Recent Media Reports about

                               Zanzibar

JK moves to save ‘Muafaka’

SOSTHENES MWITA in Dodoma
Daily News; 2007

PRESIDENT Jakaya Kikwete has asked the “Muafaka” negotiating team of the Civic United Front (CUF) party, which has threatened to withdraw from the negotiations with the ruling Chama cha Mapinduzi (CCM) to return to the negotiating table.

In a Press Release released by the State House yesterday, the president who is also CCM chairman said it was the desire of his party to see the dialogue continues and eventually produce the desired results.

“CCM has not reached a point to declare that the dialogue has failed to work. We have declared failure and the intention to disband the negotiation team,” the president said.

He called upon the two sides to continue with the dialogue that would seek solutions for socio-political differences that prompted the dialogue.

The president asked the CUF Chairman, Mr Ibrahim Lipumba, and members of the CUF negotiating team not to pull out, calling for restraint and the will to continue talking.

”We are involved in a dialogue because we have a political and social problem that we must solve,” he said, adding that abandoning the talks would not amount to a viable solution. The president said the CUF pullout would plunge the two parties into an unfriendly climate.

He said before the dialogue CCM-CUF relations were dominated by rivalry, unending criticism, blame games and discrimination. He said the situation got so bad that at one point members of one party did not attend the funeral of a fallen member of a rival party.

He said the two sides (CUF and CCM members) were not even in speaking terms. He said such animosity would threaten to generate into outright enmity and a gross breach of peace and tranquility. He said what the nation wants to see in place is a climate of unity.

On August 7, this year the Chairman of CUF, Prof. Ibrahim Lipumba, issued a statement that claimed that the peace dialogue between his party and ruling CCM had stalled.

President Kikwete reminded the nation yesterday the source of the dialogue was the promise he gave to Tanzanians when addressing Parliament on December 30, 2005. He said in his promise he pledged to look for a solution to the prevailing political divide.

He said he would initiate a dialogue that would aim at unraveling the political situation in Zanzibar. He said at that time he believed there would not be any political or social differences that would crop up and prove impossible defuse with dialogue. He said he still believes dialogue will work.

The president said the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the ruling CCM instructed its party’s Secretary General to contact the Secretary General of CUF and ask him to agree to participate in a dialogue between the two political parties. The CUF Secretary General agreed.

The two secretaries met on January 17, this year and kicked off the dialogue, the president said. He said after the initial January 17 meeting both sides formed a negotiation team for the dialogue. On February 1, this year the two teams agreed to draw terms of reference for future meetings.

The following meeting progressed amicably with agreements on a five-point agenda. The president mentioned the agenda as The Zanzibar General Elections of October 30; an quitable, fair political forum; ways and means of strengthening political affiliation and free and fair polls in Zanzibar.

The meeting also drew strategies of implementing a programme of action for the agreements reached at the talks. President Kikwete said since the talks started, in January this year, the joint negotiating team has met 12 times spending a total of 43 days talking.

The two secretary generals, the president said, have met twice to look for solutions for elusive situations. He said there was amicable consensus on the need for equal political opportunities, the state of governance in Zanzibar and ways and means for improve political relations.

The joint team also reached a consensus on how best to conduct general elections in Zanzibar. However, the two sides are yet to agree on how best to create a friendly atmosphere for CCM and CUF to carry out their political initiatives in Zanzibar peacefully and amicably.

Isles govt to assist disabled

ISSA YUSSUF in Zanzibar
Daily News; August 13, 2007

THE government will continue supporting the disabled to achieve their intended goals, President Amani Abeid Karume has promised.

Mr Karume made the promise during a meeting with officers from the Zanzibar Association of people with Disabilities Umoja wa Watu wenye Ulemavu (UWZ), at the State House here, saying the association had been doing good work for the disabled.

According to the press statement from the Zanzibar State House, the president said his government was committed to seeing that the disabled programmes and activities develop.

The president also said that he supports the UWZ’s plans to form disabled council and their need to have an officer in each ministry to work over disabled issues. He said both moves would push ahead the disabled.

Mr Karume also appealed to the UWZ to expand their activities to rural areas. The UWZ executive director, Mr Khalfan Hemed Khalfan, said that law must be put in place to safeguard interests of people with disabilities.

“Having disabilities laws and a policy will fuel our development including finding disabilities in villages. We are also going on with awareness programme to traditional healers and midwives on how to handle children born with disability,” Mr Khalfan said. He suggested to the government to introduce disabilities Fund specifically to support education.

Z`bar needs coalition govt - US envoy

2007-08-10 09:56:48
By Lydia Shekighenda
Guardian

The American Ambassador to Tanzania, Michael Retzer, has described the formation of a coalition government as the best way to ensure a permanent end to the political impasse in Zanzibar.

He has also explained that it was of fundamental importance for all segments of the population to be equitably represented in the affairs of the government, warning that anyone or anything causing divisions among a country`s people puts national unity at great risk.

Ambassador Retzer said whenever there was division among the electorate national unity was very important since everyone wanted to be represented in the government.

The envoy made the remarks when fielding questions from journalists in Dar es Salaam yesterday at the launch by the US Embassy of an `Education Perspective Chapter` meant to serve underprivileged sectors of the society in Tanzania.

He said negotiations on the Zanzibar issue by the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi and the opposition Civic United Front, due to climax next week, were taking exceptionally long to conclude ``because everyone wants to be represented in the government``.

``Under such a situation, it is important to bring all parties into the government so that everyone is represented,`` he observed.

Ambassador Retzer noted that Tanzania has historically been an exemplary island of peace in an often unstable neighbourhood, adding however that the country has not been completely free from violence and could not consider itself immune to violence.

``Two days ago we commemorated the ninth anniversary of the August 7 East Africa Embassy bombings and today we still face the potential for violence if the Zanzibar question doesn`t get resolved,`` he pointed out.

``Today we still face the potential for violence if the Zanzibar question does not get resolved,`` he explained, expressing hope that CCM and CUF leaders would come up with a mutually agreeable accord before their August 15 deadline to forestall the eventuality.

EPC involves a group of volunteer students from the US expected to assist in implementing highly interactive health knowledge and related programmes, including those on HIV/AIDS, first aid, home safety, personal hygiene, and English language to students in chosen schools.

According to Retzer, the volunteers will share their knowledge and experience with youth in both mainland Tanzania and the Isles.

Yesterday`s EPC launch was confined to the University of Dar es Salaam and Karagwe Secondary School and 14 team members have already left for Karagwe in Kagera Region to work in volunteer services projects.

Other volunteers are set to go to Pemba to inaugurate EPC chapters at Utaani Secondary School and Benjamin Mkapa Teachers` College.

War of unsweet words between rival parties continues

The Express.com
August 11,2007
By Kizito Makoye, in Zanzibar

As the countdown for the forthcoming general elections continues, political tension in Zanzibar is rising with political opponents embarking on a war of words over the weekend.
This Express reporter witnessed many people, allegedly members of Civic United Front, being ferried to Zanzibar from Pemba, chanting malicious slogans against their opponents from CCM.
“We shall finish you, do not ever try to play with us…. it is now our turn. Yours is gone and it is gone forever,” violent young men were heard saying.
The CUF members formed a long procession forcing the traffic along Michenzani Road to come to a halt.
Members of CCM, who were present near the roundabout of Michenzani, tried hard not to allow emotions to carry them away, although others were heard endeavouring to find a means of revenge on CUF supporters.
“We are used to such kind of situation, whenever CUF members pass through this way, some of them usually prefer insults against members of CCM. As you can see, there is a CCM office over there,” a resident of Michenzani who sought anonymity told The Express.
According to Urban West Police Commander, George Kizuguto, CUF members were allowed to march as they escorted the presidential candidate on that party’s ticket to collect forms from the Zanzibar Electoral Commission.
CCM and CUF agreed to bury their differences in the peace accord signed by the secretary generals of the parties in 2001, and witnessed by the Secretary General of the Commonwealth, following violence that erupted in 2000.

Zanzibar duo missing in Germany

3 August 2007
BBC Sport, UK

Zanzibar have been training in Germany for the Cecafa Cup
Two players of the Zanzibar football team have disappeared from a training camp in Germany, an official of the Tanzanian semi-autonomous state has revealed.

The team is in Europe for a three-week training camp ahead of the East African Senior Challenge Cup scheduled for November in Dar es Salaam.

Zanzibar deputy sports minister Mahmoud Kombo said Atif Abdallah and Joseph Malik, regular players in the island's national team, went missing Tuesday in Berlin, but efforts were under way to trace them.

"It is true that the two players have absconded from the camp and we have informed relevant authorities," Kombo said from Zanzibar, which runs its own football affairs.

Kombo, who said the duo's visas will expire on August 9, added that the pair worked with the Zanzibar prisons department and would lose their jobs if they continued to stay away from the camp.

This is the second time Tanzanian sportsmen have gone missing while overseas.

In 2006, two Tanzanian boxers ran away from their team's camp in Australia during the Commonwealth Games.

They are yet to be traced.

CCM picks names for polls

DAILY NEWS Reporter in Dodoma
Daily News; August 03, 2007

THE National Executive Committee NEC) of the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) has endorsed candidates for various posts from district to national level in party elections scheduled for November. Most of the big shots sailed through.

CCM National Ideology and Publicity Secretary A ggrey Mwanri named the 59 candidates who will battle it out for the 20 mainland NEC seats as including Prime Minister Edward Lowassa, former prime minister Frederick Sumaye and the party's Secretary General, Mr Yussuf Makamba.

….. [edited]

The list of Zanzibar's 20 seats for NEC (national) is topped by Vice-President Dr Ali Mohamed Shein, Chief Minister Shamsi Vuai Nahodha, Deputy Chief Minister Ali Juma Shamuhuna and Union Information, Culture and Sports Minister, Muhammed Seif
Khatib.

Dr Salmin Amour, former Zanzibar president, is not contesting in the poll.

…….. [edited]

Too many patches in Constitution

2007-07-31
By Judica Tarimo, Dodoma
Guardian

Opposition legislators yesterday dismissed Tanzania`s Constitution as having too many serious flaws and needing urgent overhauling.

They saw the drafting of a new constitution as the only sure way to enhance democratisation by more meaningfully addressing some of the complex issues the country has been grappling with, including redressing political imbalances.

Giving the opposition�s stand on the 2007/2008 budget estimates of the Justice and Constitutional Affairs ministry in the National Assembly, the respective shadow minister called on the government to stop making frequent amendments to the present Constitution.

She said the amendments have reduced it to a patchwork of changes and alterations of little benefit to Tanzanians.

``We need a completely new Constitution that will be all-inclusive, one that will incorporate and protect the interests and rights of all Tanzanians,`` said shadow minister Fatma Maghimbi.

The opposition MPs said the slogan of �Better life for all Tanzanians`` propagated by the fourth-phase government of President Jakaya Kikwete government would be a pipedream in the absence of a new Constitution.

``The national unity our people have been enjoying for years is likely to disappear unless we dump the present Constitution and come up with something better focused to address present-day issues and problems.

Better life for all is impossible unless we have a Constitution able to help us wage a winning war on poverty, illiteracy and diseases,`` noted Maghimbi.

She said the Constitution now in use was an old-fashioned brainchild of the ruling CCM and was hatched with the express aim of safeguarding the interests of the party�s members during the single-party era.

``It is because of that very fact that the document is legally recognised but is not accepted by the majority of Tanzanians.

It just does not match with present-day realities and has failed to address, much less resolve, some crucial national and other issues,`` she added.

Elaborating, Maghimbi said it is known that land is not
a Union matter in the country, some Articles in the Union Constitution describe Zanzibar and Mainland as one country.

``Where does the word `one country` come from if Zanzibar has its own land? The confusion is triggered by this old-fashioned Constitution,`` she pointed out.

According to the opposition MPs, the present Constitution clearly stipulates the rights of several social groups, among them the youth, people with disabilities, elders, families, refugees and media organizations and also lays emphasis on such issues as the need to protect the environment and the people�s right to nutritious food.

