Let us give priority to our patriotism in protecting the natural resources of the ZANZIBAR.”

Secret of Karume-Seif meeting close to revelation

`If anybody had doubts about what Zanzibar President Amani Abeid Karume and his arch-political rival Seif Shariff Hamad had agreed upon when they held a secret meeting at the Zanzibar State House towards the end of last year, a placard that was carried during a mass demonstration yesterday to commemorate the Zanzibar Revolution told it all.

Literary translated, the poster read: “Let us give priority to our patriotism in protecting the natural resources of the Isles.”

For a keen observer, this was just a herald of what the Zanzibari president was going to state in his public address that was beamed across the United Republic.

The Revolution Day celebrations took place at Gombani Stadium in Chakechake, Pemba. The Island of Pemba is the political stronghold of the opposition CUF. For years, CUF leaders had refused to attend national Revolution Day celebrations, much as invitations were extended to them.

The snub was probably intended for public consumption of the population in Pemba, where sentiments for the historic revolution that ended Arab rule are low at best and hostile at worst.

This time around, the stadium was packed to capacity by the rank and file, plus a whole stream of CCM and CUF top brass who rubbed shoulders. To manifest the magnitude of the attendance, one person died during a stampede at the stadium. Such an occurrence has never been witnessed before in the Isles.

Addressing the public rally, Zanzibar President Karume said that the act of demanding the right to exploit Zanzibar’s natural resources should not be interpreted as going against the spirit of the Union because Zanzibar had the right to exploit resources that lay underneath, regardless of whether assumptions on the availability of oil were correct or not.

The Zanzibar president made the remarks in the presence of Union president Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete, who appeared not to have been offended by Karume’s assertion. Instead, President Kikwete seemed to have taken the statement humourously by welcoming it with a big laugh.

Over the recent years, the division of revenue emanating from oil and natural gas revenue became an issue, with ministers of the Zanzibar Revolutionary Government, ironically strongly backed by their CUF out adversaries, made strong statements, at times crudely, saying that Zanzibar had the right to explore for oil and exploit it independently of the Union Government, a suggestion that goes against the Constitution of the United Republic which treats oil and gas as Union matters.

Prior to those public utterances, a Norwegian consultant had been picked to determine a formula for sharing of presumed oil wealth between the Union and Zanzibar governments, and he came out with recommendations for the setting up of a joint Petroleum Board.

The formula he gave was regarded by the Zanzibar government as lopsided, and when the report was presented in the Zanzibar House of Representatives, it was greeted by an uproar.

In July 2008, a minister of the Zanzibar Revolution Government stirred cold waters on the Mainland side when he said that any oil extracted in Zanzibar would not be shared with the Mainland.

Zanzibar’s Minister for Natural Resources, Works, Energy and Lands, Mr Mansour Yussuf Himid, told the House of Representatives that Zanzibar had not benefited from natural gas discoveries on the Mainland to warrant sharing of oil in the event of commercially viable deposits being found in Pemba and Unguja.

“Honourable Speaker, I regret to say that since I became a member of the cabinet in 2000, I don’t understand anything concerning the distribution of natural gas that has been discovered and is accruing revenue in Tanzania mainland,” he was quoted as saying.

Since then, members of the Zanzibar House of Representatives have stressed that both the licensing for oil exploration and actual oil benefits, if found, should belong to Zanzibar.

However, the Union Government treats oil exploration as a Union matter and still considers applications for exploration of the Indian Ocean waters surrounding the islands of Pemba and Unguja.

So far, explorations have led to the discovery of huge deposits of natural gas at Songo Songo Island off Mtwara region; Mnazi Bay in Lindi in southern Tanzania; and Kimbiji, a short distance south of Dar es Salaam.

However, it seems that in spite of the Mainalnd-Zanzibar furore on best formula for sharing the oil revenue, there are no strong indications of any oil discovery being made in the sea area surrounding the Pemba and Unguja Islands.

But if no discovery has been made already, then there is a question mark as to why the issue is highly politicized, with not a single high ranking official or expert confirming the presence of oil.

At some stage, when President Kikwete was asked about the whole controversy, he said that the issue was debatable but wondered where the oil that had ignited the hullabaloo was.

In April last year, The Guardian consulted the leader of the Opposition in the Union government to comment on the issue. He said negotiations had been going on between the Union and Zanzibar governments on an agreeable oil wealth sharing formula since the era of Zanzibar President Salmin Amour.

He said since then, it was agreed to employ the services of a consultant who would chart out a formula. Hamad said: “Gas has already been discovered in Zanzibar, but the formula is not in place yet.”

He added that the issue has been discussed in the Union Parliament on several occasions. This is not a subject that has cropped up suddenly“.

Hamad Rashid said: “It is pertinent to arrive at a common understanding over the matter. There is no side which objects to the Union Parliament dealing with the matter. Any Parliamentary process does prevent Zanzibar from forming its own oil corporation, or the exploration to be undertaken by our own institutions. The current Constitutional provisions can be amended.”

He said: “You have to remember that when Nyerere and Karume formed the Union of Tanganyika and Zanzibar, Karume said Mwalimu should become President while he (Karume) would be the First Vice President. This provision was fundamental to the agreement and could not be altered, but it has been altered.”

Given the above-mentioned summary, there is a possibility that natural gas prospects are what have brought Seif and Karume together.

If Zanzibar is able to wrestle a large share of the presumed exploitation of natural gas from the Union government and this needs strong internal political cohesion– the move shall boost not only Zanzibar’s economy, but also the image of leaders across the political divide