Why Zanzibar Referendum Outcome Left CCM More Bruised

Zanzibar made history last Saturday by overwhelmingly endorsing constitutional changes in a referendum that will pave the way for the formation of a government of national unity later this year.

Such a government will be the first ever in the country since the armed revolution that rooted out the Arab Sultan rulers in the early sixties, and also in the modern times following the introduction of multiparty politics in Tanzania in 1992.


The momentous verdict was issued by 188,705 voters who participated in the exercise at 66.4 per cent against 95,613 at 33.6 per cent of those who were not in favour of the outcome that will now significantly alter the way politics is played in Zanzibar.

Political leaders, representatives of the donor community and even the common man on the streets have immediately welcomed the referendum outcome, with a majority saying it would finally guarantee peace and tranquillity in the Isles that had hitherto remained perilous every election year.

But as the dust settles, different interest groups will take stock of what transpired on the campaign trail and what the final result would mean for their role in the future of Zanzibar. Some are not entirely ruling out new political realignments prior to and after the October 31 General Election.


"It was a positive vote for unity by the people but as observers we could not fail to notice that deep antagonism, mainly within the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi remained," explained Dr Benson Bana, the Chairman of Tanzania Election Monitoring Committee and also head of the University of Dar es Salaam's Research for Democracy and Education in Tanzania (Redet).

That voters on Pemba Island regions gave an emphatic 'Yes' vote and are still the more enthusiastic of the new political order than their colleagues in Unguja Island may have not been entirely surprising. As in the past elections, Pemba has tended to vote for the opposition Civic United Front (CUF) to the last man standing and in the referendum sided with their leaders who campaigned for 'Yes'.

The opposition's supremacy in the referendum results showed that the people of Mtambwe District in North Pemba Region, the home town of Mr Seif Hamad, the CUF leader, had the highest Yes votes, with 95.1 per cent of the 5324 people who cast their votes. Mr Hamad is CUF's secretary general and will run for the presidency under the party in the October 31 general election.

"The people in Pemba voted the way they did because they know this was their only chance to end decades long feeling of alienation from government. They are the ones who have suffered more and paid the huge cost of a system of winner takes all despite the fact that polling results divided Zanzibar into two, almost equal parts," said businessman Said Mohammed said.

Mr Hamad has already been nominated by his party to run for the Presidency in what would be his fourth attempt. Having served as Chief Minister in the CCM government, the opposition leader has not shied from admitting that deliberately skewed government planning have consigned Pemba to poverty due to past political rivalry.

For the sake of this huge constituency, Mr Hamad, who alongside President Amani Abeid Karume engineered the final and significant push for reconciliation and tagged alongside the President to campaign for 'Yes', was at hand to welcome the victory last Saturday.

He declared; "This is a win for Zanzibar, its people and the united republic of Tanzania." President Karume whose extra energy to drive through the vote was pleased with the voters who have given him what political commentators say would be one of his presidency's most important legacy.

While this task is almost done, the remaining few days could prove trickier if divisions within CCM that played out ahead of the referendum are anything to go by. In Zanzibar today, it was expected that Karume could after all now have reason to whip those in CCM's inner circles and in government who gave lukewarm support for the referendum.

A District Commissioner in the seat of government was last week sent packing in a move linked more to his remarks critical of the government's campaigning for a 'Yes' vote. "I will not be surprised if that did happen but what is dangerous for CCM will be what kind of realignments that could follow if he was to sack ministers in the last days in office," a senior party official who requested to remain anonymous said.

All Africa

Hamad Masauni aibuka kidedea Kikwajuni

Aliyekuwa Mwenyekiti wa Umoja wa Vijana CCM, Hamad Masauni Yusuf, ameshinda katika kura za kugombea nafasi ya ubunge kwa tiketi ya CCM katika jimbo la Kikwajuni kwa kura 990.

Hamad ameweza kumshinda Naib Katibu Mkuu wa CCM Saleh Ramadhani Feruzi ambae aliweza kupata kura 155 na kushika nafasi ya tatu chini ya Ahmed Mohamed aliyepata kura 511.

Zanzibar ni Mseto

Matokeo rasmi ya kura ya maoni juu ya serikali ya umoja wa kitaifa yametolewa. Kura za ndio ni 188,705 na kura za hapana ni 95,613. Hii inamaanisha kuwa serikali ijayo ya itakuwa ni ya umoja wa kitaifa.

Zanzibar votes to install unity government

Zanzibar, Tanzania - Tanzania's politically volatile Zanzibar island votes in a referendum Saturday to install a power-sharing government aimed at ending the archipelago's persistent election unrest.

The ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM - Revolutionary party) and the main opposition Civic United Front (CUF) are backing the deal and have called on voters to endorse it.

A new form of government would see Zanzibar have a president with two deputies. The first vice president would be from the party which comes second in the polls and the second from the winning party.

Ministers are to be allocated on a proportional basis.

If passed, Zanzibar's constitution will then be amended to pave the way for a unity government in readiness for general elections on October 31.


"Vote 'yes' in the referendum so that we remain united. We need to work together and heal hatred caused by unnecessary political conflicts after every general election," Zanzibar President Amani Karume told a gathering this week.

"Zanzibaris should not allow a return to division," CUF leader Seif Sharif Hamad told AFP.

"We need to build our country which has been ruined by the prolonged conflicts. I hope that the majority people of Zanzibar will vote 'yes'."

A positive outcome of the July 31 referendum will propel Zanzibar to the league of African governments to have negotiated power-sharing accords in the aftermath of disputed elections.

It will however be set apart from Kenya and Zimbabwe by making the deal a constitutional provision ahead of its next elections.

The Indian Ocean archipelago comprises three islands of Unguja, Pemba and Mafia. Mafia is however administered by mainland Tanzania.

Zanzibar declared independence on January 12, 1964 after a bloody revolution that ended several centuries of rule by Arab sultans.

Three months later, it merged with mainland Tanganyika to form the United Republic of Tanzania, but maintained a semi-autonomous government with its own president, constitution, flag and national anthem.

Rivalry between the CCM and CUF has been bitter and at times bloody since the re-introduction of multi-party politics in 1992.

The CCM has won all subsequent elections in 1995, 2000 and 2005, sparking protests by the opposition, which repeatedly charged that results were rigged in favour of the ruling party.

At least 30 people were killed in January 2001 during clashes between police and supporters of CUF in Zanzibar and Pemba. Dozens of Pemba residents fled to Kenya.

Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete deplored the perennial enmity between the Zanzibar parties, which he said had also divided the society.

"People of the same island and even clan stopped talking to each other," he recently told parliament.

"CCM or CUF members failed to turn out at funerals of relatives who belonged to a different party. This is too bad. I am pleased that things are now changing for the better."

Some 400,000 voters have been registered to take part in Saturday's referendum, whose results are to be announced two days later. Observers from the European Union and the US will monitor the exercise.

Zanzibar, an idyllic travel destination with palm fringed beaches and historic sites, is home to around 1.2 million people.


AFP

FFU kupereka mzuka wa dansi FRANKFURT !

Bend maarufu ya mziki wa dansi barani ulaya "The Ngoma Africa Band" aka FFU
wanatarajiwa kutua kwa nguvu zote !katika onyesho kubwa la Afrika & Karibik Festival,
litakalofanyika katika Viwanja vya Robestock Park, Frankfurt,Ujerumani siku ya Jumamosi
07-08-2010 maelfu ya washabiki wa mziki nchini ujerumani wanaisubiri bendi hiyo kwa hamu kubwa...
kutokana na mdundo wake unaochezeka.