However, they said it does not address the limits of the powers of the central and local governments such as the role of regional and district commissioners.

``There is no specific provision in the Constitution that provides for the drafting of the new Constitution. The present Articles are strictly confined to constitutional amendments and not a possible overhaul,`` they added.

The opposition`s push for a new Constitution is not a new or recent development but it was only recently that a coalition of four opposition parties went to the extent of declared their intention to boycott the forthcoming national elections (in 2010) unless the government took definitive measures to overhaul the Constitution.

Some opposition parties have been openly criticising the current Constitution as too undemocratic for the country to ever hold truly fair and free elections.

Ban on petrol sales is lifted

2007-07-31 
By Mwinyi Sadallah, Zanzibar
Guardian

The Zanzibar Petroleum Company has been given permission to resume distributing petrol in the Isles. The development comes hardly a week after the Zanzibar government barred the private firm from doing the business following reports that it had unilaterally hiked the price of petrol.

Government sources accused the company of raising the price of petrol from the official 1,350/- per litre fixed to 1,450/- without caring to consult the authorities concerned.

According to ZPC manager Hussein Kilongo, the government relented on the matter at a meeting attended by government officials and the company�s management.

He admitted that the firm had hiked petrol price without informing the government but explained that there is no law requiring them to issue such notification or seek such permission.

``We have agreed that next time we shall not take such a measure before informing the government. However, we shall continue charging 1,450/- per litre of petrol,`` he added.

The manager had earlier said they hiked the price following a rise in the oil prices in the international market and that it was �for fear of incurring a loss�.

The world price for a barrel of crude oil in May stood at $877 but has since risen to $938, he observed, adding: ``We deemed it prudent to raise pump prices rather than commit economic suicide while fully knowing where the problem lay.``

Kilongo had blamed the government for ``punishing us while prices in the foodstuff business have skyrocketed without provoking any government interference``.

He said diesel and kerosene prices could also rise at any time depending on the availability of the items in the world market.

Diesel and kerosene currently fetch a retail 1,310/- and 960/- per litre in most parts of the Isles.

The ZPC manager said they recently imported 500 tonnes of an assortment of petroleum products from Mombasa in neighbouring Kenya but would not give details.

The ban on the company came after it raised the price of petrol it had stocked in its reservoirs at Mtoni in the Zanzibar municipality.

Dr Mwinyihaji Makame Mwadini, Minister of State in the Zanzibar President`s Office, was quoted as saying the ban was meant to serve as a lesson to the firm for defying a lawful government order.

He said ZPC had violated rules and regulations governing petroleum business, adding: ``Notifying the government of its intentions well in advance would have enabled the Zanzibar Revenue Board to inspect the imported petrol before giving a green light for increasing prices.``

The only other firm that imports petroleum products for use in Zanzibar is GAPCO, which is still selling petrol and diesel at the old price of 1,350/- per litre.

`Z`bar passenger boats a time bomb`

2007-07-30 
By Mwinyi Sadallah, Zanzibar
Guardian

Marine transportation vessels ferrying passengers between Zanzibar and the Mainland are a ticking time bomb.

Some of the engines fall silent times while in high seas, posing a serious threat to human lives.

Members of the House of Representatives raised their concern while debating the 2007/8 budget for the ministry of Infrastructure Development and Transportation in Zanzibar, which was presented by Minister Adam Mwakanjuki.

Special Seats Representative Zakia Omar said some of the crafts would have their engines going off several times, bringing panic to passengers.

She said: `MV Sepideh is the only company which services its ships annually.`

The representative mentioned Sea Star and Sea Express as some of the companies whose ships had caused passengers� concern. She called upon the government to make a serious follow up on the boat companies.

`A number of registered second hand boats lack quality cleaning services. There are a lot of cockroaches running around the vessels.

Some of the vessels carry passengers beyond capacity.

Should there be an accident, a lot of people would lose their lives,` said Zakia.

Another representative, Mkongwe Nassor, said Pemba Port needed major repairs, saying women were forced to pull their clothes up to their chests to avoid getting wet while getting on or off board.

Wete representative Asaa Othman Hamad said the government had to be cautious about the deteriorating condition of sea vessels.

Hamad said he was surprised to see the problem persisting although experts were inspecting the said ships.

Responding to the allegations, the Deputy Minister for Infrastructure Development and Transportation Mzee Ali Ussi said: `Previously, the Surface and Marine Transport Regulatory Authority (SUMATRA) was in charge of inspecting the passenger boats.

However, we have established a special department that will perform the task.`

Ussi said the department was already operational. He promised to make sure that it would operate efficiently.

Tausi Ki Parara, "I felt like if I touched someone I would infect them"

29 July 2007
IRIN

On Fridays, women who have been abandoned by their husbands congregate in the streets outside Stone Town's mosques to beg for money.
STONE TOWN, In 2001, the private life of Tausi Ki Parara became the subject of much local gossip in her neighbourhood of Stone Town, the capital of Zanzibar, an Indian Ocean island off the coast of Tanzania.

"Peacock", the English translation of her Kiswahili name, was sick and her prospective husband had packed up and left. Rumours swirled. The truth was that Tausi had tested HIV-positive. "In Zanzibar you have to get a blood test before getting married. I went in trusting my health was fine," she said.

"When I found out I was HIV-positive it was a complete shock. My fiance was negative. He took it like I was a bad, promiscuous girl and said he could never trust me. It felt awful. He ran away and to this day I've never seen him again.

"Almost the entire population of Zanzibar [one million people] is Muslim. At that time, they could no longer accept me. They thought I was a prostitute and I didn't belong to their society. There was no counsellor to deal with things, I only had my brother to help me cope. I felt like if I touched someone I would infect them.

"Today things have changed: Muslim leaders on Zanzibar are leading the fight against AIDS. They know it is not just one person's problem, but everyone's, to solve.

"I met someone and married a month ago. My husband is HIV-positive; we plan to have kids. I'm educated, so I know the chances of my children contracting HIV, but I know how to protect them with treatment, and other ways to guard the baby. For example, I will save money to buy formula so I don't have to breast feed.

"When someone asks, now I tell them I'm HIV positive; everyone greets me and accepts me here. The truth has come out - people have learned through television and radio the facts about HIV.

"Because of HIV I have this job [she works for the HIV programme of Zanzibar Youth Advancement for Development, Education and Sanitation (ZAYADESA), a local non-governmental organisation], which has given me the chance to fly all over the world and to save money for my children's education; it's had its advantages, I would have to say.

"For myself, I'm fine. I just try to shout out to others and encourage them to check their health status. If you are asked about your status and can't say 'yes' or 'no', then you should be checked."

Curb influx of illegal visitors - Karume

ISSA YUSSUF, Zanzibar
Sunday News; Sunday,July 29, 2007 @00:03

ZANZIBAR President Amani Abeid Karume said here yesterday that while Zanzibar welcomes people from all corners of the world, it is not interested in illegal visitors.

He called on the Immigration Department to fight and curb the influx of illegal visitors to Zanzibar, including tourists entering the Isles illegally.

The president was addressing immigration officials during a closed door meeting at the Zanzibar State House on Thursday. State House Press Secretary Rajab Mkasaba told a press briefing after the meeting that the Isles will no longer tolerate foreigners who abuse Zanzibar’s hospitality by flouting immigration procedures, whether or not they are tourists.

The president asked the department to ensure foreigners visit and settle in Zanzibar according to immigration laws.

The Immigration Department Director, Mr Kinemo Kihomano, told the president that illegal visitors were entering the Mainland and then entering Zanzibar using different routes. He assured the president that the department will carry out all his instructions.

Zanzibar has new police chiefs

July 25, 2007
Xinhua

Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete has appointed Hamis Mohamed Simba to be the new commissioner of police for Zanzibar.

The appointment was made known through a statement issued by the State House.

Simba is replacing Khalid Idd Neuzan who has retired after completing his term of service on the Indian Ocean archipelago.

The Tanzanian president also appointed three deputy commissioners of police for Zanzibar. They are Samson Kassala as the deputy director of public investigation, Venance Tossi as the police operation chief, and Vicent Matama as the police training chief.

Zanzibar forms special police unit to protect tourists

July 24, 2007
Xinhua

The government of Zanzibar has formed a special police unit to specialize in the protection of tourism that is becoming the key economic pillar of the Indian Ocean archipelago.

The news was broken out by Zanzibar Public Safety and Security Minister Bakari Mwapachu while addressing Monday's session of the Zanzibar House of Representatives, according to reports reaching here.

Zanzibar has already sent some police officers to Kenya to learn from its experience on tourism and tourist protection.

The government of Zanzibar has been attaching great importance to tourism which is catching up with the exports of cloves as the backbones of the isles' economy.

Thanks to concentrated efforts from both public and private sectors, tourism has developed over the past few years to account for 22 percent of Zanzibar's annual gross domestic product and was the leading foreign exchange earner with between 84 and 85 percent of export earnings for the last two years in a row.

During the past tourist season, 137,111 foreign tourists visited Zanzibar while back in 2000, 97,165 foreign tourists came.

The Zanzibar authorities are expecting over 150,000 foreign tourists to visit the isles this year.

But as more foreign tourists came, gangs of bandits have started to pounce on them for cash and other valuables like cameras, mobile phones and wrist watches.

In the past two years, several incidents have occurred with bandits robbing foreign tourists either around sightseeing spots or on tourist hotel premises.

The Zanzibar authorities have been beefing up security in sightseeing spots and tourist hotels to render a sound tourism environment.

Work on Malindi port to be ready in 2009

Daily News,
July 20, 2007

THE rehabilitation of the Zanzibar’s main port of Malindi will be completed by end of 2009, the Zanzibar Minister for Communication and Transport, Mr Adam Mwakanjuki, informed the House yesterday.

Responding to a supplementary question asked by Mr Ali Abdallah Ali (CCM- Mfenesini), the minister anticipated a speedy quality work. “The reason for the delay in constructing the harbour is that we have been in dispute with the European Union (EU) on technical design. Fortunately we have reached an agreement and the port rehabilitation work is in full swing,” Mr Mwakanjuki said.

The minister did not give details, but it is understood that argument between the main sponsors of the project, EU, which has allocated about more than 32m US Dollars and the Zanzibar government (SMZ) erupted shortly after the port rehabilitation work started in 2005.

While SMZ prefers piles design or structure of jetty, the EU stood firm for block pier. The controversy has delayed the work which was previously planned to take 18 months starting July 2007. SMZ had to accept the EU proposal.

The port is the main source of income for the government, and the delay in reconstructing the port has been denying the government a lot of income.

=======ENDS/RENA====
Isles health budget proposal sails through MEMBERS of Zanzibar House of Representatives yesterday endorsed the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare’s 5bn/- budget proposal for 2007-08 fiscal year after a two-day heated debate, during which members took to the podium to express their concern over increasing sale of expired foods in Zanzibar. Health and Social Affairs Minister Mugheiry was called upon several times to clarify issues and promise action on many areas as the House sat as a committee of supply to approve the estimates vote by vote. The rice saga was a thorny issue. Members of the House alleged that there was an increasing importation of fake foods, especially rice, blaming health and trade authorities for laxity in observing food safety laws. They also said the problem was fuelled by corrupt officials. Recently a consignment of about 40 tons of “expired rice” was imported to Zanzibar. It has been alleged that the Zanzibar Chief Chemist gave contradicting results firstly indicating that the consignment was unfit for human consumption and later on showing that only 20 packets were found to be unfit. Mr Salmin Awadhi Salmin called for the formation of a probe team to look into the matter instead of leaving it with the government. “The government is the alleged offender in this case, how can it investigate itself”, he wondered. After several minutes of arguments, the House Speaker (committee of supply chairperson) Mr Pandu Ameir Kificho opted for vote, giving those against the formation of an independent House committee a victory of 31-30. Mr Mugheiry and the Zanzibar Chief Minister, Mr Shamsi Vuai Nahodha, strongly rejected the lawmaker’s demand to form a House committee to probe the rice saga. “The government will take the responsibility of investigating the allegation of importing expired rice. If the investigation proves that health inspectors at the port and the Chief Chemist's office have been dishonest and allowed the expired rice into market, they will be disciplined,” Mr Nahodha promised.

