OPENING ADDRESS OF THE SECRETARY GENERAL OF THE CIVIC UNITED FRONT (CUF), MAALIM SEIF SHARIF HAMAD, AT THE PRESS CONFERENCE HELD AT BWAWANI HOTEL, ZANZIBAR, ON OCTOBER 8, 2004

Honourable Members of the Media,
Honourable Invited Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

Assalaam Alaykum.

INTRODUCTION

I would like at the outset to express, on behalf of the Civic United Front (CUF) and on my own behalf, our sincere gratitude to you all for responding to our invitation to come here to exchange views on the political trend and future of our country.

The holy month of Ramadhan is just round the corner and I am obliged to pray to Almighty God to bless us with good health and to enable us to fast in peace and tranquility notwithstanding the enormous problems which confront us.

We have invited you here today to deliberate together on the four years of the Sixth Phase Administration under the leadership of H.E. Amani Abeid Karume; to assess if, and how much, he has fulfilled his obligations in the responsibility and mandate he asked the people to give him in steering the affairs of this country. In this assessment we should put under serious scrutiny his achievement in tackling the cardinal tasks of government.

All in all, a government has three major tasks:

• To ensure peace and security for its people;
• To enhance national unity; and
• To strengthen the economy and delivery of social services.

We pray that today we collectively look at each of these aspects of governance, how they have been tackled and handled in the four years of the leadership of Hon. Karume.

PEACE AND SECURITY

It is an open secret that, leaving aside the first phase of Mzee Abeid Amani Karume, no Zanzibari administration came into office with such disastrous consequences as that of Hon. Amani Abeid Karume. This sixth phase administration came into power ‘with a bang’, as they like to boast themselves: the election was hijacked, military personnel carriers (MPC) with heavy artillery (RPG) roamed the streets as if the country was under siege; innocent civilians were brutalized and some murdered in the shameless effort to enforce the rule of a person who had assured us that his tenure of office would usher in a new era of comfortable sleep; what obtains today is the perpetuation and enhancement of sleepless discomfort. One wonders how a person who cared for the people he claimed to intend to serve their interests could accept to be put into power by forceful means contrary to the wish of the people.

It is not our intention to bring the skeletons out of the cupboard, but we avail ourselves of this occasion to commend and thank the President of the United Republic, H.E. Benjamin Mkapa, for recognizing the damage done and to accept the need for a roundtable to work out a civilized modus vivandi.

It is sad to note that the Accord of October 2001 is given more attention by the Union government than by the Revolutionary Government of Zanzibar. In that context, we must also commend and thank the people of Zanzibar for their boldness to maintain peace in spite of the flouting of the Accord by the government of Hon. Karume. Disturbance and provocation are not acts of boldness, especially when they emanate from the official side; boldness is the determination to be firm and steadfast in the face of disturbance and provocation, as manifested by the people of these islands. We use this occasion to call on all peace loving people of these islands to remain calm, not to entertain the disturbance of peace which is geared to cause havoc in the whole process leading to the general elections of 2005.
Everybody is aware that today’s Zanzibar under Hon. Karume is a police state. A typical example is the active involvement of the police to stop the Civic United Front to hold public rally at the Donge constituency on flimsy excuses. What right has the police to act on behalf of a particular political party? But the Registrar of Political Parties, Mr. John Tendwa, has folded his arms and watches the Political Parties Act he is supposed to safeguard being made a mockery of. They threw the bait to us to show stubbornness so as to provide excuse for the maltreatment, and even slaughter, of our followers and supporters and to brand our party as advocates of lawlessness. On the contrary, the huge force prepared to show official muscle became a laughing stock. We call upon the Minister of Home Affairs, Hon. Omar Ramadhan Mapuri, to rise to the occasion, otherwise he will be failing in his responsibilities.

It would be pointless to take our complaints to Hon. Karume, for he has told the donor community to stop bothering him with claims of democracy because Zanzibaris are hungry and democracy is not nourishing. But without democracy, there is no stability, peace or security. The antonym of democracy is anarchy. We commend the President of Zanzibar and Chairman of the Revolutionary Council for being forthright on this score, that he has failed to enable Zanzibaris to provide for their daily bread and has simultaneously failed in bringing democracy to the country. At least in these two areas he has at last been honest.

We concur with Hon. Karume’s opinion that a country where hardship and want prevail cannot enjoy peace and security. This sixth phase administration has been characterized by robbery with violence and acts of hooliganism more than anytime in the last 30 years. There is no security of life or property. People live in constant fear because of escalation of armed robbery, a once rare phenomenon in Zanzibar. In short, the government of President Karume has failed to ensure security for Zanzibaris despite the promise he gave them.

NATIONAL UNITY

It is an acknowledged truth that leadership begins in the family. The sixth phase administration is identified by the rift within Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) in Zanzibar more than any other single factor. Now, if Hon. Karume, as Vice Chairman of the party for Zanzibar, has failed to stop members drifting apart, how can we honestly expect him to unite the nation?

