President Obama your Grand father was in Zanzibar for a while the same you were in Indonesia please help Zanzibar and EAst Africa to have real democracy.
MR Hamza Hassan Juma wake up shame on you this is what OBAMA speech in
CAIRO.authoritarian regimes no longer acceptable!
Obama said. "So let me be clear: no system of government can or should be imposed upon one nation by any other."
US behind Pemba chaos - Zanzibar
By Njonanje Samwel
16th September 2009
Minister of State in the Zanzibar Chief Minister`s Office Hamza Hassan Juma
Zanzibar has associated the United States with the commotion linked to perceived anomalies in the stalled voter registration exercise in the Isles.
Hamza Hassan Juma, Minister of State in the Zanzibar Chief Minister’s Office, made charges to that effect in remarks at Sizini village in Micheweni district, Pemba North Region, yesterday.
He said the Zanzibar government had at last realised that the ongoing defiance and rumpus had the tacit backing of some powerful members of the donor community, including the US government.
The minister cited to a recent alert by Washington cautioning US citizens against visiting Pemba, and said: “This civil disobedience we have been witnessing lately has the backing of donors. The US could be among them and they must have their hidden agenda on this…otherwise, why did it anticipate trouble for American nationals touring the Isles?”
He added: “If they (US) did have any information about the state of security being at risk, they could have followed the usual diplomatic channels in notifying us about the situation instead of going public.”
According to the minister, the way Washington sought to deal with the issue “is proof that the US government has a hidden agenda against us,” he stressed.
He said Zanzibar was surely in need of donor support to help it in implementing development projects, including funding for democratic activities, “but we are not ready to see that assistance endanger or sabotage our unity and security”.
The minister also explained what his government would do to ensure that it went on with preparations for the 2010 general election in case donor support was not forthcoming.
“We are doubtless in need of support from our development partners, particularly assistance meant to ensure that we attain steady development in a more democratic atmosphere,” he said, quickly adding: “Our plans will obviously be disrupted if they take such a tough stance, but we will manage using the few resources at our disposal.”
He said the Zanzibar government would do all it could “to ensure that security is intact and therefore peace and order prevail”.
In much less diplomatic language, Pemba North Regional Commissioner Dadi Fakhi Dadi said there was no way Zanzibaris would compromise their dignity by accepting assistance that would show them as “traitors”.
“We are not prepared to receive aid likely to fuel civil disobedience amidst us,” he noted, referring to the ongoing clashes between riot police and people he said were out to block others from participating in the registration exercise.
The exercise limped on at a number of registration centres for the fourth day yesterday, even where police used live bullets and teargas on Monday to disperse suspicious crowds.
Sporadic attacks continued at Sizini Village in Micheweni District, Pemba North Region, with minister Juma himself witnessing a house being set ablaze.
Sources close to the incident attributed the fire to teargas canisters dropped by riot police on top of the roof of the house, whose owner could not be immediately established.
Two other houses were torched on Monday night by unidentified people at Kambini Kichokochwe Village which, according to sources, was a stronghold of the opposition Civic United Front (CUF).
The US government last month issued a piece of “advice” warning its citizens against travelling to Zanzibar, where it said security was “fragile and not favourable to Americans”.
The move came only days after Zanzibar had halted the voter registration exercise after persistent claims that CUF members were being denied an opportunity to register for the mandatory Zanzibar citizenship identity cards.
Meanwhile, Zanzibar House of Representatives Speaker Pandu Ameir Kificho yesterday stressed the need for the voter re-registration exercise to follow laid down rules and regulations.
“That will ensure that all eligible Zanzibar residents have their names entered in the permanent voters’ register and they can therefore, fully participate in the 2010 general election,” he said.
Speaker Kificho made the remarks when opening International Day of Democracy cerebrations held in Zanzibar, noting: “Depriving people eligible for registration of their right to register will be tantamount to sabotaging one of the pillars of democracy.”
He said political tolerance was the only way to avoid disputes and safeguard national unity, particularly as the nation marked the International Day of Democracy.
No comments:
Post a Comment