Habari zinatonya kuwa bendi hiyo pia itatingisha jukwaa katika onyesho lingine kubwa
la Festival mjini keiserslautern,Ujerumani siku ya Jumapili 8-08-2010 ambako katika kila
hali washabiki wapo tayari kwenda sambamba na gwaride la FFU wa Ngoma Africa band.
usikose kujipa raha mwenyewe kwa kuwasikiliza hapa http://www.myspace.com/thengomaafrica

Maduka kadhaa yateketea kwa Moto - Darajani

Maduka kadhaa katika mtaa wa Darajani yameteketea kwa moto. Habari zaidi na picha tembelea hapa

Tom & Jenny in Tanzania. Sasa kinapatikana Dar es Salaam

Kwa habari zaidi wasiliana na BASELINE AFRICA

Hamad Masauni aibukia Kikwajuni...

Baada ya kulazimika kujiuzulu Uenyekiti wa Umoja wa Vijana(CCM) kutokana na kashfa ya kughushi umri wake, Hamad Masauni amechukua fomu ya kugombea ubunge katika jimbo la Kikwajuni...

Swali la kizushi, katika fomu hiyo atajaza umri gani?

Zaidi kama inayosomeka hapa

Wapanda Baiskeli Wasaidia Mradi wa Hospitali Makunduchi

Dr Jon Rees, of Brockway Medical Centre in Nailsea, travelled to Zanzibar in June to take part in a bike ride around the tropical island, off the coast of Tanzania, East Africa.

The 38-year-old GP was among a 40-strong group on the sponsored cycle ride for the Makunduchi Project which in total raised a staggering £80,000.

The aim of the trip was to raise funds for a maternity services in a rural area which currently has almost no medical care for mothers during delivery.

Maternal mortality rates are currently 170 times higher than in the UK, with one in 180 mothers dying in childbirth.

Jon said: “The trip was a great success – the local bikes were slightly crude and you were very lucky to have working brakes or gears, the roads were rough, and the temperature high.

“Cycling between 60 – 80kms per day proved a great challenge, but was highly enjoyable also – it was the first time Zanzibar had seen a bike trip of this scale, so the reception in the villages was noisy to say the least.”

The fundraising will allow the Makunduchi hospital to begin maternity services later this year and hopefully lead to significant reductions in maternal and infant mortality, added Jon.

He said: “I had never done anything like this before but I enjoyed the challenge.”

The ride took etween seven-10 days along a route close to the equator.

Jon who is married to Seema, a GP in Portishead, said: “Although there is a sense of paradise on the Indian Ocean Spice Island with its white sandy beaches and coral reef lagoon the average life expectancy is 47 years

“One in 180 women die during delivery of their child and one in six children die under the age of seven with the majority dying when aged less than two years.”

Jon took his one-year-old son Krishan out a lot of the back of his bike is helping with his training.

The doctor, who also has seven-year-old twins Kamran and Jaya, also cycled back and forth from his Bristol home as part of his training.

He said: “My training regime was to cycle into work from Bristol and back is approximately a 21 mile round trip and going out on call on my bike whenever possible.”

Jon is a trustee of the charity with a slogan ‘Money raised is not just a drop in the ocean’.

He said: “We have complete control over the fund, so there can be no corruption.

“People can see exactly where their money is going and monitor progress. People can and will make a difference.

“I am involved with this charity having worked in Zanzibar's main hospital approximately seven years ago as a surgical trainee.

"I spent some time there learning some operative procedures that we rarely carry out in this country.

“I worked at Mnazi Moja Hospital in Stonetown, the capital of the island - the hospital is completely unable to cope with the huge numbers of patients coming in from rural areas, and a terrible lack of resources.

“This project aims to help manage the less sick patients in the community and allow the main hospital to concentrate on more major illness.

“I became involved in a twinning project between this hospital and Musgrove Park where I was working at the time.”

It was a consultant at the Taunton hospital who is the founder of the charity.

Backwell and Nailsea Medical Group practice manager Maggie Robins collected toys for Jon to take out and Backwell & Nailsea Rotary Club is supporting the project by raising funds for an anaesthetic machine for the maternity unit at the hospital.


Nailsea People

Umuhimu wa Kura ya NDIO hapo Julai 31, 2010

Sio siri tena kwamba siasa za umimi,chuki na utenganao hazina nafasi tena katika visiwa vya Zanzibar. Hii ni kutokana na muafaka wa kihistoria uliofikiwa na Rais anayemaliza muda wake hapo Zanzibar Mhe. A. Karume na Mhe. Maalim Seif, ambao kwa pamoja waliona uhumimu wa kuwa na Zanzibar moja yenye kuelewana licha ya tofauti za kisiasa.

Utengano wa Zanzibar na hasa kijografia umesababisha kuwepo kwa mikwaruzo mingi kwa watu wa visiwa hivyo licha ya baadhi yao kuwa na maingiliano ya kifamilia. Tatizo la utengano huu lilitokana na Mapinduzi ambapo upande mmjoa wa visiwa hivyo kujiona kuwa unahusika zaidi na mapinduzi hayo kuliko upande mwingine wa visiwa hivyo. Hivyo basi utaona kuwa utengano huu ulijengeka zaidi kisiasa.

Imechukua zaidi ya miaka arobaini na sita kwa wanzazibari kuona kuwa kuna umuhimu wa kuelewana na hasa katika uwanja wa kisiasa, ambao umecheza nafasi kubwa katika mgogoro na mtafuruku wa utengano visiwani humu. Awali rais wa kwanza alikuwa akitamka hadharani nafasi ya wananchi wa kisiwa kingine katika uongozi wa juu visiwani hapa. Kauli zake hizo ni baadhi ya mizizi ya utengano visiwani.

Machafuko ya hali ya hewa mwanzoni mwa miaka ya themanini hayawezi kuwekwa kando katika mtafaruku huu. Kwani yalionyesha wazi ni kwa kiasi gani baadhi ya wanavisiwa wanavyochukuliwa katika hatima ya uongozi wa juu visiwani humu. Hii iliongeza mbolea katika utengano na chuki miongoni mwa wanavisiwa.

Kurudi kwa mfumo wa vyama vingi, ndio ilikuwa kilele cha utengano. Kwani kwa mara ya kwanza Watanzania wengi waliweza kujua nini kinaendelea katika visiwa hivi. Kauli nyingi za ajabu ajabu zilisikika katika kuona kuwa utengano wa kisiasa, itikadi na hadi kifamilia unaendelea visiwani hapa, hadi kusababisha kupoteza maisha ya baadhi ya wanavisiwa ambao walikuwa wamechoshwa na kadhia hizo.

Leo hii sio vyema kutupa lawama kwa upande wowote uliohusika na kujenga migogoro hii. Kwani pande zote kwa namna moja ama nyingine zimehusika kikamilifu katika kujenga utengano huu.

Hii ndio inafanya kuwa kila mpandae maelewano visiwani humu aone umuhimu wa kupiga kura ya NDIO. Kura hii ina umuhimu mkubwa sana katika maendeleao ya kijamii visiwani humu na kufuta kabisa historia chafu ya utengano na migogoro isiyokwisha ya kisiasa.

Matokeo ya kura ya NDIO yatawezesha wanavisiwa wote kufungua ukurusa mpya katika maisha yao ya kila siku. Ukurasa ambao utaweka historia miongoni mwetu na ulimwenguni kwa ujumla.