This administration has also been remarkable for the enhancement of ill-feeling between the two parts of the Union. Discrepancies have been manifest in the Union from its inception, but all previous administrations tried in one way or another to identify the problems at least in an effort to find mutually acceptable solutions. But Hon. Karume has been at the beck and call of the other side to the extent that Zanzibaris have begun to worry about their future as a nation which voluntarily merged with the nation of Tanganyika to form the Union.

We have repeatedly said that we believe the Union government would be ready to discuss the relevant issues and to find viable solutions if there was a serious government on this side, a government which has the mandate of the people. A weak and unconfident leadership which has not been brought to power by Zanzibaris does not have the guts to safeguard the interests of the people of these islands. Consequently Hon. Karume has displayed total incapacity to create national unity through a mutually acceptable structure of the Union.

Another potential pillar of national unity is the Accord (Muafaka) reached between CUF and CCM which was meant to herald stable and decent politics free of violent confrontations. Steps taken by the sixth phase administration, or lack of them, in implementing the Accord which is a clear manifestation of ill-will on the part of CCM for the general elections of 2005, do not augur well for our country and our people.

Key areas of the Accord have not been implemented to date, including the establishment of a Permanent Voters’ Register, the reform of the Secretariat of the Zanzibar Electoral Commission (ZEC) and judicial reforms.

The tendency of Police involving itself in political affairs, as revealed in the Donge incident, and the public media campaigning for the ruling party even at this early stage, including preparing and airing programmes which provoke and incite politics of hatred and animosity, are also acts which are not conducive to national unity.

The basis of peace, stability and security of citizens and their property together with national security is respect of the constitution and observance of good governance. Hon. Karume has turned his back on this, otherwise he would not have the audacity to appoint Ahmed Hassan Diria as Minister of State in the President’s Office in charge of Constitutional Affairs and Good Governance. Diria’s violations of human rights when he was Area Commissioner for Wete, Pemba, immediately after the Revolution are a public record. Obviously Hon. Karume does not care two hoots about the feelings of the people of Pemba. Diria himself must be really thick-skinned to have the nerve to face his victims, many of whom are still alive.

The hostility of the sixth phase administration to the solidarity of Zanzibaris and its determination to frustrate efforts to put an end to social and political confrontations has been demonstrated by the shocking public statements which categorically opposed the concept of Government of National Unity. The Chief Minister, Shamsi Vuai Nahodha, the Minister of State for Constitutional Affairs and Good Governance, Ahmed Diria, and the Deputy Secretary General of CCM (Zanzibar), Saleh Ramadhan Ferouz, have all stated at different times that their government and CCM Zanzibar do not support and would not accept the formation of government of national unity.

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND SOCIAL SERVICES

As already intimated, Hon. Karume himself concedes that Zanzibaris are poor and starving after 40 years of CCM leadership. This is irrefutable in these four years of radarless leadership of sixth phase administration.

Commercial activities have collapsed and the once busy port, apart from being in poor state of repair, thus endangering people’s lives, is now of the status of Kilwa Masoko. Sea transport has lost its glory. Money is scarce. All this is manifestation of the deterioration of the economy in these four years which have seen Zanzibar being subjected to direct and total control by Mainland Tanzania.
The economy of Zanzibar relies on three major areas:

• Cloves
• Transit Trade, and
• Tourism

The government continues to hold monopoly of the clove trade instead of liberalising it. As a result the situation is so desperate that many employees of the Zanzibar State Trading Corporation (ZSTC) were recently sent on compulsory leave and contingency plans are believed to be on hand to declare a redundancy should the adverse situation persist, as it is likely to should the government hold onto its obstinacy on monopoly for reasons best known to them.

It is no secret that because of the submissive attitude of Hon. Karume to the Union government, transit trade has dwindled perceivably in Zanzibar. We are like the proverbial candle, pleasing others while we go into extinction.

Tourist industry went into eclipse two years ago when the then Minister of Home Affairs, Mohamed Seif Khatib, threw the scare of terrorists. Now it threatens to collapse completely because of the incapacity of President Karume’s government to assure the security of visitors and their property. Serious incidents of violent crimes against investors and tourists have become common occurrence and the government has shown little concern. Zanzibar is no longer pleasant nor safe for its citizens, let alone visitors. Under President Amani (a name which means peace), Zanzibar is devoid of peace.

One of the major campaign pledges of Hon. Karume was that he would put to an end the problem of delayed salaries for civil servants. But the problem aggravates with each passing month. It is in this administration that a new calendar has been sarcastically coined by the disgruntled workers. If you hear someone say with all seriousness that “Today is the 56th”, he means it is the 26th of this month, but last month’s salaries are yet to be paid. In other words, the government is literally bankrupt.

This happens when Hon. Karume himself is the Minister of Finance. Why has he steadfastly held onto that portfolio all these four years is a well-guarded secret. Instead of rectifying this anomaly, we are now presented with a bizarre and unprecedented system whereby all government funds are personally controlled by Hon. Karume as Minister of Finance and each and every expenditure must be directly authorized and made by that Ministry. The question arises, if that is the decision of the government, aren’t the Accountants employed in ministries, departments and parastatal organisations redundant? The outcome of this ridiculous procedure is that many official functions, even those involving minor recurrent expenditure, are stuck in this bureaucracy which does not seem to serve any useful purpose except perhaps for those who initiated it.

