ACT-Wazalendo party leader, Zitto Kabwe wants President John Magufuli to facilitate immediate resumption of vote-counting and announcement of Zanzibar Presidential results or declare state of emergency and name a transitional government.
Speaking to reporters yesterday in Dar es Salaam, Kabwe said the political impasse in the Isles brought about by Zanzibar Electoral Commission’s (ZEC) annulment of the election results on October 28 is heightening tension and hurting the socio-economic status of Zanzibar.
“At the moment, there is no legitimate President in Zanzibar...the candidate who won last month’s election should be sworn in as soon as possible to save the island from plunging into civil crisis,” he urged.
Chief Secretary Ombeni Sefue was not available for comments, however, State House Deputy Press, Premi Kibanga responded stating that the Office of the President could not comment on a matter that has not being officially submitted to the office.
“The President himself will respond after he is made aware of Kabwe’s call,” he said.
According to Kabwe, the solution to the prevailing stand-off in the Isles is for the Head of State to do everything in his power to deter what at the moment seems like an imminent crisis in incubation.“The Zanzibar crisis is a political one and it must be solved politically and not otherwise, as some scholars and experts claim,” Kabwe told reporters.
“There is need for the President to intervene in the matter since the annulment was the unilateral decision of ZEC chairman as an individual and not the entire Commission,” he went on to advice.
“To date, there are no documented minutes that can prove that there was a majority consensus amongst commissioners,” he alleged.
Speaking at the same event, ACT-Wazalendo Chairperson Anna Mghwira said her party through its Socialism Ideology will be relentless to see the government fight against corruption and poaching among other vices that plague the country.
As example of changes the party wishes to lobby for is the law matter surrounding the question of burden of proof in a court of law.
Mghwira is of the opinion that the law should be reversed to place the burden of proof on the accused not the accuser.
“For example, the accused should be the one to justify how he or she got questionable wealth rather than the accuser being forced to find evidence of the same,” she said.
“This could be a better way to prove without doubt whether accumulation of wealth is legitimate or not,” she said seizing the opportunity to announce that the party is well organised well to participate in the coming by-elections.
On November 5, this year, President Jakaya Kikwete met with the Civic United Front (CUF) presidential candidate in Zanzibar, Seif Sharif Hamad and held talks over the stand-off in the Isles.
According to a press statement availed to ‘The Guardian’ by State House, the two leaders agreed that negotiations between the parties involved in the political crisis should proceed.
President Kikwete and Hamad, who is also the CUF secretary general, met for one hour at the State House in Dar es Salaam following a request by the latter to meet over the logjam.
Recently, the CUF Director of Communications, Ismail Jussa Ladhu confirmed that Hamad had written a letter to President Kikwete asking him
to hold a meeting with him to discuss the deadlock in the Isles political crisis before he leaves office.
On October 28, ZEC chairman Jecha Salum Jecha nullified the presidential election results in Zanzibar, citing what he described as a number of shortfalls in the conduct of the poll that according to him, contributed to delay in the compilation and announcement of the results.
In the same vein, Zanzibaris are optimistic that the political standoff in the isles will soon be resolved following a recent meeting between incumbent President Dr Ali Mohamed Shein and the Civic United Front presidential candidate Seif Sharif Hamad.
Dr Shein and Hamad met on Monday at the State House here for the first time since the Zanzibar Electoral Commission (ZEC) Chairman, Jecha Salim Jecha announced to nullify the presidential election results.
Interviewed Zanzibaris in Unguja yesterday expressed hope that the stand-off will now be cleared after the two parties met for the first time. No details of the meeting were disclosed.
Asha Seif Makame said that Zanzibaris want peace and harmony to prevail in the Isles citing adding that the logjam could possibly be solved through diplomacy.
According to Makame, the two should find ways that would see the tailback is addressed without necessarily inconveniencing the people.
“It’s my hope that what they have discussed also touched on the people’s wishes because we Zanzibaris are not ready to see the Isles fall into chaos,” he stressed.
Musa Ali Musa, a resident of Tunguu welcomed the decision reached by the two in seeing how best they could solve the matter through talks rather than invoking chaos.
Musa said the two leaders and those who are assisting in mediating should now see how they can calm the ongoing political heat by first working on the shortfalls of the General Election and decide what to do next.
Juma Abdallah Mohammed, a businessman at Darajani market urged the two sides to come into agreement as soon as possible so as to allow the people continue with their daily activities.
He added: “We are now living a life that we are not used to because everyone is afraid of what is still going around.” He also said that the people are entitled to know what the two have so far agreed.
SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN
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