Crew and ship missing for three weeks

Anxiety over fate of ship after contact lost in Indian Ocean

Shipping Times
19 July 2007

Anxiety grows over the fate of 14 crewmembers of a multi-purpose cargo ship that disappeared almost three weeks ago in the Indian Ocean.

The REEF AZANIA, a 2583 dwt vessel built in 1985, was on her way from Dubai to the Seychelles and then Zanzibar with cargoes, but during what has been described as 'turbulence' in the Indian Ocean all contact with the vessel was lost.

The operators of the ship, Zambezi Shipping Agency, agents for the ship's owners, Reef Line, say they lost contact with the vessel after this, some 20 days since.

Although some press reports fear piracy, it is not thought she has been another victim.

The shipping agency say that all efforts are being made to trace the ship.

The St Vincent & Grenadines flagged vessel was formerly the AZANIA and before that COLMAR CASTOR, KRISTINE and STENHEIM

Zanzibar spends beyond targets

2007-07-18
By Beatrice Philemon
Guardian

Expenditure by the government of Zanzibar during the month of June went beyond target by almost 10bn/-, latest Bank of Tanzania (BoT) report shows.

Bank of Tanzania (BoT) monthly economic review of June 2007 indicates that the hiked expenditure could be achieved because of increased flow of receipts from development partners than earlier anticipated.

The amount that had been budgeted for spending during that period was 11.5bn/-, though eventually 20.6bn/- was expended.

The allocations of this expenditure was such that development projects accounted for 12.6bn/- (of which 0.13bn/- was local component) while recurrent expenses amounted to 7.9bn/-.

Furthermore, expenditure on wages and salaries amounted to 3.8bn/- in line with target and accounted for 48.1 percent of the recurrent expenditure and 18.4 percent of the total expenditure.

Also cumulative government expenditure from July 2006 to May 2007 amounted to 155.1bn/- slightly exceeding the projected 153.7bn/-.

Elaborating on debt developments in Zanzibar, it reveals that by the end of May 2007, Zanzibar debt stood at 199.3bn/-, equivalent to USD158.4m, almost the same level recorded in the previous month.

External debt was USD103.8m accounting for nearly 65.5 percent of total debt and the balance of 68.7bn/- was domestic debt.

Zanzibar�s fiscal performance during the month of May 2007, was on the deficit side, having recorded a shortfall of 2.0bn/-, compared with a deficit of 0.7bn/- registered in the previous month.

Total resources amounted to 17.8bn/- out of which 7.3bn/- was from domestic sources and foreign resources accounted for 10.5bn/-.

Total revenue collections for the month of May amounted to 7.3bn/- higher compared with the target of 5.8bn/-.

Moreover out of this, tax revenue was 6.7bn/- and the improved performance was on account of remarkable increase of import duties following increase in taxable merchandise imports as well as enhanced tax administration measures by the revenue agencies.

Almost all tax categories recorded higher harvests than targets and the leading revenues sources for Zanzibar remained taxes on imports and value added tax (VAT) and excise duties which altogether accounted for about 67 percent of the total tax revenue.

Travel picks: Top 10 island beaches

[Bwejuu makes top 10 list]

Saskatoon Star Phoenix
Reuters
Published: Saturday, July 07, 2007

NEW YORK, (Reuters) -- Ever wanted to feel like a castaway in a warm, secluded oasis of tranquility and beauty? Conde Nast Traveler has scoured the globe to find the best island beaches.

Following is a list of their top 10 choices:

1. Shipwreck Beach, Zakynthos, Greece -- This is an idyllic, isolated beach scooped out of a vertical wall of white rock.

2. Cumberland Island, Georgia -- With only 300 visitors allowed per day it equates to about 18 tourists per mile of beach.

3. Anse Victorin, Fregate Island, Seychelles -- Almost deserted, the crescent-shaped beach has soft sand, clear, tranquil water and a backdrop of palms and cliffs.

4. Lido, Venice, Italy -- The ultimate seaside resort made famous by author Thomas Mann in Death in Venice.

5. 7-Mile Beach, Negril, Jamaica --The right mix of white sand, tranquil water and enough beach life to keep anyone from getting bored.

6. Gibson Beach, Sagaponack, New York -- With no amenities of any kind, this wild swath of dunes, surf and fabulously wealthy homes is a beach that attracts Manhattan's beautiful people. With minimal parking, cycling is a preferred transport.

7. Cocoa Island, Maldives -- Tiny Cocoa Island is virtually all beach.

8. Bwejuu, Zanzibar, Tanzania -- It's one of the most exotic of Africa's islands and Bwejuu is its wide and blindingly white beach.

9. Kamala Beach, Phuket, Thailand -- The western shores are thick with beaches, and many of those beaches are bustling with commercial activity including food vendors, gift shops, bars and other distractions. Kamala is the antidote. Kamala Bay's main street is a convivial integration of seafood restaurants, shops, and bars that are notably tamer.

10. Waikiki, Oahu, Hawaii -- There's no such thing as boredom in Waikiki. The shops, restaurants and parks of Honolulu are just a block away

Dons establish research institute

ISSA YUSSUF in Zanzibar
Daily News; Friday,July 06, 2007

PROMINENT Tanzanian academicians have launched a research-oriented institution called 'Zanzibar Indian Ocean Research Institute (ZIORI)',

ZIORI Executive Director Professor Abdul Sheriff told journalists here yesterday that the institution will endeavour to encourage, facilitate, and co-ordinate research on all aspects of the Indian Ocean by local and foreign scholars, with particular emphasis on the social sciences of Zanzibar, the Swahili coast, and the Indian Ocean.

ZIORI Board Chairman Professor Issa Shivji said the institution would also encourage inter-disciplinary research, especially to take advantage of the facilities of the Institute of Marine Sciences in Zanzibar .

"In particular it seeks to develop the research capacity among young scholars in Zanzibar and the Indian Ocean region in general. It will organize training on research methodology for young scholars, and help them develop their research capacity. It will try to involve them in research projects to get first-hand experience," Professor Shivji said.

They said that the Institute will organize workshops and conferences on relevant themes, establish a network of scholars and researchers to facilitate consultation and research.

The current ZIORI board of directors also include: Prof Haroub Othman, Prof Mohamed Bakari from Kenya, and Dr Mrs Vijayalakshmi Teelock from Mauritius .

Improve jail facilities in Zanzibar, leaders demand

05 Jul 2007
STONE TOWN, 5 July 2007 (IRIN)

The prison system in the Tanzanian semi-autonomous islands of Zanzibar should be reformed because the jails can hardly cope with the rising number of inmates, leaders from the area said.

During a debate on the 2007/2008 budget proposals for the Ministry of Regional Administration, members of the Zanzibar parliament said the inmates were living in "inhuman" conditions. The jails, they added, were also too congested.

"Prisoners are not happy at any time as they excrete or urinate in the shared buckets, and have no recreation, including being denied to watch TV or listen to radio," the MPs said. "The world is advancing so we must also change and improve our prisons." The Zanzibar state minister for the constitution and good governance, Ramadhani Abdallah Shaaban, admitted that the number of inmates and prisoners on remand had increased in the past year.

"By July this year, the prisons had 420 inmates and 3,163 remandees of different ages, including adolescents," he said.

"This is an increase of 33 remandees, including five women, and 29 inmates, including three women - up by 8.8 percent and 0.93 percent respectively recorded between April 2005 and March 2006," he added.

According to the minister, most inmates (324) and remandees (2,423) were between 21 and 40 years old. Most were in jail over offences such as theft, robbery, murder, rape and under-age pregnancy.

Move to popularise Union

PARLIAMENTARY Reporter, Dodoma
Daily News; July 05, 2007

THE functioning of the Union between the Mainland and Zanzibar will be made more transparent to stem off public complaints on the political marriage, which were rooted in a lack of understanding of union affairs, the National Assembly was told yesterday.

Tabling the 2007/08 budget estimates for the Vice-President’s Office yesterday, the Minister of State, Dr Hussein Mwinyi, said some of the complaints raised by the people about the union reflected ignorance of how the Union worked.

“The people will be enlightened on how the Union works,” said Dr Mwinyi. However, he did not elaborate how. The United Republic of Tanzania is Africa’s oldest political union formed more than 43 years ago.

He also said the Vice-President’s Office will continue to coordinate Zanzibar’s share of economic benefits and earnings from revenue sources connected to Union. Debt relief provided by donors and profits posted by the Bank of Tanzania will also be shared out.

Union matters, he said, were being dealt with fairly and that all 14 union ministries had held both sides' meetings during the last financial year.......

Govt move to sale Michenzani flats

DailyNEWS Reporter
Daily News; July 04, 2007

SOME Zanzibaris will soon own the Michenzani-government flats if the proposed major reform on house ownership gets legislature support, the Minister for Construction, Water, Energy, and Land, Mr Mansour Yussuf Himid, has said.

"Policy changes are in pipeline to include selling of the government houses to the people," Mr Yussuf said amid applause from the House.

The Michenzani flats were build after the 1964 revolution under the stewardship of the then President Abeid Karume in his efforts to improve housing for the poor.

Earlier, the Deputy Minister in the ministry, Mr Taffana Kassim Mzee, had told the House when answering Mr Ame Mati Wadi (CCM- Matemwe), that the Rent Restriction Board (RRB) has improved the condition of the houses and increased revenue collection.

Mr Kassim said the board had collected revenue amounting to 72m/- in 2005/2006 and more than 95m/- by March this year.

Meanwhile, Zanzibar plans to spend about 835m/- for renovating the Sebleni House Estate in a bid to improve the condition of the dilapidated houses, Members of the Zanzibar House of Representatives were told yesterday.

The Deputy Minister for Health and Social Welfare, Ms Shawana Bukheit Hassan, informed the House that the elderly houses at Sebleni, Limbani, and Gombani in Pemba where in bad condition.

Answering a question by Mr Hajji Mkema Hajji (CCM-Koani) and a supplementary question from Mr Awadhi Salmin Awadhi (CCM- Magomeni), the deputy minister said that her ministry was providing minor maintenances in the houses while waiting for allocation of substantial funds from the Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs.

Ministry investigates discrimination of obese workers

DailyNEWS Reporter
Daily News; July 04, 2007

ZANZIBAR Ministry of Labour, Youths, Children, and Women Development Ms Asha Abdallah Juma, said here yesterday that her ministry will investigate allegations that some female hotel workers had been expelled from their jobs simply because they were fat.

She was responding to a question by Mr Ali Suleiman Ali (CCM-Kwahani) who claimed that some women had been involuntarily retired from their job "just because they were plump".

He told the House that the alleged women had worked at the tourist Hotel in Puani-Mchangani, north of Unguja Island for some years, but when they became fat the hotel management terminated their contracts.

The minister said if the MP allegations were true, then it was totally against human rights to banish an employee because of her physical appearance, adding that it was tantamount to discrimination that should not be allowed in the Isles.

She said that her office would investigate and take appropriate action against any hotel or restaurant exercising such discrimination.

Meanwhile, arguments erupted yesterday in the Zanzibar House of Representatives between opposition and a State Minister over the Zanzibar president status in the International conferences.

Debating the budget proposals for the Office of the Zanzibar President and Chairman of the Revolutionary Council, Mr Assaa Othman Hamad (Wete- CUF) charged that normally Zanzibar president was sidelined in international conferences.

"Zanzibar president deserves international recognition as head of a country because international relations are non union matters," he charged. But the Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs, Dr Mwinyihaji Makame Mwadini, argued that the statement was a fabrication.

The minister demanded Mr Othman to apologize for not telling the truth in the House, but the legislator stood firm, citing a SADC meeting he attended in Swaziland where he witnessed Zanzibar president not sitting at the high-table with other presidents.

However, the Zanzibar House of Representatives Speaker Mr Pandu Ameir Kificho, intervened, ordering the foreign affairs department to investigate the allegations and report to the House.

