steps are taken
For Video clip see this link below.


© Nizar Visram