Police: We will use force to keep order in voter registration
Women weep after they were prevented from registering as voters following their failure to produce Zanzibar residency Ids in Pemba yesterday.
By Salma Said, Pemba
Tension continues to grip Ole constituency residents, North Region Pemba, after police said they would not hesitate to use force to ensure peaceful registration of voters.
Regional police commander Yahya Rashid Bugi said yesterday that the police would take all measures necessary to ensure security at all registration centres.
Speaking a few days after the registration exercise resumed in the island, Mr Bugi said the Police Force was �well prepared� following violent clashes at registration centres at the weekend
"They threw stones at us, but we did not respond. If stone0throwing continues, we shall be forced to use force to keep law and order," the RPC said.
The registration exercise in Pemba has been marred by chaos that forced the government to suspend the exercise mid last month.
The Zanzibar Electoral Commission has been accused of undermining the opposition by refusing to register its supporters who do not have identity cards.
Pemba residents claim that thousands of people have been denied the IDs in a bid to sideline them from next year�s elections.
Thousands of people yesterday gathered at registration centres to register as voters.
Some residents claim that the registration process was deliberately being flawed to block supporters of the opposition Civic United Front from registering.
ZEC chairman Khatib Mwinyichande said the situation in Pemba has caused the commission "huge" financial losses due the suspension of registration.
Security concerns in Pemba prompted the United States to issue a travel alert earlier this month
A statement in the US State Department's website said the security situation in Pemba has deteriorated following a dispute over the registration of voters.
But Zanzibar Minister of State in the Chief Minister�s Office Hamza Hassan Juma told The Citizen that the report was "totally misleading", saying a hidden agenda could not be ruled out.
The Secretary to the President, Mr Haroub Shaibu, echoed the remarks, saying the government was not aware of any security lapses in Pemba that could justify such travel advisories.
They were reacting to the US State Department's concern about the possibility of an outbreak of election-related violence in Pemba as Zanzibar begins to register voters ahead of the 2010 elections.
The department recommends in its statement that US citizens defer all non-essential travel to Pemba, noting: "Since registration of voters began on the island of Pemba on July 6, 2009, there have been several reports of civil unrest."
The advisory further notes that past elections in Zanzibar "have featured violence during the campaign season, the election, and especially in the days and weeks following the announcement of election results".
"Government security forces have been augmented in northern Pemba Island, particularly in the districts of Wete and Micheweni," says the alert, which expires on December 20, 2009.
But Mr Juma said nothing could be further from the truth, insisting that the situation in Pemba was "calm".
"It doesn't make sense at all�there is no violence whatsoever in Pemba. The place is peaceful. I don't understand why such a warning has been issued," he said.
He said neither locals nor foreign businessmen and tourists currently in Pemba had complained about lack of security that was being alleged by the American government.
The US, however, said it had no "hidden agenda" on Zanzibar, other than to see an improvement in the political situation so that all Zanzibaris can feel represented in their government.
Speaking exclusively to The Citizen, the spokesperson at the US Embassy in Dar es Salaam, Dr Ilya Levin, said the recent travel advisory issued over Pemba was only meant to alert their citizens about the problems they might encounter when visiting the island.
"Unrelated to the travel caution, the United States certainly does have an agenda in Zanzibar. We have publicly stated that agenda many times. We favour transparent, free and fair elections in 2010, held in a climate of civility and security. We feel strongly that governance in Zanzibar will improve once all Zanzibaris feel represented by their government and no Zanzibaris need fear political retribution,"said Dr Levin.
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