Zanzibar at 47: Orwellian tragedy or Kwei Armah African satire?

On 12 January 2011 Zanzibar marked 47 years since the 1964 revolution. Historically, this day is given more prominence in Zanzibar’s political circles than 10 December 1963 when Zanzibar obtained its independence chiefly because it ushered in majority rule.

This year 12 January 2011 assumed particular significance in the island’s political landscape: Perhaps for the first time since 1995 when Zanzibar re-embraced multi party politics, there was no visible political rift between the major political players during the celebrations. Instead the 2011 12 January celebration brought Zanzibari from all walks of life and political persuasions together.

Zanzibar’s political tranquillity coincided with the 2010 general elections, following which was created a government of national unity (GNU) comprising the two most influential political parties in modern-day Zanzibar – the ruling Chama cha Mapinduzi (CCM) and the Chama cha Wananchi, better known by its English name, the Civic United Front (CUF).

Uncharacteristically the political climate leading to the general elections in Zanzibar was unusually calm. Among the captivating images of the 31 October 2010 general elections were motorcades waving on one side flags or khangas of the CCM while on the other side would be a flag or khanga of the CUF. Similarly adorned were vespa motorcycles and bicycles, commonly plying the narrow streets of Zanzibar.

The CCM and the CUF campaigned together and thereafter held post-election rallies together. It was also possible to see in rival neighbourhoods or hang-outs (the famous maskani) posters of opponents put up side-by-side with the area’s popular candidate without being torn down, such that it was an environmental committee which had to ask the Zanzibar Municipal Council to clean the city of election-related memorabilia for environmental reasons.

Is the professed political goodwill shared? Is the new political dispensation irrefutable? One can read into the situation using different scripts. Foremost, the fact that Zanzibar has three presidents – or more correctly two presidents in waiting or two spare presidents – speaks volumes about the nature of the political truce and the types of concessions that were made to enable the truce. Imagine an island nation whose population barely totals 1 million having three presidents!

Historically, Zanzibar’s cabinet was headed by a chief minister. This position does not exist at present. Instead the president is assisted by his two vice-presidents, each heading a specific portfolio. Political pundits however see the second vice-president performing the role of the chief minister, while the role of the first vice-president is still being assessed.

While the two political maestros who made the GNU possible may be applauded in international circles, they receive no accolades at home. Some die-hard CUF supporters contend that the First Vice-President Seif Sherrif Hamad is an opportunist who wanted to realise his presidential dream at all costs. They are angered by the deal between Karume and Hamad, seeing it as having effectively killed political opposition in Zanzibar.

Former president Karume fares no better. He has been chided by members of his party at various events. A number of people observed that during the 12 January celebrations in Zanzibar it is CUF supporters who cheered Karume when he entered the Amani Stadium and made his way to the podium reserved for state dignitaries, not CCM supporters.

Elsewhere, youth members of his party have openly defied his referendum and attempts at forming a GNU by chanting a famous militia tune suggestive of mass killings during the revolution to indicate their displeasure at being forced to eat (if not sleep) with their sworn enemy. Ardent CCM supporters believe that Karume left CCM Zanzibar much weaker than it was in 2000 when he took over from the ‘Commando’, as President Salmin Amour, Zanzibar’s fifth-phase president, is known.

Deep rivalries remain within the ruling party in the isle between those who want greater autonomy for Zanzibar within the union set-up and those who are perceived to be sell-outs of the Zanzibar agenda. Other rivalries that are surfacing are in account of those who benefited from Karume’s rule and those who felt sidelined or scorned by the regime. The intra-party rivalries were intensified just before President Salmin Amour left power and his chief minister, the current union Vice-President Mohammed Gharib Bilal, was the popular choice in CCM Zanzibar, but Karume was instead chosen to stand as the party candidate by the party at its headquarters in Dodoma.

