What are Karume and Seif up to in Zanzibar?

What are Karume and Seif up to in Zanzibar?
By Ray Naluyaga and Salma Said, Zanzibar

Leaders from across the political divide in Zanzibar have joined forces to counter what they see as Tanzania Mainland's undue influence in the isles, sources within the ruling CCM and opposition CUF told The Citizen yesterday.

The newfound camaraderie between President Amani Abeid Karume of CCM and his longtime political rival, Mr Seif Shariff Hamad of CUF, is said to be the outcome of behind-the-scenes efforts to chart a more independent future for Zanzibar.

More clues emerged yesterday when Mr Hamad addressed a rally in Pemba, where he defended CUF�s decision to recognise President Karume and work with his government to lay the ground for what his close associates described as "the rebirth of Zanzibar".

The reception accorded to Mr Hamad at Masota Village in Pemba, which is a CUF stronghold, contrasted sharply with the reaction of a boisterous crowd that jeered and heckled CUF officials when Mr Hamad announced at a public rally in Unguja on Saturday that the party had decided to recognise Mr Karume as the President of Zanzibar.

Mr Hamad and other top officials, including CUF national chairman Ibrahim Lipumba, were forced to cut short their speeches and leave the Kibanda Maiti grounds under tight security.

Mr Hamad told an attentive crowd in Pemba yesterday that Zanzibaris should trust him and President Karume and expect "better things" from the Union.

He vowed never to turn back despite Saturday�s debacle in Unguja.

In a hint that corroborated what sources told The Citizen, the CUF secretary-general said Zanzibaris would no longer depend on the Mainland to decide their political destiny and for their development.

He said past efforts to find a lasting solution to problems bedevilling the isles failed mainly because they were advanced by "outsiders"and other people "who were either not very keen or who simply ignored the realities on the ground while championing their own interests".

Zanzibari leaders had realised their mistakes and were now ready to find homegrown solution and secure the isles� future, he added.

Mr Hamad said former President Benjamin Mkapa and his successor, President Jakaya Kikwete, had both failed to live up to their promises to break the longstanding political stalemate in Zanzibar.

"We took time to ponder with Karume where we were heading. We came to the conclusion that we had fought one another for far too long.

We decided that nothing would come out of sabotaging one another, and that we need to work together to save our people from the suffering they have gone through all these years."

Sources told The Citizen that the general mood among Zanzibaris had changed since Mr Karume met Mr Hamad in Zanzibar last Thursday, and that the new partnership should be reflected by debates in the House of Representatives, where CCM and CUF have in recent months taken common stands on a number of issues.

Representatives from CCM and CUF have been unanimous that Zanzibar should not share oil revenues with the Mainland should the resource be discovered in the isles.

The Zanzibar legislature also recently decided that the Zanzibari national anthem, and not the Union one, should be played before sessions commence.

CCM and CUF representatives earlier this year assailed Prime Minister Mizengo Pinda when he told Parliament in Dodoma that Zanzibar could not be an independent and sovereign country outside the Union.

It is, however, still not clear what positions the two parties will take ahead of and during next year's Zanzibari presidential election.

President Karume is currently serving his second and final term, and a number of influential CCM members in Zanzibar are already lining up to succeed him. Mr Hamad unsuccessfully vied for the Zanzibar presidency in 1995, 2000 and 2005.

Yesterday, CUF director of foreign affairs and international cooperation Ismail Jussa told The Citizen from Pemba that Zanzibaris stood to benefit from the "painful" reconciliation between President Karume and Mr Hamad.

"Labour is painful to a woman, but in the end, when a new baby is born, everybody is happy. What we have done and are doing will have a happy ending," he said.

Mr Jussa attributed Saturday's near-riot during the rally in Zanzibar to people not being ready to receive such "earth-shaking" news.

"People were not prepared psychologically to receive the news. It�s not that they don't trust Maalim Seif. They trust him, and know that he has never and can never betray them."

Mr Jussa said CUF�s stance not to recognise Mr Karume as the President of Zanzibar was more theoretical than practical because CUF members in the House of Representatives were posing questions to ministers appointed by Mr Karume.

He said the cooperation would transform Zanzibar into the "Dubai of Africa" within a short time.

Respected CUF elder Chema Simai, 72, said the party had done the right thing by recognising Mr Karume, adding that it was the style of delivering the news to CUF supporters that was wrong, sparking Saturday's chaos