Bill blocks non-resident Zanzibaris ?

Bill blocks non-resident Zanzibaris
By The guardian reporter
To participate in referendum one must have lived in ones constituency for 32 consecutive months


Zanzibar town
Non-resident Zanzibaris will not participate in the planned referendum on whether the Isles should have a government of national unity. This is contained in the bill on the proposed referendum to be tabled in the House of Representatives session scheduled for March 24, this year.

State Minister in the Chief Minister’s office, Hamza Hassan Juma is expected to table the bill.

According to section eight of the bill, those who qualify to participate in the referendum should be resident Zanzibaris who are listed in the permanent voters’ register.

It further specifies that to qualify, a person must have lived in one’s constituency in Zanzibar for 32 consecutive months.

Observers of the Zanzibar political scene believe the bill is designed to lock out the majority of Zanzibaris living on the mainland and outside the country.

It also means that Zanzibaris who have so far failed to register in the permanent voters register due to lack of Zanzibar National Identity cards (ZN ID) would also not participate in the referendum, the observers say.

The bill also specifies that an individual person or an institution which would announce referendum results before the Zanzibar Electoral Commission (ZEC) had officially made them public, would be liable for a fine of between 1m/- and 10m/- or three years imprisonment.

The bill sets tough conditions for people who may want to appeal against the results of the referendum and any one who would like to question the results.

Such a person must have the support of not less than ten per cent of the voters in each of the five Isles regions.

The appellant is also required to pay 5m/- to the High court as bail and must lodge the appeal within 30 days of the referendum results being announced.

According to the bill, the appeals would be heard by a panel of three judges within 30 days after its formal lodging and that the decision of the judges would be final.

The bill specifies that no one would be allowed to appeal to the Union government’s Court of Appeal.

The official day of the referendum will be announced by the Zanzibar President, according to the bill.

Section four of the bill states that the referendum could be carried out alongside the General Election or any other day as would be directed.

The referendum issue on the establishment of government of national unity is the result of the accord reached between President Amani Abeid Karume and the opposition Civic United Front Secretary General, Maalim Seif Sharif Hamad.