CHAKE CHAKE (Tanzania): At peace for decades and clambering steadily out of poverty, Tanzania looks to many like an African success. But to Kassim Mohammed, there is nothing to cheer. The notion, often cited by foreign investors, that the country of 37 million is a rare beacon of stability in a turbulent continent bewilders him and many others in its most politically troubled region, the Zanzibar Spice Islands.
Kassim’s brother Said was one of about 40 people shot dead by police during unrest in 2001 after disputed elections, and fears of similar turmoil are rising ahead of elections due in October.
Anger at the deaths has deepened over time because no police have been disciplined for the killings, resulting in widespread resentment of Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM), the party that has held power nationally and on Zanzibar for 40 uninterrupted years.
The deaths will be a prominent election issue.
“We see them (CCM) as killers,” said Kassim, 45, clad in a wraparound skirt on his porch amid dense mango groves on Pemba island, his arm around Said’s five-year-old son Ahmed.
“If CCM tries to steal this country they will never be able to rule because we will take our rights if the ballot box fails. We are ready to defend our rights at any cost. We believe sanctions should be imposed (if CCM steals the election).”
Kassim belongs to the opposition Civic United Front (CUF), which vows not to be cheated a third time after the CCM retained power by what critics call fraud and repression at 1995 and 2000 polls.
Despite solid income from tourism, the former Omani colony, with a population of one million, remains a backward corner of Tanzania, prompting accusations of an unequal distribution of resources between the mainland and the islands.
The Zanzibar islands of Pemba and Unguja forged a union with mainland Tanganyika in 1964 to create Tanzania, while keeping their own parliament and president.
The CUF, which has its powerbase on Zanzibar, says the islands have been marginalised and must have more economic and political clout. It denies CCM accusations that it wants to break away from the union and says the core problem is what it calls the arrogance and intolerance of CCM leaders in Zanzibar.—Reuters