Napenda kusema kuwa hii ni nafasi adhimu iliyotukuta wanavisiwa, ya kuweza kujiamulia wenyewe hatima ya maisha yetu kisiasa kiuchumi na kujamii. Kumbuka kuwa hapo awali maamuzi yote makubwa juu ya maisha yetu yalikuwa yakitoka juu, kabla la hili la tarehe 31/07/2010.

Ni vema kwa kila mwananchi mwenye sifa ya kupiga kura siku hiyo kupiga kura ya NDIO, ili kuweza kuwa na visiwa venye umoja na kuelekea kwenye kuunda serikali ya umoja wa kitaifa mara baada ya Uchaguzi Mkuu.

Tatizo letu tunalijua na tiba yetu ni kura ya NDIO.

Swahili gift "Khanga" transgresses boundaries

It was just a cloth that came with the emergence of slave trade along the coastal line of East Africa, but its revolution and esteem put it on the map of Africa's lifestyle.

The Leso or Khanga as it is commonly known (wrapper or shawl worn around the waist ), is no longer much of a fashion statement in Kenya today or any other East African country -- certainly not what it was in the 1980s, when our mothers would strut around elegantly wrapped in it, making very respectable fashion statements.

Nonetheless, even today, any African women strongly attached to her culture must wear a leso as respectable attire at some point, especially during important social festivals. So how did this legendary piece of clothing come to influence African fashion for so long?

Incredibly, the origin of the Khanga (leso) was in the nefarious slave trade. Female slaves in the 19th century had to be "adequately" clothed before being transported to the Middle East. Because of the local religious obligations, many considered the Khanga a cloth befitting the occasion.

Traders from Gujarat in the Indian sub-continent, who had been visiting the East African coast for centuries, cleverly noted this and responded to the market demand by supplying a black cloth called the Kaniki. Whack was worn by slaves and poorer women.

The Merikani, another expensive cloth worn by high-society ladies, was supplied from North America. A pure cloth, it was embellished using simple dots and lines. Later, red color was added to the initial white, as artists experimented with dyes.

Block printing was the next progression, as patterns chiseled into cassava and sweet potatoes were imprinted onto the cloth. These, therefore, became the hallmarks of the Khanga.

As women wearing the colorful fabric gathered in the groups and chattered in the evening breeze of the Zanzibar sea-shore, men likened them to East Africa's ubiquitous guinea fowl (black and white dots resembling a guinea fowl) -- "Khanga" in Swahili -- with its brightly coloured spotted plumage.

Emancipated female slaves from the East African coast and Zanzibar, together with other women in the region, demanded ever- changing designs, setting in motion the trends that would make the Khanga a high-fashion item in the 20th century.

After the socialist revolution in Zanzibar, there was a lull in the leso trade, but only briefly. Soon, entrepreneurs from India were manufacturing the garments and exporting them to Zanzibar and the whole of the East Africa.

Before India became the leader in the industry, most machine- made Khangas came from Europe and China. In Kenya , there is only one manufacturing plant, while there are five in Tanzania.

The general presentation of the Khanga has improved with time. Text messages and proverbs are among its most recent additions.

This development was pioneered by the famous Hajee Essak family, who originally came from Zanzibar but settled in Mombasa in 1910. Back then, the language used was Swahili and the script Arabic.

The sayings are not just decorative. They have profound meaning both to the wearer and viewer. A typical one goes" Mama ni mama hata hawe nani" (a mother is a mother whatever else she may be).

Historically, such inscriptions solved the communication barrier in a culture where women were not heard or seen publicly. They gave a voice to the voiceless.

Interestingly the cloth is not worn in India , where it is made, because of the enduring stigma of its close association with slave women.

Seyyid Barghash who ruled Zanzibar in the early 20th century, banned noble ladies in his court from wearing it, claiming that it reminded him of the "dirty stinking black woman at the slave market."

The Khanga has not entirely escaped the onslaught of modernization, both in its material and message. Synthetic fabrics such as polyester have been employed in its production and it is now common to see political, religious and social messages written on it.

Even portraits of powerful leaders have found their way onto its material. The hard face of Ernesto "Che" Guevara -- the famed Latin American communist revolutionary -- is seen on many fashionable Khangas in Nairobi.

Other notable faces include the felled South African liberation movement activist Steve Biko, Mau Mau war hero Dedan Kimaathi and Agustinho Neto, the Angolan poet and revolutionary.

Spreading far and wide from its heartland in Zanzibar, the versatile Khanga can now be found on the East African coast, in the hinterland, in Madagascar and the Comoro islands and throughout the Middle East.

As Christed De Wit, a leading researcher of early forms of fashion in East Africa, notes in her book Evolution of Fashion in East Africa: "The Khanga has transgressed all boundaries of culture, religion and language. It has become the Muslim Swahili gift for those who seek to embrace it."

Xinhua

Islanders’ mistaken reverence for Kenya

By Joe Ombuor

To many Zanzibaris of African origin, Kenya produced their most revered liberator from Arab yoke, Field Marshall John Okello.

This is the notion I walked straight into and basked in the high regard that Kenya commands in the archipelago while on a brief trip on the semi autonomous Island recently.

Yet Okello, the ex-policeman who led poorly armed unemployed youth of the defunct Afro Shirazi party in a bloody revolution against the reign of Sultan Jamshi bin Abdulla on the night of January 12, 1964, was an Acholi from Uganda, and not a Kenyan Luo as is widely believed on the Island.

Records at the archives in Zanzibar say the self-styled revolutionary entered Zanzibar from Kenya through the northern Island of Pemba in 1958, claiming to have been a field marshal during Kenya’s Mau Mau uprising.

The Revolution

Older Zanzibaris who spoke to The Standard on Saturday on condition of anonymity said it was Okello, and not first President Sheikh Abeid Amani Karume late father to the current president as is officially claimed, who planned and executed the revolution with the Afro Shirazi Youth League.

Records have it that the young revolutionaries overcame the largely Arab police, taking automatic rifles, submachine and bren guns, with which they swiftly armed themselves to take control of strategic buildings such as the Sultan’s palace and other installations.

Dr. Shein awasili Zenj

Picha kwa hisani ya Mapara

Indian Ocean Sea Levels On The Rise

Newly detected rising sea levels in parts of the Indian Ocean, including the coastlines of the Bay of Bengal, the Arabian Sea, Sri Lanka, Sumatra and Java, appear to be at least partly a result of human-induced increases of atmospheric greenhouse gases, says a study led by the University of Colorado at Boulder.

The study, which combined sea surface measurements going back to the 1960s and satellite observations, indicates anthropogenic climate warming likely is amplifying regional sea rise changes in parts of the Indian Ocean, threatening inhabitants of some coastal areas and islands, said CU-Boulder Associate Professor Weiqing Han, lead study author. The sea level rise -- which may aggravate monsoon flooding in Bangladesh and India -- could have far-reaching impacts on both future regional and global climate.

The key player in the process is the Indo-Pacific warm pool, an enormous, bathtub-shaped area of the tropical oceans stretching from the east coast of Africa west to the International Date Line in the Pacific. The warm pool has heated by about 1 degree Fahrenheit, or 0.5 degrees Celsius, in the past 50 years, primarily caused by human-generated increases of greenhouse gases, said Han.

"Our results from this study imply that if future anthropogenic warming effects in the Indo-Pacific warm pool dominate natural variability, mid-ocean islands such as the Mascarenhas Archipelago, coasts of Indonesia, Sumatra and the north Indian Ocean may experience significantly more sea level rise than the global average," said Han of CU-Boulder's atmospheric and oceanic sciences department.