Japan, Tanzania sign water supply projects

Xinhua
Jun 28, 2007

The governments of Japan and the United Republic of Tanzania Thursday signed an agreement to assist Zanzibar to develop water supply systems.

The water supply agreement will cost 8.8 billion Tanzanian shillings (around 7.04 million U.S. dollars) in all.

Eleven wells will be drilled and water supply pipelines will be extended by 21 km to host supplies in the urban areas in the Indian Ocean archipelago.

Signing the agreement were Japanese Ambassador to Tanzania Makoto Ito and Zanzibar Finance Ministry Principal Secretary Khamis Mussa Omar.

Phase One of the water supply project will be completed in March 2008 while Phase Two will be concluded in March 2009.

Mansour Yussuf Himid, Zanzibari Minister of Water, Works, Energy and Land, expressed his gratitude to the Japanese government for its aid to the Zanzibar isles.

"The completion of the two phases will enable local people to enjoy access to clean drinking water in the Zanzibar West Urban area," said the minister.

Though part of the united republic, Zanzibar has its own president, cabinet and parliament.

World Bank assists Zanzibar in building secondary schools

Xinhua
Jun 26, 2007

Zanzibar has got 42 million U.S. dollars from the World Bank as an aid that will be spent on building 10 secondary schools and on other education-promoting activities.

The aid pact was signed in Zanzibar between the permanent secretary of the Tanzanian finance ministry and the World Bank country representative to Tanzania, according to reports reaching here on Tuesday.

Khamis Mussa, principal secretary in the Zanzibar finance ministry, said after the signing of the aid pact that the World Bank aid would be used to facilitate secondary school education in the Indian Ocean archipelago.

Apart from building new schools, the World Bank aid will also be used to rehabilitate some existing secondary schools in both Unguja and Pemba, the two major islands of the archipelago.

Hotel group to train Zanzibar youths

ISSA YUSSUF in Zanzibar
Daily News; Monday,June 25, 2007

COMPLAINTS by youths in Zanzibar that they are being marginalised in job opportunities in the tourism industry might soon be over if plans to provide hotel management training for youths materialises.

Many youths and some members of the Zanzibar House of Representatives have been protesting against increased employment of youths from outside Zanzibar in tourist hotels while those in the isles are given few chances.

Neptune Group of Hotels has plans to conduct a three-month free training programme to youngsters who wish to pursue hotel management course to bridge the gap between youth unemployment and demand for skilled workers in the tourist industry.

The group's chairperson, Mr Amin Merali, said at the weekend that his organisation has plans to train 100 youths, mainly from villages surrounding tourist hotels.

The trained youth, mainly high school drop-outs, would then be able to work as self- employed entrepreneurs in the growing industry and contribute to the growth of private sector.

"We are determined to help Zanzibar youths get the knowledge and work in the hotels. Currently, there are very few Zanzibari youths working in the hotels just because of lack of skills," said Mr Merali at the Zanzibar Institute of Tourism (ZIT) at Maruhubi here.

Mr Merali revealed the plans at a party to congratulate 11 youths who have just graduated and to welcome 10 more who are about to start training.

The Neptune Hotel in Mombassa, Kenya, will conduct the programme, which includes courses in house keeping, food and beverages and front office management among others.

According to a board member of Neptune Group, Mr Mohamed Baloo, the three-month course, covering training, accommodation and transport costs 9m/- per student.

The Zanzibar Tourism Commission (ZTC) Executive Secretary, Mr Vuai Mwinyi, appealed to other hotel groups to support efforts to train Zanzibar youths in hotel management.

Minimum wage up in Isles

ISSA YUSSUF, Zanzibar
Daily News; Thursday,June 21, 2007

MINIMUM wage, airport service charge and prices of various items including cigarettes, beer and motor vehicle licences are set to rise following adjustments to several taxes announced by the Minister of State in the Zanzibar President’s
Office (Finance and Economic Affairs), Dr Mwinyihaji Makame, here yesterday.

Tabling the budget bill for 2007/08 in the Zanzibar House of Representatives, the minister announced increased minimum salary from current 50,000/- to 60,000/-which is 20 per cent increase.

“The salary structure aims at reducing burden for low income earners and people in general,” Dr Makame said, adding that many Zanzibaris still lived in poverty. Take home pay would be 73,600/- after including other allowances, mainly transport and housing. The minister said the changes would take effect on the date to be announced by the responsible minister. He also told the House that elders under government care would start receiving 3,000/- instead of the 500/- while pensioners will now get 15,000/-, up from 7,500/- monthly.

Dr Makame said in an effort to check brain drain of professionals, salaries for degree holders and above would be reviewed. He appealed to skilled Zanzibaris to remain in the country.

Airport service charge would rise from 25 US dollars to 30 US dollars while new taxes on cigarettes would be mentioned later. The minister said this measure would help reduce use of tobacco, which causes health problems. He said imported beers would be charged 400/- per litre. “This is because the government believes beer is luxurious item,’’ he added.

The minister said licence fees for motor vehicles with two wheels would be 10,000/- while all other motor vehicles will be charged 50,000/- per annum.

Dr Makame expressed satisfaction on the progress of the tourism sector in which taxes for hotels would be reviewed to increase revenue. He underlined the government’s desire to improve the infrastructure, tourism sector, agricultural sector and attract investments to create more jobs.

Social services, including health and inflation, will be improved in accordance with the 2020 vision and Zanzibar Poverty Reduction strategy (ZPRS). The government has proposed to spend 276bn/- out of which 140.36bn/- will be for recurrent expenditure while 35.6bn/- will cater for the development votes.

Karume okays Human Rights Commission Bill

ISSA YUSSUF in Zanzibar
Daily News; Thursday,June 21, 2007

THE Human Rights Commission (HRC) is now free to work in the Isles after the Zanzibar President, Mr Amani Abeid Karume, assented bills proposing the move.

The Zanzibar House of Representatives Speaker, Mr Pandu Ameir Kificho, informed the house yesterday that the bill was one of four proposed legislations signed by the President.

Mr Kificho mentioned them as the 2001 HRC establishment law, Commission for Special Department law, a law to establish Zanzibar agricultural institute, and a bill to improve “Privilege, Powers, and Immunities for members of the House” laws.

Journalists in Zanzibar recently raised concern over the “Privilege, Powers, and Immunities for members of the House” law saying it suppresses press freedom. Clauses 24 and 32 of the law restrict journalists or media practitioners to enter the Zanzibar House of Representatives without the Speaker’s consent. The law classifieds journalists as visitors.

Also under the proposed laws a journalist will not be allowed to report any information from the House including personal behaviours in the assembly of a member of the House without the Speaker’s permission.

Challenges remain on fulfilling children’s rights

ASSAH MWAMBENE
Daily News, June 19, 2007

TANZANIA commemorated Africa Child day on June 16 this year. In this article, Staff Writer ASSAH MWAMBENE looks at the situation of children rights in Zanzibar…

RAYA is a 14-year-old girl who was forced to end schooling in favour of a forced marriage in Zanzibar to a man she did not love. She was however, brave and courageous enough to tell the social workers about her ordeal.

The Ministry of Youth, Employment, Women and Children Affairs condemned such a move and managed to intercept the marriage after almost three weeks of the forced marriage.

However, after such timely intervention by the government and neighbours, the girl, who was schooling at Mwanakwerekwe Primary School, managed to go to class again but unfortunately she did not survive long.

Just three months after rejoining the school she died of unexplained diseases. Maybe she would have lived to tell the story about how she was plunged into a forced marriage at such a tender age and to a man she did not choose.

Another interesting but terrifying story is about Ali Said. Ali Said is not his real name. He is a nine-year-old boy from a remote village in Mahonda, Zanzibar. He has a strong ambition and is determined to become a soldier or work as a security guard when he leaves school.

“I have a keen interest in working as a security guard or a soldier because being a soldier means having a gun and no one will dare to bother you,” he says.

Like many young children, Said seems to take a keen interest on the smart uniforms and other uniforms which workers of the many security companies he sees in town wear.

But what is so interesting about his ambition into the security cycles is that it was not accidental but rather stemmed from physical and psychological trauma he suffered after being defiled by a neighbour and inflicted in the village.

Like many kids, Said says, he was sent to buy bread at a nearby grocery and when he came back, he says the man who sent him threatened to kill him if he ever dared to shout at the heckler.

Ali and Raya’s cases are among many psychological and physical incidents that impair children in Zanzibar and denying them of their rights to education, life and many other social service needs.

But what is more alarming is that incidences like these are on the increase on the Island. There have been efforts to silence few activists who have been trying to advocate for the rights of children.

Lulu Hussein Othman, the Children and Women Affairs Officer in North B Unguja District, says has been a target of the ruthless men and women who have been harassing children in the area.

She believes that her own grandson was defiled as retaliation for her strategy to ensure that detractors were taken to task as opposed to the will of few unscrupulous individuals who have always wanted to conceal the information regarding rape or physical harassment of children.

Lulu says traditionally most of villagers would like to settle out of court any case of rape and defiling to protect the detractors, mostly men, from the public shame and ridicule for demonising children.

Lulu says it has taken more than four months for the grandson to partially recover from the trauma since she says, he felt shy before his fellow pupils at school because almost everyone was aware that he was defiled.

She also noted that last year alone a total of 15 schoolgirls were impregnated and others went on a forced marriage while at school. A total of five incidents of girls being raped in the District were reported.

Lulu believes that cases of the rape and other cruelty against children were on the increase in part because once they land into a court of law, they are dismissed on explanation that there is no evidence to back up the case.

She says for example, between 2002 and 2006 a total of 118 cases of rape of girls were reported at Vuga regional Court, 44 of them were dismissed on grounds that there were no evidence, others offered lenient punishment to offenders.

An official with the Ministry of Youth, Employment, Women Affairs and Children, Sharifa Maulid, says the government has tried to make amendments in the laws that govern women and children’s rights.

She says for example, that the Spinsters, Widows and Divorce Act have been amended to give rights to continue with their studies even when they get pregnant. In the past, she says girls found pregnant were automatically expelled from school.

She says the government, in collaboration with various partners, including UNICEF, WHO and several bilateral donors like Italian and United States governments, funds various programmes aimed at fostering child rights.

Corruption impedes justice in Isles

ISSA YUSSUF in Zanzibar
Daily News; Monday,June 18, 2007

CORRUPTION, inept police officers, overcrowded jails, shortage of judges and lack of funds are some of the setbacks for improving the Zanzibar legal system.

Participants in a one-day meeting to assess the Director of Public Prosecutions (DDP) office performance in Zanzibar also cited “insufficient witnesses in case proceedings, ignorance of the law and communication gap within the legal structure,” as other problems in the Isles.

The meeting was organised by the DPP’s office as one of the activities to mark its fifth anniversary. Participants included senior officers from the police, Zanzibar prisons (reformatory schools), judiciary, Revolutionary Council (executive), Ministry of Finance and the media.

The DPP, Mr Othman Masoud, said his office wanted to get people’s views before handing its five-year report to higher authorities.

The Deputy Director of Criminal Investigation (DCI) – Zanzibar, Mr Ramadhani Kinyogo, said: “We have a problem in recruiting police officers. Normally good performing school leavers do not apply for the job. We need to get officers who can communicate well with other legal practitioners such as judges.”

Mr Zaharan Mbarouk from the Prisons Department lamented that prisons “were too congested. A cell for five people accommodates ten or more, who are mostly charged with minor offences. It is a waste of government resources. Let us find a solution as soon as possible,” he said.

The Registrar of the Zanzibar High Court, Mr Abraham Mwampashi, said that insufficient funds were the major cause for failure to the implementation of various programmes in the judiciary. Other participants complained of prosecution delays in Pemba, where there is no resident judge and sessions took too long to be held there.

The Zanzibar Minister of State (Constitution and Good Governance), Mr Ramadhan Abdallah Shaaban, advised practitioners in the legal system to strengthen networking for efficiency to reduce problems in the legal system including “combating corruption.”

