BY STAFF WRITER
4th November 2012
Ambassador Karume said the idea of a contractual union relates to lack of awareness on the part of the public on the sources of the union of the two countries on April 26, 1964.
He made the remarks while on tour of Dunga in the central district of South Zanzibar region, where he visited to express his gratitude to CCM leaders and members at the party branch for electing him member of the National Executive Committee (NEC) for the district.
His views clash with the spirited intervention by Hassan Nassor Moyo, a veteran of the January 1964 Zanzibar Revolution and then joining the Union Government as Minister for Justice, and then Minister for Home Affairs, a view also shared by First Vice President Seif Shariff Hamad, both of whom have energetically expressed support for a contractual format of the Union.
Ambassador Karume declared that the contractual union being demanded is contrary to ideals of the Afro-Shirazi Party which overthrew the Sultanate and liberated the peasants and rural laborers of Zanzibar.
Son of founder president Abeid Karume, he said the idea of union had been fomented much earlier than 1964 and before the independence of Tanganyika and the Isles Revolution, intoning that the union was not a mushroom sprouting due to heavy monsoon rains but has its origins and traditions.
He emphasized that the contractual union was bad and urged wananchi to be careful with leaders who are pushing for that kind of union since that sort of union is like a tenancy agreement.
He said engaging in a contractual union shall diminish the weight, logic and discipline of oaths to protect and defend the premises of the union for a concerned leader .
Ambassador Karume who listed his name as among contestants to represent CCM in the Union presidential elections in 2000 said that without the force of law and the constitution, a single foolish leader could delete a number of things provided for in the union, contrary to popular wishes, and sink the country into a contention without a solution, thus dismantling the union itself.
While being applauded, he said TANU and ASP built up systems to protect the union so that it is not the plaything of anyone, or being swayed by opponents of the revolution and the union.
“If there are plots where those who were overthrown seek to re-enter by the back door, those campaigning for a contractual union should not mince words, and should declare straightaway that they are agents whose intent is to break the union of Tanzania,” he said amid applause and songs of ‘CCM, CCM, CCM….’
He said however he will be utterly surprised if Tanzanians let that thing happen as it will be the same as demolishing their own house they have lived over many years simply because someone wants to extent the house.
SOURCE: GUARDIAN ON SUNDAY
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