Many have not forgiven Karume for slighting their choice as a nation. In fact, nationalist voices in Zanzibar expressed by political parties such as Jahazi Asilia, and before it Safina, emerged around this time. The membership base of these parties is largely discontented CCM (or ASP (Afro Shirazi Party) supporters) who feel that the cause of the revolution and the Zanzibari identity and the Zanzibar nation is being usurped under the current union arrangement. Decidedly the political wind may have changed in Zanzibar, but political mistrust has not totally faded from the political landscape.

Regardless of the inner political machinations, many political analysts agree that Karume left the presidency with greater credibility and respect than when he assumed the leadership of the nation. Indeed, the agreement between the outgoing president Amani Abeid Karume and the chief opposition leader Seif Sheriff Hamad late in 2009 sealed his legacy.

By sheer determination, he did what many in Zanzibar and Tanzania thought was impossible: he put into motion a process towards healing the deep partisan divisions that had plagued Zanzibar since 1995. This was a difficult feat considering that Seif Sherrif Hamad contested in all multi-party elections since 1995 as the opposition presidential candidate.

In some circles he was assumed to have won at the polls but was cheated from his victory, an allegation which led the CUF to refuse to recognise Karume and his government during his first term[1] and necessitating the intervention of the Commonwealth as well as the union president. This political impasse led to a political embargo against Zanzibar, which was lifted very recently with the home-grown political accord.

This, however, will not be Karume’s legacy, as another vice that has characterised his leadership has tainted his regime. Various dailies have recently linked President Karume to a suspect land deal with a hotel chain to lease them a prime seafront area at Shangani for 99 years, contrary to laid-down procedures, just a few days before his departure.

The hotel group has been identified as Kempinski by government officials and The Guardian newspaper. The move by Karume’s government to receive this parcel of land is unpopular for at least three major reasons. Key among them is that the allocation of land concerns the heartbeat of Zanzibar’s information system.

Indeed, the Mambo Msige building houses Zanzibar’s records – births, deaths, inheritance, title deeds, wakfs, all manner of company and societies registrations, copyrights and other records. Some of these records (perhaps also because of poor storage methods) are so delicate they easily disintegrate upon being disturbed. How can a nation’s historical and institutional memory be compromised to allow a foreign investor access to sea-view rooms?

Secondly, there is an open space adjacent to Mambo Msige which in the past was used for official regatta races during mwaka koga (the local new year). Under the previous regime this area was unlawfully given to the Oman Consulate but the allocation was later rescinded, causing a diplomatic rift with Oman. Recently, the Omani government agreed to return the area on the understanding that it would revert to its original purpose.

To demonstrate their commitment to the deal the Stone Town authority put up a sign that indicated that the area was now under its management and government by the Stone Town Conservation Act.[2] The fence was brought down, to the delight of the local population in Shangani, allowing them access to the beach and to numerous social services on the grounds. Sadly this access was but temporary as the area has been fenced off again to allow Kempinski to develop the area.

Thirdly, locals question why the government should issue Kempinski this area when the hotel already has vast land in the prime beach area of north-east Zanzibar, hosting the only private beach on the island. This case has been particularly controversial because not only is it irregular but it effectively side lines the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN), which has in the past worked with the Zanzibar Conservation Authority to restore Zanzibar Stone Town.

Sources in the Stone Town Conservation Authority indicate that the AKDN had requested for the location so that it constitutes part of the conservation project it funds in Stone Town. The AKDN had restored the old Ex-Telecoms building and is now house to Serena Inn. It also financed and technically assisted the restoration of Stone Town storm water drainage and Forodhani Gardens, the popular local and tourist hang-out.

Local citizens see Karume and the CCM government typical of George Orwell’s ‘Animal Farm’. It must be remembered that Karume’s father, the late Abeid Amani Karume, came to power to redress past injustices committed against Africans, including that of access to land.

Land reforms were a measure to create a power base or a source of legitimacy by a regime that came to power via unpopular means – a bloody revolution. In February 1964, all land was nationalised to reallocate Zanzibar’s chief resource to its rightful owners – the majority African population.

