ZANZIBAR POLLS CRISIS UNFOLDS IN 2016

Around mid-day Wednesday, October 28, 2015 the Zanzibar Electoral Commission (ZEC) chairman, Mr Jecha Salim Jecha, appeared in front of live cameras, with one unprecedented piece of information: the results of Zanzibar presidential and House of Reps elections, which were conducted three days earlier as part of the Tanzania General Election have been annulled.

According to Mr Jecha, there were massive irregularities that compromised the credibility of the polls, so the results had to be nullified. The move sent a country in a state of numbness and disbelief. Yes, the semi-autonomous Zanzibar archipelago has a history of troubled elections since the return of multiparty elections in 1995 (with exception of 2010 where Zanzibar witnessed its only peaceful election) it never reached a point where results had to be annulled.

Tension mounted, the main Opposition party CUF came out insisting that it had won while the ruling party CCM accepted the nullification of the results. The international community refused to accept the nullification of results and called on ZEC to continue with tallying process. While the crisis was born in late October of 2015, its aftermath unfolded in 2016 and affected the socio-political and economic engagements for the isles and Tanzania as whole.

Amidst all the fuss, CUF presidential candidate Seif Shariff Hamad and his CCM counterpart, Dr Ali Mohammed Shein, were engaged in a marathon of closed-door meetings aimed at ending the impasse. About eight meetings were held between November 2015 and early January 2016, and were also attended by former Zanzibar presidents, but no deal was reached and the meetings ended in disarray.

In late January, Mr Jecha came out again and announced that on March 20, a rerun of polls would take place. The announcement was highly criticised by the Opposition and international community.

Uneasy calm

President John Magufuli took over office in November, last year and expressed his strong belief that the political situation in Zanzibar would be settled amicably. However, in February, he addressed Dar es Salaam elders and told them that he was not going to meddle with the matter, stressing that ZEC was an independent body. He then issued a warning, saying that as the Commander-in-Chief, he would make sure that Zanzibar remains peaceful and whoever tried to cause trouble, would be dealt with accordingly.

Generally speaking, the situation seemed to be quiet and peaceful, but beneath the veneer of calmness lied fear and uncertainty.

Attacks allegedly perpetuated by militia group called “Zombies” to civilians mostly affiliated to Opposition were reported. Stories of militias during elections in Zanzibar are not new, in previous years there was another group called Janjaweed. Zombies, like Janjaweed before it, are all said to have been formed and operated jointly by CCM and security forces to intimidate Opposition supporters.

This reporter, who was based in Zanzibar at that time, traced some of the victims of Zombies attacks. However, none of them, regardless of the degree of attack, reported to police, claiming that the militia and police are one and tehe same. That was a perfect excuse for police not to pursue on the militia, saying it was just a myth, since no single attack was officially reported to authorities.

There was then reports of bomb blasts, the first one in the narrow streets of Stone Town, then followed one at popular CCM joint, Kisonge Branch office and the last one at the residence of the Isles police boss Hamdan Omar Makame. No fatalities or serious injuries were reported in all three incidents.

Over 40 people, including two high level CUF leaders, were arrested in connection with the bombings but they were all later released without being charged. According to CUF, the bombs were but an insider job aimed at giving security organs legitimacy to crack down on the Opposition.

As repeat election date neared, security presence both by police and soldiers from Tanzania People’s Defence Force (TPDF) was heavily boosted in the archipelago.

The outcome

The polls were repeated on March 20 but CUF boycotted them, enabling the CCM to register a landslide win of 91 per cent in presidency and bagged all 54 elective seats in the House of Reps.

After the breakdown of internal negotiations CUF led by Mr Hamad sought foreign intervention. The earlier attempt was made three weeks after the annulment of the October polls when Mr Hamad wrote to Pope Francis asking for his intervention, telling him in the letter that the political impasse was threatening peace and religious tolerance in the Isles. After the March return polls, which were faulted by among others the US, EU and Commonwealth, Mr Hamad embarked on shuttle diplomacy where he travelled to the US and UK addressing the Zanzibar situation at different liberals’ conventions. CUF also called for foreign powers to issue travel ban and freeze assets of all individuals within CCM and the government who took part in “raping democracy” in the isles.

The biggest blow to the government and success to CUF as far as the Zanzibar fiasco is concerned was the suspension of aid funds by the US Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC). The MCC board in late March suspended the $472 million (nearly Sh1 trillion) for development projects in the country sighting the isles political impasse.

CUF also called for its supporters to passively resist the Dr Shein regime, and leading by example Mr Hamad refused to shake hands with him in August when they met during the funeral of former Zanzibar President Aboud Jumbe. Recently, Mr Hamad told journalists that the ongoing wrangles within the party were planted by the government using the embattled CUF Chairman, Prof Ibrahim Lipumba, to shift his focus from challenging the government.

especially with foreign visits.