A paper on the subject was published in this week's issue of Nature Geoscience. Co-authors included Balaji Rajagopalan, Xiao-Wei Quan, Jih-wang Wang and Laurie Trenary of CU-Boulder, Gerald Meehl, John Fasullo, Aixue Hu, William Large and Stephen Yeager of the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Jialin Lin of Ohio State University, and Alan Walcraft and Toshiaki Shinoda of the Naval Research Laboratory in Mississippi.

While a number of areas in the Indian Ocean region are showing sea level rise, the study also indicated the Seychelles Islands and Zanzibar off Tanzania's coastline show the largest sea level drop. Global sea level patterns are not geographically uniform, and sea rise in some areas correlate with sea level fall in other areas, said NCAR's Meehl.

The Indian Ocean is the world's third largest ocean and makes up about 20 percent of the water on Earth's surface. The ocean is bounded on the west by East Africa, on the north by India, on the east by Indochina and Australia, and on the south by the Southern Ocean off the coast of Antarctica.

The patterns of sea level change are driven by the combined enhancement of two primary atmospheric wind patterns known as the Hadley circulation and the Walker circulation. The Hadley circulation in the Indian Ocean is dominated by air currents rising above strongly heated tropical waters near the equator and flowing poleward, then sinking to the ocean in the subtropics and causing surface air to flow back toward the equator.

The Indian Ocean's Walker circulation causes air to rise and flow westward at upper levels, sink to the surface and then flow eastward back toward the Indo-Pacific warm pool. "The combined enhancement of the Hadley and Walker circulation form a distinct surface wind pattern that drives specific sea level patterns," said Han.

The international research team used several different sophisticated ocean and climate models for the study, including the Parallel Ocean Program -- the ocean component of NCAR's widely used Community Climate System Model. In addition, the team used a wind-driven, linear ocean model for the study.

"Our new results show that human-caused changes of atmospheric and oceanic circulation over the Indian Ocean region -- which have not been studied previously -- are the major cause for the regional variability of sea level change," wrote the authors in Nature Geoscience.

Han said that based on all-season data records, there is no significant sea level rise around the Maldives. But when the team looked at winter season data only, the Maldives show significant sea level rise, a cause for concern. The smallest Asian country, the Maldives is made up of more than 1,000 islands -- about 200 of which are inhabited by about 300,000 people -- and are on average only about five feet above sea level.

The complex circulation patterns in the Indian Ocean may also affect precipitation by forcing even more atmospheric air down to the surface in Indian Ocean subtropical regions than normal, Han speculated. "This may favor a weakening of atmospheric convection in the subtropics, which may increase rainfall in the eastern tropical regions of the Indian Ocean and increase drought in the western equatorial Indian Ocean region, including east Africa," Han said.

The new study indicates that in order to document sea level change on a global scale, researchers also need to know the specifics of regional sea level changes that will be important for coastal and island regions, said NCAR's Hu. Along the coasts of the northern Indian Ocean, seas have risen by an average of about 0.5 inches, or 13 millimeters, per decade.

"It is important for us to understand the regional changes of the sea level, which will have effects on coastal and island regions," said Hu.

The study was funded by a number of organizations, including NCAR, the National Science Foundation, NASA and the U.S. Department of Energy.


Red Orbit

Je Huu ni Mwisho wa Siasa za Makundi hapo Zenj?

Wapenda muafaka katika mstakabala wa siasa za visiwani, watakuwa wamefarijika sana kwa Dr. Shein kuongoza katika matokeo ya wagombeaji wa urais visiwani Zanzibar. Ingawa hakuwa wazi juu ya muafaka kama mgombea mwingine wa urais huo Ali Karume, kupita kwa jina la Dr. Shein kunafungua ukurasa mpya katika utawala visiwani humo.

Cha msingi hapa ni kujua ni kwa namna gani anaweza kulinda na kusimamia hatua za awali za kuondoa mpasuko wa kijamii visiwani humo. Sifa kubwa ya nje ya Dr. Shein ni kutojulikana msimamo wake, zaidi ni kuwa amehusu kisiwa cha pili, hivyo kuwepo na uwezekano mkubwa kuweza kusimamia maendeleo ya kuwepo na serikali ya mseto.

Tofauti na Dr. Bilal na Waziri Kiongozi, Dr Shein anaonekana kutokuwa na makundi yenye lengo la kuzoretesha jitihada muhimu zilizofikiwa hivi karibuni juu ya utaifa wa Zanzibar. Hii ni silaha yake kubwa na inabidi aitumie vizuri ili kuweza kutibu gonjwa la muda mrefu la siasa za visiwani hapo.

Kwa kuchaguliwa kwake kwa kura nyingi, kunaondoa dhana iliyojengeka miaka mingi juu ya utawala wa ngazi za juu huko Visiwani, ambao ulitokana na mtazamo wa rais wa kwanza wa serikali ya Mapinduzi. Kuchaguliwa kwa Dr. Shein kutaboresha mambo mengi ambayo yalikuwa yanaidhoofisha Zanzibar,na atafanikiwa tu iwapo ataweza kuendesha serikali bila kujali makundi.

Kwa upande mwingine Dr. Bilal amekumbwa na laana ya ubaguzi ambayo ilianza kumwandama mapema baada ya Dr. Salmin kumaliza muda wake wa uongozi. Ukimya wake wa kutoweka msimamo wake wa wazi juu ya siasa za chuki kisiwani hapo, ndio huo ambao umeendelea kumwondoa katika nafasi hiyo ambayo amejaribu kuigombania mara kadhaa bila mafanikio.

Waziri Kiongozi, kwa mtazamo wangu nae tayali alishaanza kujenga makundi katika safari yake ya kuelekea kuchukua urais visiwani humo. Misimamo yake katika masuala yenye kusumbua zaidi visiwa hivyo hakuweza kuyaweka bayana, hivyo kuashiria kusimamia baadhi ya makundi fulani. Ilikuwa ni njia nyepesi kwake kuweza kuchukua nafasi ya urais, kwani ameitumikia nafasi yake kwa miaka kumi hivyo kumwezesha kumrithi rais Karume.

Zanzibar International Film Festival to attract films from 43 countries

STONE TOWN, Tanzania, July (Xinhua) -- The Zanzibar International Film Festival in Tanzania is expected to attract films from 43 countries to the annual event scheduled on July 10 to July 18.

With the theme of "Hopes in Harmony", the film festival provides one opportunity for all Zanzibaris to come and watch films for free on a big screen, and calls for peace and harmony in Zanzibar, the Indian Ocean archipelago.

Opening films includes "I Bring What I Love", which takes the audience behind the scenes and into the world of Africa's most famous musician Youssou N'dour.

Among the special highlights this year's festival is the world Cup final, which would scream the climax of this extraordinary African football extravaganza on late July 11 in the old fort.

Many of the films to be shown at the festival have highlighted every day life of women in the society, according to the press release. It also includes performing arts, which is a street theatre component and it shall work with the literary forum in showcasing the spoken word in an event and it will bring the local repertories to contact with other spoken word performances.

The film festival is seen by the government as a symbol of enhancing Zanzibar culture and acts as a factor of propagating Zanzibar tourism sector, and thus enabling more tourists to visit Zanzibar and boosting Zanzibar economy.

Zanzibar artists fight for tourist cash

Tourism is now Zanzibar's biggest industry - easily outstripping the trade in spices, traditionally the Tanzanian island's biggest foreign currency earner.

But local artists complain that they are not able to reap the rewards from the tourist boom.

They say that most of the art on sale is mass produced and has little relevance to the island's culture.

The so-called "tourist art" is ruining their livelihood, they claim.

