Zanzibaris are more united at half a century than before

The GNU architects: former President Amani Abeid Karume (left) and current First Vice President Seif Shariff Hamad. PHOTO | FILE 

By Peter Nyanje, The Citizen Reporter

 Sunday, January 12  2014 at  00:00

IN SUMMARY

• This view is shared by at least two Zanzibaris - Mr Abdallah Ali Abeid, an employee of the State University of Zanzibar (Suza) and Mr Ali Hamad Suleiman, a student at Chwaka.

Zanzibar. If it was not for the agreement and successful formation of the government of national unity (GNU) in 2010, certainly, the 50th anniversary of the 1964 Zanzibar Revolution today would have been full of negative sentiments.

This view is shared by at least two Zanzibaris - Mr Abdallah Ali Abeid, an employee of the State University of Zanzibar (Suza) and Mr Ali Hamad Suleiman, a student at Chwaka.

These two and many other Zanzibaris believe that to a great extent, the GNU has helped to restore the much needed unity among the people in the two islands of Unguja and Pemba, whose political ideological orientations are worlds apart.

They notes that through the GNU, many Zanzibaris now speak one language, as one people and one nation.

Mr Salim Rashid, the first Secretary to the Zanzibar Revolutionary Council formed after the 1964 Revolution, also believes that the GNU is the only major achievement which Zanzibaris can boast about as they mark 50 years of the historic event.

But they both note that the GNU should be perfected for it to bear the desired results. Mr Suleiman says, for instance, that if it were not for the GNU arrangement, which was agreed upon in 2010 and effected after the General Election in the same year, there would have been nothing else to boast about as the archipelago marks the January 12 Revolution.

“The 12 January 1964 Revolution was aimed at removing tribalism and bringing unity and tranquillity. It aimed at removing the colonialists and enable Africans, Zanzibaris in particular, to take control of the country’s leadership,” he notes, saying that the GNU has managed to provide conducive environment for forging unity among the people of Zanzibar after many years of antagonism.

The Revolution had many targets, all aimed at ensuring that lives of Zanzibaris are improved. In addition to creating unity and tranquillity, the Revolution also aimed at improving social services, such as health and education.

The GNU was possible after immediate Zanzibar President Amani Abeid Karume and Civic United Front (CUF) secretary general Maalim Seif Shariff Hamad agreed to bury their long-time political and ideological differences and work together for the benefit of the country and its people.

After the results of 2010 General Election which gave Civic United Front (CUF) significant amount of votes, it was possible for the opposition party to take part in the government. Maalim Seif was appointed First Vice President and several cabinet slots were set aside for the opposition party.

“They (Karume and Maalim Seif) decided to do away with the differences and work together. This is one of major aims of the Revolution, to end differences between and among Zanzibaris,” stresses Mr Suleiman.

Before the GNU, after the re-introduction of plural politics in early 1992, political tensions kept on increasing in Zanzibar. Each election year came with heightened political apprehensions, hostilities and conflicts. Divisions among Zanzibaris grew

Before the formation of the GNU between 1984 and 1992 when multi party political system was reintroduced, things were worse as people isolation was rampant. People from different political parties, such as CCM and CUF, those from different parts of the Isles, Pemba and Unguja, preached differences, not unity, until July 2010 when people participated in a referendum. The results showed that 66.4 per cent agreed to the formation of the GNU. From that time on, things started to change. People said then that enough was enough and they decided to bury their enmity.

Why was the GNU possible? The success in the formation of the GNU is largely attributed to the leaders. The leaders, it seems, knew what people and the nation wanted. They went through hard times when pushing for the GNU, but they did not lose hope. According to Mr Suleiman, it wasn’t easy for Karume to convince his colleagues in CCM on the need and importance of reconciliation. Maalim Seif was stoned at Kibanda Maiti when he told CUF members that their party has decided to work with CCM.

The leaders decided to plan nationalistic politics. What the two leaders did matches what the first Zanzibar President, Abeid Amani Karume, who happens to be the father of Mr Amani, said in 1964 that you might be a son of the soil, but your nationalism will be measured by you dedication to the country.

It is fortunate that Karume junior decided to continue with what his father had started by uniting Zanzibaris. Efforts made to end the political stand-off, including commissions such as that of Judge Francis Nyalali after the January 2001 killings and mediation talks by then Commonwealth secretary general chief Emeka Anyauko, failed to reconcile Zanzibaris.

“But these two people decided to form a small committee, three people from CCM and three from CUF. They did not spend a single cent on their meetings. They met with only one goal in mind, to let the bygones be bygones and start afresh,” said Mr Suleiman.

However, all is not rosy in the GNU as there are people who still do not want the setup. They have been working to upset it since then and Mr Suleiman believes that has been among factors which delays Zanzibar efforts to get full autonomy from the Union.

“It is true that there are some misunderstandings within the GNU and the quarrels started after Zanzibaris started to demand full authority. There are some of them who do not buy this idea and they are the ones who try everything they can to frustrate the process,” he says.

According to the Constitutional Review Commission (CRC), about 65 per cent of Zanzibaris wanted a full-fledged government and country, which should enter into agreement with Tanzania Mainland (Tanganyika) to form a treaty-based union.

But Ali Hamad Suleiman notes that though the GNU has been seen as panacea for problems facing Zanzibar, the system is yet to be perfected. He further notes that the system has continued to embrace the winner takes all structure.

“If you look careful, you will realise that the Government of National Unity is for leaders only. They have formed the GNU which has taken aboard only ministers,” he points out.

He adds that though executives should not be appointed politically, but their appointments should reflect the inclusion government.

According to the law which established the GNU, any party which gets five per cent and more during the general election is eligible to be in the government. But, Mr Suleiman notes that this is not in terms of policy representation. He says under the prevailing situation, only policies of the winning party are taken aboard and implemented by the government.

“If we want to truly live the Government of National Unity spirit, policies of all the parties in the government should be embraced equivalent to the level of their victory in elections,” he stresses.

He says implementing policies from only one party does not reflect the true spirit of the GNU. He notes that each party has good policies which are fit to guide the nation.

“By national policy, I mean we should combine ideas from all the winning parties which will base on national interests and not their parties’,” he explains.

Renowned economist here Dr Mohammed Hafidhi notes that the GNU has helped to restore trust between political leaders and experts.

He says, in the past there was mistrust between the two groups, which made many experts either shy away from giving candid plans and views in their areas of speciality.

“It reached a point where when an expert wanted to be in the good books of the leaders he was supposed to speak what the leaders wanted to hear. Experts were hesitant and worried to state things as they were because sometimes doing that amounted to speaking what the opposition was advocating and that would not please the rulers,” he says.

He says that this situation made some specialists act as politicians. “You will note, for instance, that experts fear to give their opinion on a lot of issues, fearing that if they decide to be honesty, they will be taken as supporters of the opposition. Therefore, they decide to remain quiet or say what the politicians want to hear,” he stresses.

Giving his views on whether the achievements of the GNU will last long, Mr Suleiman says the future of Zanzibar will be determined by unity and harmony.

“We need to safeguard our unity because it is the pillar of the development we want to attain. The GNU is only a vehicle towards development, it is not development in its own,” he notes.

He says, if Zanzibaris want the GNU to be a good vehicle, they should find ways of making all parties in the government contribute to the development plans and their implementation.

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