New Websites feature Zanzibar Photographer

6/17/07

The photographs of Javed Jafferji emphasize the beauty of Tanzania and Zanzibar on new websites developed through a collaboration between the Tanzania Tourist Board and the Tourism Confederation of Tanzania and its member organisations: Tanzania Association of Tour Operators, Tanzania Society of Travel Agents (TASOTA), Tanzania Air Operators Association, Hotel Association of Tanzania, Intra-Africa Travel and Tourism Association & Zanzibar Association of Tourism Investors

www.tanzaniatourismonline.com

www.go2zanzibar.net

www.gallerytours.net

US hip-hop group to grace ZIFF festival

Correspondent
Daily News; June 16, 2007

NATIVE Deen, the heart-throb US hip-hop group is scheduled to arrive in Dar es Salaam on July 4 to take part in the ZIFF 2007 festival.

This was confirmed by Dr Martin Mhando, Festival Director, who has promised an exciting festival which turns tenth.

"This is our tenth year and we can crow to the whole world that ZIFF, the largest film festival in the region, is here to stay," said Dr Mhando.

Apart from Native Deen, the Quidang Arts ensemble from China will jet in on June 27 to take part in the opening ceremony to be held at the magnificent Old fort amphitheatre.

He said that Quidang is a 12-member dance group and will entertain audiences with the ever mesmerising mix of traditional and modern dance choreography.

This is the first time in three years that a Chinese dance group tours Tanzania and the first time ever to have China participate in the festival.

The Chinese artists will be in Dar es Salaam for only one show to be held at the Kempinski Kilimanjaro on June 30.

The Malian musician and composer Moussa Diallo has also confirmed taking part in the event and is scheduled to stay for five days in Zanzibar.

He will perform in Stone Town as well as in the village panorama and plans are underfoot to enable the Diallo Trio to perform in Dar es Salaam. Moussa Diallo now resides in Denmark and has reputation for high-strung compositions of European, Malian and reggae fusion styles.

The South African group Strings and Skins makes its East African debut at the Award night on July 7, bringing the curtain down for what is projected to be a memorable festival which sees for the first time in the world a film competition about slavery.

The slavery-film theme will feature 15 recently produced films competing for the 10,000-US-dollar award, breaking the Chains Award for the best film on the theme of historical slavery.

On July 4, he said, the festival will come to a halt as all the guests relieve the pain and horror of slavery through visiting slavery sites that dot the Island of Zanzibar.

"Through this event we commemorate the loss of life and honour the memory of the courage, pain and suffering of enslaved African people", concluded Dr Mhando adding:

"A live broadcast of a public forum about slavery in Zanzibar on both TVT and TVZ will highlight the 200th commemoration of the abolition of slave trade".

Activists vow to control maternal deaths in Isles

ISSA YUSSUF, Zanzibar
Daily News; Sunday,June 17, 2007

FAMILY planning campaigners have vowed to intensify efforts in the on going campaign for "Repositioning Family Planning (FP) and Reproductive Health (RH) Programme," to controll the "rising maternal deaths in the Islands."

Health experts believe that FP/RH is the most reliable means for youths, and female/male parents to control unplanned pregnancies, and Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs), including HIV/AIDS.

The Family Planning Programme manager in the Zanzibar Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, Dr Hanuni Waziri Sogora, said that a nationwide campaign would be launched on Wednesday.

"We need to make sure that people understand the benefits of family planning and reproductive health for individual and national development," Dr Waziri said as she appealed to religious leaders and media to support the campaign.

She said that in Zanzibar Family Planning started late in 1990s but it slopped-down due to little funds from the government and after development partners diverted their support to combating Malaria and HIV/AIDS problems.

"The development partners are now back and even the government is now fully committed to support the programme to save lives of mothers," Dr Waziri said.

She said that the programme intended to "cut-down or prevent" maternal deaths from current more than 300 in 100,000 annually, and have health families, "should involve journalists in an awareness and distribution of contraceptives."

Dr Waziri said that apart from the government, the programme is being supported by the USAID through EngenderHealth- ACQUIRE project. "The ACQUIRE project is to assist Ministry of health and other service partners coordinate efforts to scale up and expand access to and utilize reproductive health facilities with the main focus on contraceptive and permanent methods."

Zanzibar Chief Minister Mr Shamsi Vuai Nahodha is expected to officiate the launching of the Family Planning programme at Kivunge Village, North Unguja but also Zanzibar Minister of Health Mr Sultan Mohammed Mugheiry and Mission director of USAID Ms Pamela White are among the expected people at the function

CUF GOVERNING COUNCIL SUPPORTS MUAFAKA

KILASA MTAMBALIKE
Sunday News; June 17, 2007

SOME opposition Civic United Front (CUF) members remain divided over talks with the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) on the political situation in Zanzibar (Muafaka), but the party's supreme Governing Council has ruled that "it remained committed to the reconciliation efforts."

The party's National Chairman, Prof Ibrahim Lipumba, briefed reporters at the party's headquarters in Dar es Salaam yesterday that the party was committed to end the crisis in the Isles and the stand was adopted at the governing council's meeting on Friday.

Yesterday, CUF members and supporters categorically rejected that position and demanded that they back out of the talks. They alleged that they know CCM is only playing a time wasting game until the next elections so that they can use the same tactics to win.

Some disgruntled party members forced their chairman to hold an impromptu meeting after briefing the media to explain to them on the need to continue with dialogue with CCM instead of withdrawing from the talks.

Earlier, Prof Lipumba reproached comments made by CCM Secretary General, Mr Yusuph Makamba, in Pemba recently which he blamed as the main cause for the distraction to the goodwill behind the talks.

"We would like President Jakaya Kikwete as Chairman of CCM to explain to the public whether the statements by Mr Makamba represented the party's position or were his personal views", Prof Lipumba said.

He said that his party is democratic and matured and called on CCM to take the talks seriously so that an agreement could be reached and also urged the ruling party to expedite the talks and decisions and implementations of the same be done soon.

A party supporter, Mr Said Ally, said that they have lost faith in CCM because of the comments by Mr Makamba in his tour of Pemba Island which he said were derogatory and wanted his party to withdraw from the talks.

Another supporter, Ms Habiba Mohammed, called on the party leaders to focus on strengthening the party instead engaging in talks that will not bear any fruits.

JKT, JKU cause heated House debate

SOSTHENES MWITA in Dodoma
Daily News; June 14, 2007

THE government clarified in the National Assembly yesterday that the National Service (JKT), which is under the Ministry of Defence and National Service, together with the Tanzania People’s Defence Forces (TPDF), was a Mainland entity and had nothing to do with the Union.

Heated debate ensued when Mr Ali Said Salim Ziwani (CUF) demanded to know why Jeshi la Kujenga Uchumi (JKU) existed in Zanzibar parallel with the JKT on the Mainland while the JKT, which is part of JWTZ, was a Union defence institution.

In a supplementary question, Mr Salim demanded that JKU should be disbanded. The Deputy Minister for Defence and National Service, Mr Omar Yusuf Mzee, said JKU, which was created by the House of Representatives, could not be disbanded. He said JKT was established by the Union Parliament. “The two forces have different beginnings.

It is the House of Representatives which has the sole right to disband JKU”, he said. Mr Hamad Rashid Mohammed (Wawi – CUF) opposed the deputy minister. The Wawi MP argued that if JKT was a legitimate affiliate to JWTZ which is a Union Defence Force, then JKT should be a recognised military force in Zanzibar too. Mr Mzee maintained that the Union Constitution did not recognize JKT as a Union entity. Mr John Cheyo (Bariadi East—UDP), demanded clarification from the state on the matter. He asserted that JKT was recognised constitutionally as part of TPDF.

“If Zanzibaris do not agree to this stark reality a state explanation is necessary,” he said. Attorney General Johnson Mwanyika stood up and said he agreed entirely with the deputy minister that JKT was only for the Mainland. He said JKT was not a Union force.

The whole thing started with a question asked by Ms Mwajuma Khamis (Special Seats – CUF), who had sought to know the number of Zanzibaris who had joined JKT. Deputy Minister Mzee said 370 youths (336 boys and 34 girls) from Zanzibar had joined the force since 2001.

Education tops priority in Isles' budget

ISSA YUSSUF, Zanzibar
Daily News; June 14, 2007

EDUCATION sector is slated to get the biggest share in the Zanzibar government's 2007/08-budget proposal to be unveiled next Wednesday.

According to the figures in the budget summary, 16.80 per cent of the total budget or 279bn/- would go to the Zanzibar Ministry of Education and Vocational Training.

In the 2006/2007 financial year, Zanzibar allocated 21,079,426,000/= to the education.

In his pre-budget media briefing last Friday, the Zanzibar State Minister- Finance and Economic Affairs, Dr Mwinyhaji Makame Mwadini, said that it was going to be people's budget as it was focusing on some crucial areas such as education and development.

Asked to comment on his ministry's biggest share, the Minister of Education and Vocational Training, Mr Haroun Ali Suleiman, responded that it was an indication that education was being given priority.

He said his ministry gets support from the development partners to reform education. Compulsory education in the Isles would now be 12 years instead of 10 years.

Other ministries with hefty shares are Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, which will get 5.92 per cent of the total budget up from 6,351,461,000 allocated during the 2006/2007 financial years.

The Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, and Environment gets 4.23 per cent while the Auditor General's office gets 0.48 per cent, and Anti-Smuggling Unit pockets 3.40 per cent of the total budget if the members of the House accepts.

Dr Makame said that the government would also embark on improving infrastructures to attract foreign investors, tourism, and agriculture mainly boosting coconut growing to sustain the crop.

Passenger, cargo vessels must be insured -minister

DAILY NEWS Reporter in Dodoma
Daily News; June 14, 2007

MARINE vessels that transport cargo and passengers between Zanzibar and the Mainland commit punishable criminal offences if they do so without insurance cover, the Deputy Minister for Infrastructure Development, Dr Maua Daftari, told the National Assembly yesterday.

She was responding to a supplementary question floated in the House by Ms Mwaka Ramadhan (Speacial Seats - CCM) why vessels such as MV Takrima which capsized at Msasani recently, were allowed to ply the ocean without insurance.

Dr Daftari said it was a crime for marine vessels, including ships and canoes, to work without insurance. In her original question, Ms Ramadhan had wanted to know if the state recognized sea vessels that plied between the Mainland and the Isles.

Dr Daftari said the state knew all the vessels that served on the Zanzibar-Dar es Salaam route and that they were registered. She mentioned the vessels as MV Aziza I (which has a carrying capacity of 350 tonnes) and MV Aziza II (400 tonnes).

The other ships are MV Mudahiri (250 tonnes) and MV Maendeleo (650 tonnes). She said since last year containerized cargo ships that plied between Dar es Salaam, Zanzibar and Tanga included MV Royal Zanzibar (1,700 tonnes) and MV Mantehna (1,600 tonnes).

She said all vessels that ply the Dar es Salaam-Zanzibar route are duly registered and are inspected routinely. She said owners of passenger and cargo marine vessels are required by law to insure their vessels and pay compensation in case of losses of cargo or lives.

Somalia: Five Zanzibar Refugees Among Hundreds of Young Boys Arrested

Shabelle Media Network
13 June 2007
Aweys Osman Yusuf
Mogadishu

Five Zanzibar refugees in Somalia are among hundreds of young Somali men seized in the biggest mosque in Mogadishu, the Somali capital.

Relatives of the Zanzibar refugees who called on Shabelle Media Network on Wednesday said they were very much concerned about the health state and whereabouts of their loved ones.

Ariya Saed, a mother of Suleiman Ali Ismail, one of the inmates, told Shabelle that her son was missing since last week when the government said it captured 1,000 Somali young men who were being trained by Islamic insurgents in Al-Hidaya mosque in north of the capital Mogadishu.

Mogadishu mayor, Mohammed Dheere, told journalists last week that a joint Ethiopian and Somali military operation to hunt down remnants of the routed Islamists facilitated the seizure of one thousand young boys in the mosque.

"We rescued 1,000 young boys, most of them under the age of 16 from the Islamists. They have told us they were trained to be suicide bombers. Anyway we will release them once their parents contact us," he said.