'Commercial artist'

Saidi Omary, 24, paints up to 15 pieces of "tourist art" a week.

"I am a commercial artist, I paint what is marketable," he said.

"I do create original works but they don't sell quickly which is bad because I need the money."

Despite the thriving tourism industry, the island is still very poor.

The average wage is just 60 US cents a day and it is not surprising that artists are turning out effortless reproductions that they can sell for a few dollars.

Awareness
But some artists working in Zanzibar deplore this commercial approach to art.


Artist Hamza Ausiy is dismissive of "tourist art" and says it is ruining his business.

"For me tourist art is boring and confusing, because if you are an artist, you have a dream and creativity but if you do this sort of work you are always looking for bread," he said.

He says his canvases - which cost $200 or more - are all original artworks and feature exclusively Zanzibari scenes.

Artists selling the original works have now got together to form an association to promote their work.

Musa Ramadhan is secretary of the Zanzibar Young Artists Association.

He says artists should be selling to the local market, even if their volumes are small.

"We need to create awareness among the local people to make them like our art and even hang our works in their homes," Mr Ramadhan said.

He says artists in Zanzibar need to change and create ideas from their culture.

"People on this island like religion we should put religion in our pictures," Mr Ramadhan recommends.

For the time being though, the art market in Zanzibar is driven by the hoards of artists selling mass-produced art.


BBC NEWS

Taste of Zanzibar

For authentic halal east African cuisine, the Taste of Zanzibar is the place to go. The dishes reflect the rich heritage found in this ancient part of Tanzania from the spices to the staples, namely chapatti and rice.


When we walked into this eating experience we had little knowledge of this culture's culinary facets, yet we left with a deeper understanding of the fusion of flavors and components that earmark this cuisine. We felt very comfortable in the casual setting and knew that we were in good hands.

More info visit here

Fegi

Zanzibar will resonate to Mutoko’s gospel beat

DUBAI-based gospel musician John “Mr Fantastic” Mutoko could be among the few Zimbabwean artists to tour East Africa when he stages shows in Tanzania and Uganda this week.

Mutoko is expected to be in Tanzania on Wednesday ahead of gigs in Zanzibar and Dodoma.

The Zanzibar stop-over will see the musician performing at Mnazi Mmoja Sports Centre on Friday while on Saturday he goes to Old Fort. The only show in Dodoma is slated for Dodoma Stadium on Sunday.

The musician was upbeat about his maiden show in East Africa saying he would work with popular gospel musicians from both countries.

“The exciting thing about my shows in Tanzania is that I will perform alongside Wanguchi Mbogo who is very popular in that country.

“I feel so much honoured to be on stage with such a talented and respected gospel musician,” said Mutoko.

“It is my first time to perform in that country but I have been following Mbogo’s music for sometime and I know we will be able to stitch our performances in an exciting way.

“We have planned to do a duet and I will use the tour as groundwork to that arrangement.

“It is the beginning of a good partnership and I hope we will be able to stage shows together in Zimbabwe.”

In Uganda Mutoko is expected to join gospel musicians from that country that include Kampala-based choir, The Living Sound Gospel Singers, which is led by the popular Steven Ogwang.

The group is well known for its successful international tours that have seen it performing in Europe and the United States over the past two decades.

The Uganda shows are set for Entebbe and Mbarara on July 10 and 11 respectively.
Mutoko said he would use the tour to shoot some videos for his songs since he is putting together a video album titled The Voice of Silence.

“I have been shooting the videos in different parts of the world for the past four months.

“Although the audio album has eight songs, the video album will have 12 including two new releases.

“I will also pick songs from my previous albums but one of the new songs is titled Ngochani Mwana Waani.

“This song takes a swipe at gays. I am surprised that some people who call themselves Christians are openly supporting gays.

“In this song, I make a straight point that it is a sin before God because from the beginning normal marriages and love relationships have been between opposite sexes. I strongly condemn gays.”

Speaking about his annual tours to Zimbabwe, Mutoko said he might not perform back home in the near future claiming that his last shows had been disrupted in unclear circumstances.

“Something unusual happened when I was in Zimbabwe. Some unidentified people came to one of my shows and confronted me.

“They demanded explanations to (the meaning of) some of my songs that include Pasi Idandaro and Mweya Wangu Chizorora.

“The songs attack social ills but I do not target anyone. I feel that anything that corrupts the society should be exposed.

“I am a Christian musician and not a politician. But you know, whenever dry bones are mentioned old people feel uneasy.”

Mutoko says he cut short his last tour because he feared for his life since he was not sure about the motive of the people who disrupted his show.

UZINDUZI TAWI LA CCM HELSINKI. MABADILIKO YA UKUMBI NA TAREHE

KUTOKANA NA SABABU NJE YA UWEZO WETU TUMERUDISHA NYUMA SIKU MOJA YAANI ALHAMISI BADALA YA IJUMAA AMBAYO NI SIKUKUU MUHIMU HAPA FINLAND (MID-SUMMER-JUHANNUS) KUTAKUWA NA SHIDA YA USAFIRI. PIA KUTOKANA NA KUPOKEA EMAILS NYINGI ZA WASHIRIKI KAMATI YA MAANDALIZI IMECHUKUA UKUMBI MKUBWA NA WA KISASA PALEPALE KATIKATI YA JIJI LA HELSINKI-RAVINTOLA KAISANIEMI (THE HOME OF AFRICAN NIGHT) KAISANIEMENTIE 6.


TAREHE: ALHAMISI 24.6.2010
MUDA: 18.00pm -23.30pm
BAADA YA MKUTANO: KUTAKUWA NA BURUDANI YA NYIMBO ZA KINYUMBANI TU NA DJ. ALTUNEZ.
KWA WALE WANAOJISIKIA KUJA KUFAHAMIANA NA WATANZANIA WENZAO, TUTAKUWA NA MAZUNGUMZO YA PAMOJA NA BAR KUWA WAZI KWAAJILI YA VINYWAJI BAADA YA MKUTANO 21:00.


NB: WANAWAKAMATI WANAFANYA MAWASILIANO NA BALOZI WETU WA SWEDEN AU MWAKILISHI WAKE ILI AWEZE KUWA MGENI RASMI KWAAJILI YA UFUNGUZI.

TANGAZO: Uzinduzi wa Tawi la CCM Helsinki - Finland

Tunayo furaha kubwa kukukaribisha katika mkutano wa kwanza wa tawi la Chama Cha Mapinduzi(C.C.M) nchini Finland.

Dhumuni la mkutano wetu huu wa awali ni kufahamiana katika chama kama wanachama hai wa C.C.M. vilevile kupitia vipengele hivi viwili muhimu.

A) Ufunguzi rasmi wa tawi C.C.M Finland na uandikishaji wa wanachama wapya wa C.C.M.

B) Uchaguzi wa kwanza rasmi wa viongozi (wawikilishi) wa tawi la Chama Cha Mapinduzi Finland.

Uzinduzi Wa Tawi La CCM Helsinki Finland utafanyika siku ya Ijumaa, tarehe: 25-08-2010

ZIFF: Gang drama could fund dream trip for Hornsey arts group

A VIBRANT Hornsey arts club will perform their own play tonight to raise funds to send young people on a volunteering trip to Tanzania.

Kori Arts hopes to take 16 of its young artists to Tanzania on June 27 to work with orphans as part of a special film festival project, but are £5,000 short of their goal.

Using a combination of poetry and theatre, Gang Initiation Clinic tells the story of young men living on housing estates, who turn to gangs for belonging and acceptance but end up destroying their lives.

Kori said it hopes to raise as much as possible from the performance.

