Retired diplomat Mohamed Yusuf said Hamad was responsible to tell his followers what he agreed with President Karume.

Leaders of political parties and non-governmental organizations have underscored the need for President Amani Karume and the Civic United Front (CUF) Secretary General Seif Shariff Hamad to publicly announce what they discussed during their recent meeting at the Zanzibar Sate House.

They said the move would clear doubts among the people, especially now that the country was headed for general elections.

They made the call at the just-ended meeting held to discuss the political situation in Zanzibar. The meeting was organized by REDET.

Chambani Representative (CUF) Abbas Juma said although Zanzibaris were celebrating the peace agreement reached by the two leaders they did not know what the accord actually entailed.

“Why should these talks remain a secret, we would like them to put everything open so that we can know what is going on”, he said.

Juma commended CUF for recognizing Karume as the Zanzibar president.

Retired diplomat Mohamed Yusuf said Hamad was responsible to tell his followers what he agreed with President Karume.

Yusuf said currently people were discussing what they did not know although the talks were for the benefit of all Zanzibaris.

Ismail Mussa, a CUF member, suggested that Hamad and President Karume be given enough time to build up their relationship instead of pushing to know what transpired during their talks.

CUF Deputy Secretary General Juma Haji Duni said there were possibilities of people refusing to participate in the coming general election if the talks would not be made public.

CCM Publicity Officer in Zanzibar Mwinyi Msuko said the issue of forming coalition government should involve all Zanzibaris.

Closing the meeting, REDET Chairman Prof Rwekaza Mukandala said it was high time every person in the isles contributed towards achieving a permanent solution to the political turmoil in Zanzibar.