Relatives of the five expressed that most of the Somali boys who were apprehended along with their family members have been freed while theirs remain locked up.

Mohammed Aden, a brother of one of the Zanzibars, said his fellow countrymen were learning the holy Quran in the mosque.

"They had nothing to do with fighting or terrorism. They were simply studying the holy Quran as freebie," he said.

The five inmates were identified as: Mohammded Juma Omar, mohammed Kombo Mussa, Omar Saef Yusuf, Saed Suleiman Juma and Suleiman Ali Ismail.

Ariya Saed appealed to the Somali transitional government officials to release the Zanzibars whom she said were refugees and poor, living in former government office compound at Bandir intersection, south of Mogadishu.

Most of these non-native refugees claimed they fled the island of Zanzibar following deadly clashes between the government and rebel groups. The have lived in the capital Mogadishu for at least seven years.

INTERVIEW: Baraka Shamte on Zanzibar

2007-06-12
Guardian

Recently, BARAKA SHAMTE, a veteran Zanzibar politician and son of first Zanzibar Chief Minister Mohammed Shamte, granted an exclusive interview to The Guardian`s Deputy Managing Editor BERNARD MAPALALA at his home in Stonetown. It dwelt on the political situation in Zanzibar and its historical dimension. Excerpts:


Q: You are the son of former Zanzibar chief minister Mohammed Shamte, to be exact, his sixth son, many people who were followers of his party are right now with the political opposition, how did it happen that you became a member of the ruling party?

A: I have been on the side of the current ruling party ever since I was young. I was a member of the Afro-Shirazi Youth League, while my father was originally a leader in the Afro Shirazi Party.

He did not place any obstacles on my path. To say the truth, my departed father was a very gentle and civilized person.

He advocated political freedom within the family. When he left the ASP and formed the Zanzibar People`s Party, I was at that time the deputy secretary general of the ASP Youth League.

We continued in different paths until the Zanzibar Revolution occurred in 1964. At that time, my father was already the chief minister of a government which was formed by his ZPP and the ZNP--a coalition that was opposed to the Afro Shirazi Party.

Q: So he was overthrown while he was the chief minister?

A: Yes, but the one who was overthrown was the Sultan, contrary to what people are saying, that it was my father who was overthrown, because the government did not have any real authority.

When the British left here, they left behind a monarchial government, which was in fact powerless because it was under the Sultan. The Afro Shirazi Party was not satisfied with the continued rule of the Sultan, and that was what led to the Revolution.

Q: What happened to your father after the Revolution, did he remain behind in Zanzibar or leave the Islands?

A: My father went into hiding, and I took part in helping him to go to a safe place. When time came and the government sought them, I personally took him to a place where he would be confined, and had I not done that, he would have lost his life.

Q: How did your personal relationship continue, given that situation?
A: It continued between father and son, and other relatives. As a family, we still remain one although we belong to different parties. So whenever any family events occur, we are always together.

Q: Did your father leave the country?
A: No. He didn?t. He was detained with other leaders of the deposed government, until time came for him to be released.

Q: How long was he detained?
A: It was more than 15 years. He was released from Keko Prison in Dar es Salaam. He thereafter lived in Dar es Salaam in a rented house.

Ten years later, he decided to visit his son the last born Juberi Mohammed Shamte, who was living in the Gulf States. Quite unfortunately, he died there during his visit, and he was buried there. It is not that he ran away from Tanzania. We lived with him here until the time he travelled to the Gulf.

Q: So despite the occurrence of the Revolution, you still had the heart to remain in the ruling party?

A: I am still with Chama cha Mapinduzi (CCM), being one of its cadres. With the advent of multi-party politics, I was posted as party district secretary in Wete, then became party secretary in Unguja Urban, and was later transferred to Pangani.

Q: Now let us dwell on politics. Since the 1964 Revolution, Zanzibar has been ruled by six presidents, including the incumbent President Amani Abeid Karume. Do you think that this frequent change of guard in the past 40 years has been useful?

A: The experience has been quite useful, first because we got democracy. Every ruler has come up with a form of democracy of his own. The first president was Mzee Karume, when there was no democracy it was a revolutionary government.

The second president (Aboud) Jumbe, when he came, introduced the House of Representatives. This was a step forward. When Ally Hassan Mwinyi came, he introduced the democracy of free trade. Until then, all the business was owned by the government.

So each one of them had brought a peculiar benefit. What remains at the moment is to consider that given our poverty, and the long list of retired presidents, will the economic situation allow us to take care of all of them?

This is what the ruling party should deliberate?the system of one president ruling for 10 years and retiring, then having a new one, does this mode satisfy the needs of a poor country?

Q: Given Zanzibar?s experience in the transition of power, are there any lessons which African countries can learn from Zanzibar?

A: This is indeed a big lesson (for Africa). And this lesson does not come from Zanzibar alone, but from the whole of Tanzania. The way our leaders hand over power to each other, is a unique example for Africa.

You cannot compare these criteria with any African country. It is rather unfortunate that we find it a problem in Africa to accept the democracy of this kind, where there is so much rivalry.

Q: For a keen observer of Zanzibar politics like yourself, you can see that since the late 1950s to date, when the Afro Shirazi Party entered several elections, and now CCM, the voting pattern has remained almost the same, with the winner usually scoring an additional narrow margin. Why has the pattern of voting in Zanzibar remained polarized?

A: There are many reasons for this. The first being the beliefs of the populace. Secondly, our type of democracy in Zanzibar is what Europeans call simple majority.

In 1962 at Chakechake, the Chakechake seat was snatched by Afro Shirazi Party by a single vote. Idarusi of ZNP and Hamisi Masoud of ASP were competing, and we won by just one vote.

The ballots were counted twice; still the British recognized the vote outcome. So Hizbu (ZNP) accepted the outcome and the winner entered the House, and there was no argument about the matter.

I am now surprised that these days, people are querying a narrow victory. A simple majority victory just one vote makes a decision, which we must all accept. Our politicians, especially those of the opposition, are trying to misread this kind of outcome.

When you lose by one vote, it means that you have been defeated. The problem that we have in Tanzania at the moment is that people have no civic education, and this is the mistake of party leaders, who are themselves conversant with civic education but deny it to their members.

They only feed them with explosive politics which make them believe that election victory always comes out in a big margin.
Q: But who is responsible for providing civic education. Is it not the government?

A: The government only prepares the way, but those who have to provide civic education are the political leaders?
Q: It is said that in Zanzibar, people are more faithful to their parties than their own country. If somebody is a CCM member, he would be prepared to die for that party, likewise a CUF member.

It is alleged that party loyalty is stronger in the Islands than patriotism?
A: Do you know why this is the case? It is the mistake of the leaders.
Q: Which leaders?

A: All leaders of political parties. They are the cause of these mistakes.
Q: You mean leaders of both (CCM and CUF) political parties?
A: Yes. They do not give civic education to their members. I?ll give you an example.

If you go to Pemba at this moment, you`ll find that once a CUF member crosses over to CCM, the whole family blacklists him.

And this is what happened to both parties in Pemba, during the controversy of the ghost votes? election.

Q: What were the ghost votes?
A: There you are?The ghost votes. This was CUF?s political creation by mobilizing people not to cast their votes, so that whoever would be voted for, would receive just a few votes.

That person would become the area`s representative, but be elected by some very few cast ballots. The aim of this was to imply that although he had won, the votes that were not cast were far more than those which were cast?However, civil education dictates that if among 1,000 eligible voters, 400 did not turn out to vote, then the 600 who would vote are the ones to dictate who would win.

Q: Zanzibar has a long history of interaction with people of various races from other parts of the world, dating back to perhaps a thousand years. How do you assess its current multi racial status?

A: I wish to inform you one thing, that is, the history of Zanzibar?anybody who is on the Mainland will speak as if he knows the history of Zanzibar?even Nyerere? it took him many years to come to know Zanzibar.

It was during the meeting which he held at the JKU headquarters in Zanzibar, when he ultimately realized the politics of Zanzibar. He had failed to understand Zanzibar throughout this time, despite all his expertise. That?s why despite all his efforts, he failed to for a single (Union) government.

Even the current Prime Minister (Edward Lowassa), he understood Zanzibar during the voting for EALA representatives, after seeing the intrigues of the Civic United Front.

These people (CUF) are unpredictable. They would say one thing, but deep inside, they mean the other. They have got internal and external policy. They don?t state their internal policy.

Q: According to this statement, you imply that Zanzibar is very difficult to govern.

A: It is true, because the citizens themselves have got their own internal policy which all other people cannot understand. No leader can visit here, or stay for a month or a year, then conclude that he knows the Zanzibar situation more than we do?

Q: Do you mean that this internal policy of Zanzibaris is stronger than the official policy?

A: Yes, it is. President Jakaya Kikwete, despite all his attempts to end the political stalemate, I personally think that he will not succeed. The situation in Zanzibar?it is the Zanzibaris themselves who are embroiled in a conflict.

I will tell you one thing: In the Civic United Front, Sultanism is still in their blood, even though they will deny this fact at political platforms. Secondly, in CUF, there is Pembaism, even if they will deny this fact. All its leaders, 100 percent, are Pembans.

Go to Dar es Salaam; do your research, all CUF leaders who are leading the neigbourhood branches hail from Pemba. There is nobody from the Mainland.

Q: Many reasons are being given for the political impasse in Zanzibar. There are those who have gone as far as saying that the colour bar is the historical problem in Zanzibar. Any comments?

A: The problem is not the colour bar. It is simply discrimination. Here (in Zanzibar) there is Africanism and Arabism, not the colour bar that you are talking about, like in South Africa, where you have the whites, Africans, Goans etc?Here you have Arabs and Africans. Although people still deny the existence of the Arabism factor, it still exists. And Arabism means Sultanism.

Q: And where are these people?
A: They are in the opposition parties. Every person who indirectly supports Sultanism goes to the opposition CUF.

Q: All these people are living in one country. How can they be united as Zanzibaris? What strategy can be applied to make them united and see themselves as one people?

A: It is not possible?If you tell someone that now we are independent and the Sultan is no longer at the helm, but that person believes that the Sultan should still reign in Zanzibar, what will you do to that individual?

Q: Is there no positive contribution made by CUF in the political arena, like during House debates and various other proposals on how the country should be governed?

A: Such proposals have been given after CUF had failed to achieve its objectives through heavy handed methods.

If Zanzibar was all alone, there would have been more than 10 coup changes. What prevents such occurrences is the Union.

Q: The language that you are using contradicts the current terminology of ending the political conflict between CUF and CCM. It seems that things are now moving in the right direction.

A: Political conflict? Who is bringing this political conflict? When we talk about conflict, we have to discuss its source. And for CUF, as long as there is no person from Pemba who is elected as President, they won?t believe that democracy exists.

Q: Why should a person from Pemba not become president?
A: Not that they are not wanted; the important thing is to have one who qualifies for that post?

Q: The ruling CCM which is the TANU/ASP umbrella has been in power for so many years. How long do you think it will continue to reign?

A: Given the existing situation where all those opposition parties are in fact not parties but people`s private companies it will continue for a long time?

Q: We have discussed the problem areas; let us now turn to the future. What is the future hope of Zanzibar, politically, economically and socially?

A: Economic issues fall in the reserve of the Zanzibar and Union governments. There are sticking issues between the Zanzibar and Union governments.

Once a solution is found and the Zanzibar government is given the opportunity to develop the economy?and the economy is not just internal, it is also external. Zanzibar has no arable land. Zanzibar depends upon factories.

There are no cloves?The government is solely depending on tourism. How far has the Union government shown a resolve to help Zanzibar have a reputable port of its own? How about supporting Zanzibar in building factories that will process marine products?

We have no minerals? Right now there is talk about the presence of oil. The Union government should help Zanzibar exploit that oil.
Q: Won`t there be any conflict on dividing the oil income?

A: The important thing is negotiation, as democracy demands. Those who question too much about what falls under the auspices of the Union government are usually from the political opposition, although they don?t raise up the issue in the legislature as to how a particular aspect should be integrated as a Union affair.