Odiri Ighamre, Kori Arts managing director, said: "They are an incredible, inspiring group of young people who are all determined to go. This is a real community effort and we will keep fundraising until the last second."

If successful, the young people will spend a month in the coastal African country, using a variety of art forms to empower the orphans to do their own live performance at Zanzibar International Film Festival.

They will also be thrown out of their comfort zones, as Swahili is the main spoken language.

The trip's aim is to develop a pack for other young people to run similar trips, as well as the benefits the experience will bring for themselves.

Kori also plan to document their adventure by filming and writing.

Group member Anthony Brown, 17, said: "I can't wait to go, I feel so stressed here. I want a new experience teaching children, and them teaching me."

He added: "I want to become a better man. When I come back I can use this experience to be a better person."

Lydia Newman, 22, dramatist and youth worker, was part of the first group of young people to visit Tanzania in 2008.

She said: "I'm really excited to go and work with young people from a different environment. I’m frustrated with the young people over here.

"It’s completely different and it will refresh my energy. It’s going to be amazing."

Even though she has been before, she is confident she will not have the same experience as last time.

Lydia said: "It will give me a greater appreciation for life. The children there are thirsty and are happy to learn.

"I had tears in my eyes when I heard that they were still playing out drama games and that they still remembered them. It just shows that we need to keep inputting."

After the trip the young people will share what they have learnt with their schools, colleges, universities and the wider community.

"This trip will sharpen their leadership skills and will culturally enrich them by learning the politics and history behind Africa," said Ms Ighamre.

To support the young people of Kori Arts, Gang Initiation Clinic will be performed tonight at Moors Cafe, in Crouch End, at 7.30pm.

Tickets cost £10.

For more information, contact Odiri Ighamre on 020 8889 2863.


Source:Haringey Independent

Lesley Simpson Communications gains new account

Lesley Simpson Communications is proud to announce their recent appointment by Serena Hotels in East Africa to handle their public relations requirements in the South African marketplace.

Covering Kenya, Tanzania, Zanzibar, Mozambique, Uganda and Rwanda, Serena Hotels boast a portfolio of luxury resorts, safari lodges and hotels, blending indigenous culture, design and materials with the highest of international standards of hospitality, care and service. A division of the Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development, they are pioneers of eco-tourism in East Africa, and are committed to protecting its wildlife, communities and fragile habitats.

Africa Spirit at the Fez Festival

SUNDAY, JUNE 06, 2010
Sunday at the Fes Festival has been a musical celebration of Africa. The afternoon concert under the oak at the Batha Museum took the audience on a voyage to the spice-filled isle of Zanzibar.

The virtuoso qanoun player, Rajab Suleiman, and his ensemble of bass and percussion played the ngoma rhythms of traditional songs as well as classical Arab pieces. The music had all the elements of Asia, Arabia, Africa and the Indian Ocean that make up the population of the island of Zanzibar. Suleiman is the musical director of the Culture Musical Club in Zanzibar. As a teacher at the Dhow Countries Music Academy he interprets just about anything from jazz to Bach.


Accompanying the trio was the legendary taarab singer, Shakila Saidi (pictured above). Saidi was the doyenne of the famous Black Star Musical Club in Tanga on the coast of Tanzania in the 1970s, and then joined the Taarab Orchestra in the 1980s. Taarab is the musical ecstasy that all Arabic singers strive to achieve. In Zanzibar, with its slave-trade background, the Swahili taarab is a mixture of eastern, Egyptian, Indian and Swahili music and forms the basis of dance rhythms such as the samba and rumba.

This was a languid afternoon of compelling rhythms and music easy to listen to - and hot enough to conjure up vanilla- and clove-scented beaches with swaying palm trees

Zanzibaris overcome cultural barriers to seek family planning services

More people are turning to family planning in Tanzania's semi-autonomous island of Zanzibar as the government seeks to improve access to reproductive healthcare. Funding, however, remains a challenge.

“We have been moving on well in the recent months as the turn-up for family planning by both men and women is impressive. Acquiring enough contraceptives for our clients remains the biggest challenge,” Hanuni Ibrahim Sogora, the director for family planning in Zanzibar’s Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, told IRIN.

Health officials say a culture of polygamy and low male contraceptive use has limited the number of women accessing reproductive healthcare services.

"The major problem is a lack of male involvement in family planning. For example, if a mother comes to the clinic with her baby, there is no harm if the husband can escort her because whatever information is given is important for both,” Kassim Issa Kirobo of the Zanzibar reproductive health programme, told IRIN. “The men say we are busy looking for a livelihood.”

Kirobo, the programme's behaviour change officer in charge of communication and information, said: "The women may also want to use the [family planning] services but the men have the last word."

Regarding low male contraceptive use, Kirobo said: "People say, why do I need to use a condom with my wife?

“There is a view that condoms are just for STI [sexually transmitted infections] control, not for preventing pregnancies,” he said. “If there was a contraceptive for men, besides condoms, maybe that would work.”

Shortages

However, in the past three years, there has been a positive uptake of the services, according to Sogora.

"The number of women and men going for family planning has been growing. We now frequently have implants and Depo-Provera out of stock because of the growing demand,” she said.

Implants are tiny rods containing hormones that are inserted under the skin to prevent pregnancy. Depo-Provera is a form of birth control whereby a synthetic form of the hormone progesterone is injected every three months.

Sogora said over-reliance on donor funding was a problem, with the government only providing a small amount of funds.

Population growth

The population growth rate on the islands is 3.1 percent, says the chief government statistician, with 1.2 million people in 2008 from 981,750 in 2002, according to a demographic survey citing Zanzibar's 2002 census. Immigration is also a factor.

Mzee K. Juma of the municipal council said the average household size in the Zanzibar municipality was 5.6 persons, with the population growth rate higher there at 4.5 percent.

Modern contraceptive use in Tanzania increased from 17 percent in 1999 to 20 percent in 2004-2005 among married women. Unmet family planning needs remain, however, especially in rural areas.

Attitude change

Across Zanzibar, health officials are involved in awareness-raising to enhance the use of reproductive health services and religious leaders are being trained to reach the men.

Some men are changing their attitude. Ahmed Mussa, 41, said: “Previously, I was anti-family planning, but last year [2009] I accepted the idea after having four children in a short period of six years.

“[When] my wife decided to go for family planning, I supported her and [I ] think we can now decide to either remain with the four children or have two more with the required gaps."

Sabah Salum, a mother of two, said: “I think it is good to help mothers plan their family. It is tiresome to have children almost every year.”

Islam is the main religion in Zanzibar.

Issa Zidy, an Islamic scholar and lecturer at the State University of Zanzibar, said: "Islam encourages family planning because it promotes having another baby after two to three years."

But even for those who plan their families, challenges remain.

According to 2009 health estimates, the maternal mortality rate in Zanzibar was 377 per 100,000 live births. The deaths were mainly due to severe bleeding and eclampsia, exacerbated by inadequately skilled attendants and lack of facilities in primary healthcare units.

Challenges

Kirobo noted that rural primary healthcare centres often lacked comprehensive delivery facilities, with women needing caesarian services being transferred to towns.

Delivery costs are a barrier. "People say if I go to the TBA [traditional birth attendant] I do not have to pay anything," Kirobo said.

He said the government was training TBAs and providing life-saving skills to maternity ward attendants.

Asha Aboud Mzee, secretary of the Catalyst Organization for Women’s Progress in Zanzibar, said other challenges facing women included HIV/AIDS, domestic violence and poor representation in decision-making.