It would not be surprising to see claims of corruption mounting under this new system. Government property, including islets, have been sold or leased outside the tender system. Intrigues and corruption surround government practices in seeking services, purchasing, selling and leasing its property. There are many questionable examples including the leasing of Changu (Prison) island, termination of contract with ECO-TEC oil company and signing a new one with GAPCO, leasing of areas which provide internet services at Zanzibar Airport, government offices being compelled to avail themselves of internet services from a particular company, construction of Pemba roads, and many others.

President Karume also appears to ignore totally his promise to provide employment opportunities for Zanzibar youths. On the contrary, his tenure of office is marked by increasing unemployment and the people being subjected to the humiliating condition of finding it hard to provide for themselves. After four years he comes to acknowledge before the donor community that Zanzibaris are starving.

Coming to basic infrastructure, the aggregate length of Unguja and Pemba roads (including feeder roads) is 550 kilometres. So if they are put together they will not match the Dar-es-Salaam – Tunduma road, but to date the government of Zanzibar is incapable of bringing them to tarmac status. It boasts of “leveling and patching up” 5075 sq. m. It has taken two years (2002 – 2004) to complete the Mkoani – Chake Chake road (37 km), the 6 km section of Mkoani – Mtuhaliwa alone taking one year. At that pace, it would take the Mainland government to infinity to build their entire road network.

The problem of water shortage has worsened in the four years of the leadership of Hon. Karume. Yellow jerry canes have become the familiar pattern and decoration of Zanzibar Town. People have to stay awake all night waiting to be blessed by some drops of water by Karume’s government. Some parts of Kikwajuni, the constituency of the Minister for Water, Burhan Saadat, have given hope of seeing water flowing from their tapes. In Chake Chake, Pemba, water is rationed every Friday. And to show his approval of the status quo and the good work being done in this regard, Hon. Karume has recently elevated his brother-in-law, Mansour Yusuf Himid, from Assistant Minister for Water to a full fledged Minister in the same Ministry. The aim is to maintain this policy of the sixth phase administration of “Stay up for water and end up watered down (tired and incapable of mischief)”.

According to various researchers, water which can be safely extracted from the ground every year (safe yield) is 336 billion litres in Unguja and Pemba. The consumption of one million people (the population of Zanzibar) is 43.8 billion litres. Obviously these islands have sufficient water reserve for its inhabitants. What is lacking is seriousness on the part of the government in dealing with this issue. There are several discrepancies, including insufficient storage capacity. But the lack of seriousness becomes more prominent when we are told that one third (33 per cent) of the water pumped out every day is lost through rotten and defective delivery system (pipes).

With regard to electricity, we may recall that recently the island was about to be plunged into darkness when TANESCO threatened to cut off supply because of unpaid bills. As the Swahili saying goes, “Borrowed cloth is potential embarrassment”. The government of President Karume has been in office for four years now, yet it has not had the initiative to devise alternative source of electricity for Zanzibar. In Pemba, electricity supply is hectic, to put it mildly.

Most crucial in social services is education and health. The government of Hon. Karume boasts that it surpassed the targets set in the CCM election manifesto by building more “halls” than envisaged. For a government to take the construction of “halls” for class-rooms as the criteria for measuring the advance of education, and not the success rate of students or the quality of education provided in comparison with international standards, shows how misguided is the education policy of this administration.

The situation is worse in the health sector. Our hospitals, including that of Mnazi Mmoja which we call referral, have become mere buildings where patients are dumped after losing all hope, knowing fully well that no help whatever can be expected from there. There are no equipments, no medicine, and are now beginning to lose doctors even. It has become a familiar practice for the main Mnazi Mmoja hospital to suspend theatre operations (surgery) because of lack of water or oxygen. A citizen who has been impoverished by the government of Hon. Karume is required to provide all equipment when he goes to hospital and to cover the cost of the prescription. Poor people who cannot provide for their meals, where will they get the money to buy this equipment and medicine?

The few local doctors and nurses who have stayed to serve their fellow citizens under difficult circumstances and minimal wages have been blessed by this administration with scandals and accusation of stealing medicine and providing poor service! What medicine is there to be stolen from Zanzibar hospitals? True, “He who wants to despise you will find no shortage of abuses”.

Honourable guests, our gathering here today is by no means an election campaign. That is why in this opening statement we have not gone out of our way to suggest solutions to the problems we have touched on. Our aim was to show that the four years of Hon. Karume’s tenure of office were marked by lack of peace, stability and security, disintegration of the basis of national unity, and deterioration of the economy coupled with abysmal condition of social services. Indeed, to borrow the favourite saying of President Amani Karume, “Whoever has eyes does not need to be told to look”. If the situation seemed calm, it is because of the wisdom and perseverance of the ordinary people.

Thank you for your attention.