Theirs is just street talk.
Q: The vehemence in Zanzibar`s political arena is not reflected in the economic field. Indeed, the Isles` politics are more vehement than those of the Mainland. Why the prominence of economics over politics in Zanzibar?

A: Your attitude is not correct?Firstly, Zanzibar is a small country?do not expect traders in Zanzibar and those in Mwanza to prosper in the same manner.

The economic outlook of Mainland and Zanzibar is different?The political temperature in Zanzibar is high only during elections, and people are preoccupied with economic activities at other times...

Zanzibar kerosene shortage to end today

ISSA YUSSUF in Zanzibar
Daily News; Wednesday,May 30, 2007

KEROSENE shortage which had hit Zanzibar for the past several days is expected to end today, officials from the main fuel suppliers, Gulf Africa Petroleum Company (GAPCO) and Zanzibar Petroleum Company (ZP) said yesterday.

The officials said kerosene consignment was expected to arrive today.

"We expect to receive kerosene tomorrow (today). Our ship-- MV Mkombozi-- is already loaded with the product at Mombasa," the ZP terminal manager, Mr Zakaria Taib, said.

The GAPCO General Manager, Zanzibar branch, Mr Fakhruddin Tayabali, also confirmed, saying: "We expect to have our fuel station filled with kerosene tomorrow (today)." He said his company sells about 2.2million litres of kerosene monthly in Zanzibar.

Both officials said there was no shortage of the other petroleum products, attributing kerosene shortage to the congestion of cargo at Mombasa port in Kenya, the traditional source of petroleum supplies for Unguja and Pemba.

The shortage sent prices of the essential energy source for domestic cooking and lighting shooting to 1,500/- a litre in the black market instead of the official 980/- a litre.
Asked why they imported fuel from Mombasa and not from Dar es Salaam, the officials said the product was cheaper in Mombasa.

"We buy fuel at reasonable prices from Sharja in the Middle East and then ship it to Mombasa depot before transporting it to Zanzibar and Pemba," Mr Taib said.

He said whereas kerosene was sold for 1,500/- per litre in Dar es Salaam, in Zanzibar it was traded at less than 1000/= per litre."

`The African respects people who do not fear`

2007-05-29
By Bernard Mapalala
Guardian

The above quotation was bestowed on WOLFGANG `WOLF` DOURADO by famous British journalist Colin Legum in the 1970s. He was referring to Dourado`s tightrope performance in the pursuit of human rights under difficult political climate in Zanzibar, where he served as Attorney General for 13 years.

His father, Domingo Constancio Dourado, whom Wolf describes as having a quick temper, when he noted this trait in his son, advised him that the civil service was not for him as only ``Yes-Men`` could succeed there.

However, Dourado went against his father`s advice and joined the Zanzibar Attorney General`s Chambers in 1950 and paid for it.

After the 1964 Zanzibar Revolution, Dourado chose to remain behind and support the Revolutionary Government as other Goans fled, strongly believing that he could effect change from within the system.

In Zanzibar recently, The Guardian`s Deputy Managing Editor Bernard Mapalala was able to interview Dourado at his `White House` residence in Stone Town. Here are the excerpts:

QUESTION: We just want to go back to the past and the perspective on what you see about the present and future situation.

You have been a major player in the political transition of Zanzibar, having served in the top position of Attorney General immediately after the Revolution and for several years onwards.

Having retired now, although serving on contract as a Judge in the Lands Division and also as chairman of the Land Tribunal, are you comfortable with Zanzibar`s political and government institutions, are they stable and durable?

ANSWER: Well! Yes, I think I am. As far as they go they are stable. We don't have too many changes up and down up and down So I can vouch for the stability.

Q: Do you think that they are durable enough to take Zanzibar into the future?
A: I think they should improve on the fitness.

Q: Much as it occurred over 40 years ago, the Zanzibar Revolution is still the main factor in the Isles` contemporary history and the major turning point from Arab rule. There are some people in Zanzibar, who seem to question both its legality and legitimacy. What is your opinion regarding this matter?

A: First briefly, for a revolution to take place it must succeed. It must succeed because a lot of revolutions have been thrown out. And they (the Zanzibar Revolutionary Government) have been in now for about forty years.

That`s quite a reasonable period, forty years. I have been all throughout the period with them. Before then I was with the British colonial government.

The British Government liked the Goans because they could be trusted with the cash, whereas our ndugus have light fingers! I think they (SMZ) are getting on alright.

Q: But what about the issue of people who have question marks about the legality of the Revolution? What would you say to those people?
A: But they are not many...

Q: But how valid is their stance?
A: How can it be valid? The Revolution has succeeded. It has gone on for forty years. It is there, whether you like it or not.

Q: Likewise, there are those who eye the Union of Tanganyika and Zanzibar with cold eyes. Being a prominent lawyer, and an insider in the political system, can you dwell on the legality and the legitimacy of the Union?
A: As for the legitimacy (of the Union), since it has succeeded, well there it is! The Sultan has been thrown out. By and large the people are happy about it.

Q: You are still talking about the Revolution. What about the Union of Tanganyika and Zanzibar?
A: Since it has come into existence, now it is 40 years, it is legitimate. There are people on both sides. Some criticize it, but not openly.

Q: Do you think that the opponents of the Union will succeed at some point?
A: No! No! Too much time has passed. They will not succeed.

Q: I hope you know about people who have gone to court seeking to get the Articles of the Union. Do you think they have a point?
A: These people (the Government) should produce these documents. I do not know who is having them.

Q: As far as you know, because you were around then, are the documents really there?
A: Oh yeah! I have seen them. Where they are now, I don`t know.

Q: Zanzibar`s current legal structure is a departure from what it used to be in the past. It has evolved. During the treason trial, after President Karume had been assassinated, you served as both prosecutor and defence lawyer for the accused. Was this not a flawed legal system?

A: Of course it was flawed, and it was not my choice. They called me, Karume (before he was assassinated) had called me before the Revolutionary Council, and he said: `Hii ma-lawyer, ma-lawyer hatutaki. (We don`t want these lawyers).

We don`t want the system of private lawyers defending individuals, because poor people can`t afford lawyers. I told him he would face a lot of problems, and Mwalimu would not prefer such a legal system. He responded: `Leave Mwalimu in my hands. I will handle him`` (laughter).

So it was decided that there was no private practice in defence matters. Some of the members of the Revolutionary Council who opposed me on this issue were later to appear in the treason trial as accused persons.

When the trial was over, I reminded them that they had been opposing the commissioning of private lawyers and they were now experiencing the result of their stance.

Q: But do you think that those people (the accused) got justice, given the circumstances?
A: Not one was hanged. Some got light jail terms. I think they got justice, given the circumstances.

Q: In the earlier years of the Revolution, just as you have hinted, the political dynamics in Zanzibar were quite intense and unpredictable, what personal quality enabled you to survive in such a precarious situation?

A: You see, the African basically respects people who do not fear, and I did fear no one. So they respected me. They would say: `Huyu kweli dume.` (This is a real man). And I got along month to month until it is now forty years! So you ask me how I survived, heaven knows! But I survived.

Q: You won the trust of founder President Abeid Amani Karume up to the time he was assassinated. How close was your personal relationship?
A: We were very close, even if he flogged me.

Q: He flogged you? Why did he flog you?
A: I opposed forced (inter-racial) marriages (in 1970). I didn't oppose natural marriages; I opposed forced ones, because both parties must be willing. So I got `viboko.`

Q: What position were you holding at that time?
A: Attorney General.

Q: And you were flogged?
A: Yes.

Q: And what did you do after that?
A: Then Karume came to prison to see me. I asked him: `Mzee, umefanya haya?` (Old man, why did you do this?). He answered: `Even though we do not agree with you on this matter, we shall still support you to continue holding the position of Attorney General. So you can go back to work now.`

Q: But he had imprisoned you already.
A: Only for one day.

Q: You said he flogged you and his sons also?
A: And his sons.

Q: Amani was also flogged?
A: Yes, with me!

Q: Why was Amani flogged?
A: Because when I opposed forced marriages, I told Ali Karume (Amani`s brother) `Don`t marry anyone by force. It (the marriage) will break up.` So he told his father: `Dourado has told me this, and he is an intelligent person.` And Amani told his father: `Why implicate Mzee Dourado in this matter? He has nothing to do with it.` So he was also thrown out of the house.

Q: You were close to the President. You knew both his positives and negative qualities. Can you briefly explain Mzee Karume as a person? Where did his personal strength lie?

Do you recall any specific incidents which reflect his character?
A: One thing, he was always neatly dressed, starch and all that.

For example, he came to my office during the colonial days, he eyes were brown very brown- and was putting on a very neat vest. On the paper he was holding was written a case number related to a widow.

He asked: 'Why are you delaying dealing with this case?` I answered: 'It is not me who is causing the delay. There several people who handle a particular case.`
So I sent for the clerk who was dealing with the matter.

He said that the widow had not been paid yet. I said: `Why is she not paid?` He answered: `The accounts are all ready. We are only waiting to pay.` So I said: `You make this payment right now in front of Mzee Karume, otherwise you go home and never come back.` The payment was made. So Karume went out, then he came back holding some money. He said: `You have helped us, and we must help you also.`

I responded, `People are saying that we are corrupt, and this is corruption!` Karume said: `Now I tell you this: I trust you. When the day comes for me to lead the government, I will make you the Attorney General.` That was before the Revolution. And of course, after the Revolution he called me, and from that time I was Attorney General.
Q: And how did you assess Abeid Karume as a leader?

A: He had good ideas. He wanted equality among the people. You now can`t do it the way he was doing, but he has done a lot of good. The Michenzani housing is a good thing, except that he flooded Stone Town with people. There too many people in Stone Town.

Q: As a long time observer of the Zanzibar political scenario, what do you think are the reasons behind the widened political divide in Zanzibar? Are there any lessons to be drawn from the Islands' troubled history that can shed light on the future, especially the having of a durable political solution?

A: Well! The divisions will always be there, even now. There are differences between Pemba and Zanzibar, and in Zanzibar, there is North and South.

So these problems can carry on for a while, but to end them completely, it takes some time. We need elders, durable leaders. The elders, more elderly than me (laughter)
Q: Finally, what is your advice to young Karume?
A: Amani?

Q: Yes.
A: He is a very gentle person, and the flogging that we had together, had brought us together (laughter), so whenever we meet we embrace each other. I recently won a human rights award, and I had a photograph with him.

I went to tell him personally. Then he called me, and said: `Take this photograph, circulate it to have money, and then give it to the Saint Francis Society to help the poor.` They wanted to give me a party, and I said: `Goans are not rich.

We don`t have money. Now the little money you have you want to spend it for a party! I don`t want the party. I appreciate the thought, (but) let us collect the money for the society.`

Karume third term discouraged

2007-05-29 09:31:38
By Mwinyi Sadallah, Zanzibar
Guardian

Zanzibar Attorney General Idd Pandu Hassan yesterday decried manipulations aimed at amending the country`s Constitution to enable Zanzibar President Abed Aman Karume extend his tenure in office to a third term.

The Attorney General was reacting to suggestions made by CCM elders in the Isles who asked Karume to look into the possibility of contesting for the third term, following impressive economic and social developments recorded during his leadership.

The Isles AG said in an exclusive interview that implementation of the proposals would not be possible because the majority of Tanzanians preferred and respected the current two-year presidential term system.
``Debate on the third-tenure controversy is therefore a matter long ago closed,`` Hassan said.

He said the Zanzibar leadership respected democracy and good governance, as well as the interests and rights of the majority who were for a two-term, five-year leadership system.

Some Zanzibaris want the constitution to be reviewed so as to increase the number of years in one leadership term from five to seven years, urging that the five-year period is not enough for good leaders who make wonders during their tenure of office.

In his recent address, President Karume said some elders had approached and requested him to extend his leadership tenure because he had brought significant development in Pemba and Unguja.

Karume assumed power after defeating Seif Sharrif Hamad of the Civic United Front in two general elections -2000 and 2005. His term ends in 2010.