"Sometimes at the Shehia [lowest administration] level, we find few of the committee members are women; there is no one to talk about women’s and children’s issues."

Zanzibar recently passed a law seeking to increase female representation in parliament.

"We don’t just want numbers; we want to send [women] to parliament who will actually represent us. [They] should understand women’s problems, not just sit [in parliament] and listen. Women have many needs,” Mzee said.

Chwaka Bay

Chwaka Bay is a large indentation in the central east coast of the Tanzanian island of Unguja - the largest island of the Zanzibar Archipelago. The bay contains several small islands, and the towns of Chwaka and Kae are situated on its coast. The southwest corner of the bay forms part of the Jozani-Chwaka Bay National Park

Source: Trek Earth.

Zanzibar president backs unity government

The President of Tanzania's semi-autonomous Zanzibar islands backed a power-sharing deal with the opposition to end years of political turmoil.

"We cannot continue in crisis because we have gained nothing out of it in the past years," Amani Karume said on Thursday as he opened a renovated stadium.

"Britain recently had elections and had to form a coalition government. We must also learn from others to have smooth and stable democracy," added Amani of the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM - Revolutionary Party).

Zanzibar -- made up of Unguja and Pemba isles -- united with mainland Tanganyika in 1964 to form Tanzania.

It has been dogged by political crises ever since and these worsened with the restoration of multi-party politics in 1992.

Election disputes between CCM and the main opposition group, Civic United Front (CUF), have often resulted in bloody violence.

Last year Karume and CUF leader Seif Sharif Hamad opened talks to resolve the crisis and have agreed to hold a referendum on power-sharing on July 31.

Under the agreement, Zanzibar will have a president and two vice-presidents: A first deputy president from the party which comes second in the polls and the second from the winning party.

Ministries will be allocated on a proportional basis.

Tanzania is to hold general elections on October 31.

Geographically, Zanzibar archipelago comprises three isles, but the third, Mafia, falls under the mainland administratively.

The Indian Ocean archipelago, with palm-fringed beaches and historic sites, is a famous travel destination and tourism is its mainstay.


Source: LIVE

The Westminster model failed Africa

When Britain granted independence to the majority of its African colonies in the 1950s and 1960s, it attempted to hand down Westminster's parliamentary system as an institutional legacy. Today, the Westminster model in most of these colonies has all but disappeared. As Britain haggles over the prospect of reforms to its political system, there is room for dialogue with former African colonies about how to improve government models.

One of Britain's justifications for colonialism in Africa was that it sought to "civilise the natives" by preparing them for democratic government based on the Westminster model. At independence Ghana, Somalia, Cameroon, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Uganda, Kenya, Zanzibar, Zambia, Malawi, Gambia, Lesotho, Botswana, Swaziland and Zimbabwe had as one of their institutional legacies this model.

However, institutionalising our parliamentary system among the "natives" had not been a dominant pursuit throughout colonialism. British colonial government had been undemocratic. As Barry Munslow writes, "from 1910 to 1948 Sir Roger Furse controlled all applications to civil service posts. He went to Eton and Balliol College (Oxford) but confessed that he owed his success more to his training as a cavalry officer. After the first world war, new recruits to the colonial service tended to be ex-officers and later were drawn from the public schools and Oxbridge. The result was that the ethos of a ruling class, that in Britain was fast losing its exclusive claim, became the ethos of the colonial service".

The Westminster model was, with the exception of Ghana, belatedly transplanted during rapid decolonisation processes in Africa. Britain did not consider that it could not be handed down to African colonies regardless of historical, cultural and education contexts. Transplanting the Westminster model also meant that there was no real ownership of the system in African colonies. There was no emphasis on the necessity of having a significant transition period during which it might have taken root in Africa.

In view of this, it is unsurprising that the imported political system collapsed in the vast majority of former British colonies in Africa. Single-party rule and military coup d'états became the norm. The blame was often directed at the Africans. The British model was not the problem: Africans were not ready for democracy. It is, however, more accurate to say that the system of the colonisers was unworkable in many former African colonies for the reasons outlined above. And despite ongoing problems, parts of Africa have democratised considerably since decolonisation.

Most former British colonies in Africa now have presidential systems of government. The presidential system has its merits: presidents are elected directly by the people and it offers stable and decisive government. Nonetheless, concentration of excessive powers in the presidency has caused dictatorship, and is a hindrance to leadership change. Democracy activists have worked hard for the introduction of presidential term limits. They continue to work towards the reduction of presidential powers.

When Britain promotes government models in Africa, it is prone to assuming that its system is better. This is not to say African systems are of a higher standard. However, the flawed nature of the British political system, which became most evident in the 2010 elections, behoves us to be less paternalistic. It is fitting that we seek dialogue on political system reforms – as equals – with former African colonies. There is much we may learn from their experiences, just as they can learn from the British system's current problems.

Source:Guardian

Zanzibar to vote on power-sharing government

Stone Town, Zanzibar - The semi-autonomous African archipelago of Zanzibar will hold a July vote on whether to change its constitution to allow rival parties to form coalition governments, after a decade of bitter party politics.

The July 31 ballot is aimed at ending recurring bouts of political violence that have marred elections since the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) party won a fiercely disputed poll in 2000. Reconciliation talks have faltered several times.

But a gradual rapprochement between the CCM and its once bitter rival, the opposition Civic United Front (CUF), late last year has led to talk from both about a cross-party government.

The constitution of Zanzibar, an island group in the Indian Ocean off Africa's east coast that is a semi-autonomous part of Tanzania, has no provisions for a power-sharing agreement and would have to be changed to allow a cross-party government.

"The electoral commission will take a leading role in reaching out to voters for this new concept to be understood," Khatib Mwinyichande, chairman of the Zanzibar Electoral Commission, told reporters.

Polls on the palm-fringed islands off Tanzania were tainted by bloodshed and allegations of vote rigging in 2000 and 2005, and three sets of reconciliation talks between the two main political parties had previously stalled.

Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete has described the archipelago as the "Achilles' heel" of the otherwise peaceful country of 40 million people.

If the referendum is passed then the constitution would be amended in time for October's presidential and parliamentary votes in both Zanzibar and Tanzania.

The leaders of both the CCM and CUF have urged their supporters to vote 'yes' in the referendum although a right wing section of the ruling party is spearheading a 'no' campaign.

Voter registration on Zanzibar ended earlier this month.

During the process the ZEC reported clear cases of fraud with voters registering two or three times in different places. The opposition has claimed thousands of its members were unable to register.

Zanzibar: East Africa's island outpost....

Zanzibar, with its dreamy capital and dazzling coast, is the place to head for a few days on the beach after a safari. Thembi Mutch explores the archipelago.

Myself, I would like to study archaeology," says the immigration official ruefully, casting an eye over my unopened suitcase. "Go through. I won't look at your stuff. Enjoy Zanzibar. Welcome!"

In no other arrivals section of an airport in the world have I experienced such friendliness as in Zanzibar.

"The past is never dead, it's not even past," says the sign hanging above the Zanzibar National Archives. Never a truer word, in the case of Zanzibar; the place is heavy with history. It was the home of Tippu Tib – the 19th-century trader, slaver and clove plantation owner – and, legendarily, of Scheherazade. Rimbaud wandered the souk streets of Zanzibar's capital, Stone Town, looking for inspiration. The explorers Livingstone, Speke and Burton all used Zanzibar as a springboard for their travels.

"Earth, sea and sky, all seem wrapped in a soft and sensuous repose," wrote Burton. "We distinctly felt a heavy spicy perfume and the sensorium was not the less pleasantly affected after a hard briny diet of NE trade."