Upon assuming power one of the first acts of the revolutionary government was to pass the Confiscation of Immovable Properties Decree No. 8 of 1964 which enabled the government to ‘acquire any property’, on condition that it be in the national interest of the republic.

This was followed by the passage of the Presidential Decree No. 13 of 1965, which vested all land in the government. The major instrument under which land redistribution was effected was the Land (Redistribution) Decree No. 5 of 1966. Clayton argues that while land redistribution may be tainted with Marxist ideology of Abdul Aziz Twala, it bears the clearest hallmark of Karume’s own populist thinking prevailing over socialist doctrinal theory (Clayton: 137, Cameron: 110).

The original intention of guaranteeing land for the people has long been lost. Chachage reminds that the land issue became a cardinal one in the struggles for independence up to the revolution on 12 January 1964. Among the things the ASP campaigned specifically for in the run-up to independence were land redistribution measures.

Sadly, from 1980 when Zanzibar transitioned towards a more liberal economy, there is a systematic move by the government to review the land tenure system towards greater individualisation and commoditisation of land. Haki Ardhi faults the government’s desire to secure large pieces of land for investors, often for meagre amounts, while alienating local communities.

Confidence with the leadership in charge of land matters during Karume’s tenure was low. The ministry in charge of land matters, as well as its top officials, were suspected of property-grabbing to further their own economic interests, such that locals have nicknamed the president as ‘hapa pangu’ (literally, ‘This place is mine’) to indicate the systematic manner in which they appropriate old buildings, in some cases claiming it is family property, a fruit of the revolution.[3]

A case in point is former president Karume recently calling a press conference to defend his daughter Fatma over a land dispute involving the Zanzibar Anglican Church. Defiantly, church worshippers were filmed destroying fixtures put up for construction on a plot they alleged was invaded by Fatma. This is not the first time such an accusation has been levied against his children but what has shocked many was his decision to openly involve himself with the matter.

Undoubtedly there is a close link between land and politics in Zanzibar. Perhaps consciously the seventh-phase government in Zanzibar is trying to challenge the prevailing assumptions about state impunity over Zanzibar’s hard-won resource. The second vice-president has made reclaiming open spaces and dubious title deeds his crusade. It is estimated that to date close to 30 controversial title deeds have been revoked, most issued illegally or in irregular circumstances to the political and business elite.

Three years short of marking 50 years as an independent nation (albeit in a semi-autonomous set up), it remains to be seen what literary script will best describe Zanzibar’s experience with uhuru.

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* © Salma Maoulidi 2010
* Salma Maoulidi is a social justice and gender activist in Tanzania.
* Please send comments to [email protected] or comment online at Pambazuka News.

NOTES

[1] CUF representatives also boycotted Parliament.
[2] Act No. 3 of 1994.
[3] See, for example, Raia Mwema, Toleo Na. 114 30th December 2009; 2.

REFERENCES

- Haki Ardhi, ‘Consequences of Current Land Reforms: A Critical Overview of Social Aspects’ (presentation on file with author)
- Anthony Clayton (1981) The Zanzibar Revolution and its Aftermath, London: G. Hurst Co.
- Middleton, J. (1961) Land Tenure in Zanzibar, London, Her Majesty Stationery Office 1961.
- Prof. C. Seithy L. Chachage (1997) ‘Land, Forests and People in Zanzibar; Some Preliminary Observations on Finnish Aid’, University of Dar es Salaam.
- Z. Bader (1985) ‘The Social Conditions and consequences of the 1964 Land Reforms in Zanzibar’, Ph D Thesis
- THE GUARDIAN, ‘Z'bar gov’t in public property lease scam’ published on 17th January 2011 available at http://www.ippmedia.com/frontend/index.php?l=25161
- The Presidential Decree No. 13 of 1965
- The Land (Redistribution) Decree No.5 of 1966
- The Confiscation of Immovable Properties Decree No. 8 of 1964