Zanzibar installs meters

DAILY NEWS Reporter, Zanzibar
Daily News; Monday,May 28, 2007

ZANZIBAR Electricity Company (ZECO) will today start installing computerized prepaid meters in customers' homes, the company's Public Relations Officer, Mr Salum Hassan, said yesterday.

He said that already 2000 meters popularly known as TUKUZA (Tumia Umeme Kwa Uangalifu Zanzibar), have been imported from South Africa and another consignment of 3000 meters is expected to arrive this week.

"We expect during this first phase to cover 20,000 customers in both Unguja and Pemba," Mr Hassan told the 'Daily News'.
The ZECO customer care manager, Mr Abdallah Hajji, said the power utility company had spent over 2bn/- on the project.
"We have spent about 500m/- to purchase the 5000 electric meters from South Africa, but the whole project cost more than 2bn/-," Mr Hajji said.

He said that upon the project completion, ZECO revenues would increase drastically and also it would provide lasting solution to complains from customers over electricity bills.

Currently Zanzibar has about 13,900 customers, some of them already have TUKUZA meters installed in their homes but ZECO says majority of the clients still use outdated post-paid meters.

Nahodha calls for educative radio programmes

DAILY NEWS Reporter in Zanzibar
Daily News; Monday,May 28, 2007

THE Zanzibar Chief Minister, Mr Shamsi Vuai Nahodha, has appealed to media owners and practitioners to give priority to radio programmes that harnesses unity and harmony in the society.

Mr Nahodha made the appeal over the weekend at Saateni area in the Zanzibar Town Municipality when opening new premises for the Zenji FM radio. The previous station was located at Mikunguni.

"People might not enjoy when you spend much of air time on music only. Make sure you air educative programmes because people love to hear about different issues such as development programmes and others of good values," the chief minister said.

He also stressed for recruitment of trained journalists because of the sensitivity of the profession.

The chief minister also advised government leaders to extend cooperation to journalists, but also cautioned journalists not to distort information, to harness relationship between the two.

"I think we have to work together, journalists need us for information as much as we need them to put our messages across to the public," he said.

The owner of the Zenji FM radio, Mr Mohammed Seif Khatib, said at the opening that his radio had employed 24 youths, 11 of whom are girls.

Zenji FM is one of the five privately owned radio stations in Zanzibar. Others are Adhana FM Radio, Radio Maria FM, Coconut FM, and BBC FM. Zanzibar State owned Radio Sauti ya Tanzania Zanzibar (STZ) has a wider coverage.

Zanzibar deports Kenyan businessman

ISSA YUSSUF, Zanzibar
Sunday News; Sunday,May 27, 2007

TANZANIA Immigration has declared a Kenyan citizen - Anilkumar Gordhandas Ramji Kamdar - who has been working in Zanzibar, a Prohibited Immigrant (PI) accusing him of “endangering national economy.”

Both Ramji’s advocate Abdallah Juma and Immigration Officer in Zanzibar George Kaswende confirmed the deportation yesterday.

Advocate Juma told a press conference here that the Immigration had planned a forced expatriation of his client back to Kenya by air, but after “the Immigration failed to justify a forced deportation, he was allowed to travel by road from Dar es Salaam and served with PI notice No. 00000477 of May 16, 2007.

“We are now planning to sue the Immigration because the procedures used to deport Mr Ramji are contrary to the laws and human rights violation. We also believe the move tarnishes the image of Tanzania,” Mr Juma said, adding that his client was not given the right to be heard.

Asked to comment on the issue, the Immigration Officer Mr Kaswende told the ‘Sunday News’: “I acted according to the instruction of my bosses, and served Mr Ramji with PI notice. What is contained in the letter is also true.”

Part of the deportation notice reads: “Mr Anilkumar, who was a resident director of Zanzibar Beach Resort, situated in Mbweni area, Zanzibar, has been ordered to leave the country according to clause 10 (h) of the Immigration Law No. 7 of 1995.”

Further the Immigration letter signed by Mr Kaswende, the Deputy Immigration Director, Zanzibar, on behalf of the immigration director, reads “the deportation is in response to the testimony in the Zanzibar High Court, after finding the deportee a threat to the national economy and deserves deportation.”

However, the Registrar of the Zanzibar High Court, Mr Abraham Mwampashi, when asked to explain if there had been any case filed against Ramji, he replied: “I am not aware of any case concerning Anilkumar.”

According to advocate Juma, Mr Anilkumar had been linked to the loss of about 195m/- from the Zanzibar Beach Resort last month when he was away on travel. But after learning that he was being linked to money loss Mr Anilkumar decided to return to Zanzibar to clear his name.

“When he arrived in Zanzibar the police arrested and put him in custody before releasing him after accepting to settle matters out of court. Just in order to clear his name he had to agree to pay about 67m/- out of the lost money, but before he implemented this he has been surprisingly kicked out of the country,” advocate Juma told the press.

Mr Juma said that immigration laws do not empower any immigration officer other than the immigration director to sign deportation notice, and therefore the “deportation notice signed by Mr Kaswende is illegal.”

Tanzania suspends Somali troops training due to hostage crisis

May 25, 2007
Xinhua

Tanzanian Foreign Minister Bernard Membe has announced a temporary suspension of the government's plan to help train up to 1,000 Somali troops due to the ongoing hostage crisis.

Membe demanded an unconditional release of all the crew staff of two fishing vessels that have registered with Zanzibar, part of the United Republic of Tanzania.

The foreign minister said: "We had agreed to train 1,000 Somali troops, but we cannot do so until the hostages are released. "

The government official said that all preparations to receive and train the Somali troops had been completed as planned and if all had gone well, the Somali soldiers would have been placed in camps used by Tanzanian trainee soldiers, according to Friday's reports by local English newspaper The Citizen.

Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete has promised the international community as a contribution toward peacekeeping efforts in the war-torn country to train Somali troops.

A dozen armed men on May 16 attacked two Zanzibar-registered fishing vessels, Mavuno I and Mavuno II, and held all on board hostage since then.

The two fishing vessels are registered by a South Korean national, Ahn Hyeon-Su.

Zanzibar introduces environment levy

2007-05-21
By Guardian Reporter, Zanzibar


The Zanzibar government has introduced a levy seeking to facilitate a cleaner environment in the Isles.

An official with Isles` Labour, Works and Environment ministry, Abdi Alli, said here yesterday that the levy would take effect later this year.

`The levy will range from 1,000/- to 7,500/- a month for each household in the Zanzibar municipality for the cleaning of sewerage systems collection and disposal of garbage.

Low-income earners will pay a monthly fee of 1,000/- for the former service and 2.000/- for the latter,` he noted.

However, families considered well-to-do will cough up a monthly 5,000/- for garbage collection and 2,500/- for cleaning sewerage systems.

Alli said implementation of the first phase of the project would start at Mji Mkongwe (Stone Town), gradually covering the remaining areas.

He said the municipality would soon receive five trucks specifically for carrying garbage containers at Mji Mkongwe, adding: `Our goal is to make sure the municipality is sparkling clean so that we can curb epidemic diseases like cholera.`

`Sewerage systems will undergo regular servicing and maintenance because they have been causing inconveniences to people whenever they block,` he observed.

He said the municipality has already provided businesspersons with wheelbarrows for carrying garbage to designated areas.

Meanwhile, members of the Zanzibar business community who have commented on the introduction of the levy have stressed that municipal trucks should collect the garbage in their business premises alongside the cash.

Many parts of Zanzibar have for long been in poor hygienic condition, with decrepit sewage disposal systems posing a serious health hazard.

Residential areas especially at risk of contracting epidemics like cholera, dysentery and typhoid as a result include Kilimani, Michenzani and Mji Mkongwe.

Culture and development inseparable

2007-05-20
By Perege Gumbo
Sunday Observer

Researches have revealed that culture can do a lot on human development while fostering peace and harmony in the society.

As Tanzania prepares itself to celebrate the `Tanzania Cultural Day` tomorrow, it is essential to examine socio-economic benefits likely to accrue to the nation as a result of promoting cultural values. Staff writer Perege Gumbo takes a look at the subject

As Tanzania marks another cultural day anniversary, it`s probably important to access how culture can facilitate and foster the goal to national development.

The Tanzania cultural day was officially launched on May 21, 2005 when the government declared that the day will be commemorated annually.

The decision was a result of the United Nations Assembly Resolution number 57/249 which proclaimed May 21st as the day of cultural diversity for culture and development.

So examination of the relationship between culture and development is vital because Tanzania as a poor and developing nation has set her own development goals which aim at uplifting people`s lives.

``We want to create awareness on how our cultural values can contribute to the national development`` the Minister for Information, Culture and Sports, Muhammed S. Khatibu, said.

The link between culture and development is seldom disputed and many international and local researchers have underscored the close relationship of the two.

A society struggling to attain faster development, for instance, might face difficulties in achieving the set developmental goals in isolation of her people`s cultural values. In trying to show the relationship, various approaches have been used.

Prof. Abdul Sheriff, a historian and former director of National Museum in Zanzibar says that measurement of economic development using sustainable expansion of production, productivity and per capita income alone was elusive.

He emphasizes the fact that economic criteria alone could not provide a programme for human dignity and well being.

The narrow economic interpretation of development was, in his view sterile, following its failure to reduce the gap between the rich and the poor within and between the nations.

Tanzania as a multi-ethnic nation has many reasons to join the world in cherishing the culture as she aspires to attain fast development. .........[excerpted from longer article]

Form Six results irk Z'bar minister

ISSA YUSSUF, Zanzibar
Daily News; Friday,May 18, 2007

THE Zanzibar Ministry of Education and Vocational Training has expressed concern over the recent Form VI examinations results, prompting it to form a team to probe the cause of the failure after five years of good performance.

"This is unbelievable, but it is a fact that 2007 Form VI examination results are very bad for Zanzibar," the Minister of Education and Vocational Training, Mr Haroun Ali Suleiman, said.

The minister showed his displeasure yesterday after meeting with headteachers from all secondary schools with Form VI classes in Unguja Island. The general performance for Form VI has been steady since 2001, where 90 per cent of students passed.

Out of about 1,541 students who sat for the final Form VI National examinations in both Unguja and Pemba, only 25 managed to get division one as compared to 118 who scored with division one out of 1,005 students last year.

"All of us in the government were shocked with 2007 Form VI examinations outcome. Let us now work hard for good results next year. This is possible because we have all been provided with the results," Mr Ali said.

He said that there could be a number of reasons behind the poor performance, but blamed congestion in classrooms, inadequate teaching aids especially in science subjects and shortage of skilled teachers to handle Form Six students as well as laxity on part of some teachers.

"I have always said we may have a number of reasons for poor performance in Form Six, but the probe team will tell us the truth," he added.

The minister gave an example of a class of 105 students in one of the schools, saying it was a big burden to teachers to meet the learning requirements of each student.

The minister said that the seven-member probe team led by Mr Ahmada Hamadi Khatib from the State University of Zanzibar (SUZA) would start its assignment on Monday.

Tanzania: 10 children drown as passenger boat capsizes

Tue. May 15, 2007
By Bonny Apunyu.

(SomaliNet) A passenger boat carrying 45 people capsized in the Indian Ocean off the coast of Tanzania leaving at least 10 children drowned on Monday, police and eyewitnesses said.

Tanga region police Chief Issaya Mngulu said by phone that the boast,- dhow, MV Sahara- was sailing from Tanzania's semi-autonomous state of Zanzibar to the port of Tanga when the accident happened.

The police official added that fishing boats managed to rescue 30 people.

"Coast guards and other volunteers are searching for other missing people and also to recover dead bodies," said Mngulu.

The dhow left the Zanzibar island of Pemba coast at around 11am (08h00 GMT) on Sunday and capsized at around 8pm (17h00 GMT) Monday as conditions deteriorated, officials said.-AFP

Zanzibar Women athletes star in new film.

March 2007

ZANZIBAR SOCCER QUEENS is a documentary that presents fresh insights into other lived experiences and realities in Africa, particularly women’s experiences. The stories of the players of Women Fighters present a complex and diverse perspective