These days, flights arrive daily from all over Europe. However, Stone Town is best viewed from the new Chinese speedboat from mainland Tanzania, 22 miles away. A two-hour ride from the dusty fury of Dar es Salaam, its skyline is dominated by the grand colonial architecture of The House of Wonders museum: the old British Customs and Immigration and, at four storeys high, the tallest building on the islands. Suddenly, you are in the land of bullock carts, sharks atop bicycles, and sugar-cane vendors squeezing out juice on mangles. It is a country where hustlers, beach boys and women with heavily kohl'd eyes peering from behind burkhas remind one that behind the ubiquitous visual beauty of the island (albeit marred by some of the more hideous new hotels) is a fusion of Arab, African, Indian, Shirazi and colonial.

Zanzibar simultaneously silences and thrives on its chequered past. It is many things, all quirky smoke and mirrors: not a single island, as many imagine, but an archipelago of dozens off the east coast of Africa; part of Tanzania, yet autonomous; a land constantly squabbled over by missionaries, abolitionists, unscrupulous traders, local leaders and invaders; a UNESCO World Heritage site yet a haphazardly growing tourist destination.

The architecture is an obvious draw. Huge, brass-studded, crafted mahogany doors in the capital – the exotic equivalent of Persian merchant bling – are evidence of the 17th- and 18th-century boom when Bohran Shi'a traders from Persia and the Arab states thrived on the trade in cloves, coconuts, slavery and piracy. These days, hoteliers, telecom companies, investors, wannabes, misfits and smart tourists alike are waking up to the potential of such bounty.

Zanzibar is not yet wholly established as a holiday spot. Despite the 87 new hotel licences issued for 2010, and the industry's chaotic growth in the past 15 years (from two or three hotels in 1993 to 150 in 2005 and almost 300 now), most development has taken place around the 60-mile by 20-mile Zanzibar Island. It is still possible, though, to find genuine isolation in the remote outlying islands of Mafia and Pemba. Now is the time to go, to see it all before big hotels and resorts change the place drastically – which they will if, as expected, they follow the lead of the Maldives and the Seychelles.

Dhows, jihazis and ngalawas (all boats made from mango or mahogany wood), modelled on the same design as their ancient Indian and Arabian predecessors, bob in the surrounding waters. The sea is still Zanzibar's main resource. Fishermen scooping up octopus, changu, tuna, dorado, kingfish and barracuda can be seen at Malindi, a 400-year-old fish market reminiscent of Shakespearean Britain, all yells and sewage. Near Khazini are the boat builders. Stripped to the waist, still working with hand-driven drills, chisels and rustic mallets, they practise the same techniques as their forefathers.

Frustratingly, though, it can be difficult to access decent background information about the history of Zanzibar. The bloody but fascinating revolution of 1964, for instance, led by a vision-fuelled drifter, John Okello, is covered by the guides of only one local travel company: Serene Tours. Yes, it was a horrific stain on history, with the Sultan overthrown and killed; but the reshuffling of the Arab, Indian and African hierarchies – the hand of the British Empire yet again, endlessly stratifying different races and according them different economic and voting privileges – gives many clues to the current political and social issues surrounding Zanzibar. For example, the elaborate kangas (pieces of printed material) and colourful kanzus (Arab dresses) worn by Zanzibar's African women are a direct throwback to slavery.

Previously, Africans were allowed to buy only "merikani" (white sailcloth, made from the kind of American cotton used for sails, hence the Swahilisation of the name). After the decline of the slave trade, then the revolution, wearing flamboyant clothes became a sign of both wealth and freedom. Indeed, in the 1940s, Zanzibar was known as "the metropolis of East Africa".

Slavery and piracy are generally hushed over by those who live here, like a rheumatic crazy aunt living in the attic. One of the few people who does talk knowledgeably about these and other elements of Zanzibar's cultural history is historian and guide Farid Hamid, the son of a respected iman on the island.

"We welcome tourists both for the revenue they generate and the interchange of ideas," he says. "We do, however, need actively to preserve and maintain our culture – both the buildings and the musical and oral elements."

Slavery, however, is not commodified here in the same way as it is in, say, Senegal or Ghana. Zanzibar has the uncomfortable honour of having actively ignored the abolition edict of 1873, despite Livingstone haranguing the British government and the Omani rulers, who profited enormously from Zanzibar's geographic position and the isolation and inefficiency of the British Protectorate. The Mangapwani Slave Caves, the Anglican cathedral and the slave market of Stone Town saw huge numbers of slaves: captured both by local African leaders delivering enemies from battle, and by Arab traders.

Farid takes me on a tour. There isn't much he doesn't know about mgangas (witch doctors), shitanis (evil spirits) and the role of Scheherazade and Taraab (the local music). He is a trove of (sometimes hastily gabbled) knowledge. According to him, most of the mosques on the island (allegedly 57 in Stone Town alone) were built by women. With disarming, guileless enthusiasm he tells me about kidumbak and kongwes: the strictly all-women dances taught to young brides before marriage, and the mentors in all things sexual for these girls. As we pass Forodhani gardens' food market at night – bristling with Zanzibaris flaunting and flirting – he tells me that for a short while, when ruled by the British, Zanzibar was the home of rather febrile British civil servants, all keen to leave their peculiar mark. They spent much time cataloguing people obsessively, "educating" local women by discouraging breastfeeding, and producing intricate, dull films about mosquitoes. The Anglo-Zanzibar war of 1896 – the shortest in history, lasting all of 38 minutes – was perhaps a continuation of this daft behaviour. Today the only reminders are the cannon sitting sedately outside the House of Wonders. Inside is a small exhibit about the role of dhows in Zanzibar history. Sadly, but not unexpect-edly, the fabled lift – the first in Africa! – no longer works.

There is, however, no dearth of information about the marine and biological life of Zanzibar Island, Pemba and Mafia. There are tracts of tropical forest such as Jozani on Zanzibar, with its red colobus monkeys, and three marine parks. The underwater ecosystem of the Indian Ocean is unique, and despite various issues (fish dynamiting, overfishing, damage by trawl nets and a chaotic sewage disposal system), the marine parks around Mafia and Pemba in particular are spectacular: genuine tropical finds. They are also well off the beaten track, with the result that only a handful of tourists visit each year.

For the effort of getting there, visitors are rewarded with local people who stop to practise English, or to offer you local tea, brewed with cinnamon, cloves and ginger. There are knowledgeable local guides and dive masters. And it is on these remote islands that you can really get away from it all. Most of the best white-sand beaches in the archipelago are on the east coast of Zanzibar Island (the west-coast beaches are gold rather than white) – but Manta Resort in Pemba, for instance, provides Bounty-ad beaches, butlers, delicious food and world-class diving.

On smaller Mafia, where Ann and Jean De Villiers of Chole Mjini Lodge run the Whale Shark Conservation Society, the abundant coral and huge diversity of fish, turtles, stingrays and manta rays testify to the success of its marine park – and to the determination of Australian Greg Edwards, who stopped dynamite fishing in the area.
Since the De Villiers began in 1993, they have built up a genuine eco-lodge project, supporting a feudally poor local community as well as offering tree-house guest rooms in 2,000-year-old baobabs. The beach is nothing special, but the lodge – its properties dotted among the ruins of remnants of German, British and Omani occupation – is a delight for birdwatchers, historians, marine ecologists, scuba divers and snorkellers. Indeed, it is perfect for anyone just wanting to be close to village life, away from the hassle of the Zanzibar mainland. The past is, indeed, never dead.


Source: Telegraph

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