E-mail from Anonymous May,22,1999

Zanzibar crisis resolved after deal, says mediator
May 4, 1999 10:05 AM EDT (1405 GMT)
DAR ES SALAAM, Tanzania (Reuters)
A political crisis on the Indian Ocean　islands of Zanzibar was resolved on Tuesday as the　opposition party agreed to end a boycott of parliament in return for creation of an independent electoral body, a Commonwealth mediator said.

The Civic United Front (CUF) had refused to attend Zanzibar's legislative assembly since October 1995, when President Salmin Amour was declared the narrow winner of an election marred by extensive vote-rigging.

The twin islands of Zanzibar form part of Tanzania but also enjoy semi-autonomous status with their own president, parliament and government.

Foreign donor nations refused to grant new aid to Zanzibar in protest at the 1995 elections and a subsequent wave of arrests of CUF activists and supporters.

Under the deal announced on Tuesday, the CUF's 28 deputies will return to the 75-seat parliament and the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi (Party of the Revolution) agreed to creation of an independent commission to oversee elections next year.

The ruling party will also give up two of its parliamentary seats to the CUF.

"The agreement is a victory for the people of Zanzibar which should help to bring about true national reconciliation," said Moses Anafu, the Commonwealth secretary-general's special envoy to Zanzibar, who brokered the deal.

He told a news conference in Tanzania's mainland capital Dar es Salaam that an inter-party committee would be responsible for implementing the agreement to be signed in Zanzibar later this month.

Amour is currently in his second term as president and cannot run again in next year's election unless the constitution is amended.

By taking up its seats in parliament, the CUF can block Amour from gaining the two-thirds majority needed for any constitutional reform.

Zanzibar lies just off the coast of mainland Tanzania and is known as the Spice Islands for its production of cloves and other spices. Its historic capital Stone Town, unspoiled sandy beaches and coral reefs are a major draw for tourists.

Zanzibar and Tanganyika joined in 1964 to form the Tanzanian Union.

Copyright 1999 Reuters. All rights reserved.

The two leaders were speaking during a state banquet Monday night which Muluzi hosted in honour of Amour, who arrived in Malawi Monday on a four-day official visit.

Muluzi said "there is evidence that countries that embrace democracy experience economic growth."

He explained that democratic governments stand a better chance of implementing economic policies, like liberalisation and privatisation, that rejuvinate economies.

He said, for instance, since Malawi became a fully-fledged multiparty democracy in 1994 after 30 years of dictatorship, his government liberalised the economy and embarked on an ambitious privatisation drive.

He said since then a number of hitherto dormant state-run firms have come under the hammer and have started showing signs of growth.

Amour, who is also the vice president of the United Republic of Tanzania, agreed with his host, saying it was imperative that governments in Africa practised measures that can stimulate private sector participation.

In this connection, he said the two countries should work hard to ensure that the Ntwara Corridor, a SADC initiative aimed at facilitating movement of imports and export among Malawi, Tanzania and Zambia through Tanzanian ports, gets off the ground.

"In order to succeed we should create shorter, accessible and cheap routes for imports and exports and the Ntwara initiative is a move in the right direction," Amour added.

He noted that an African economic crusade, an initiative to see African economies growing again after almost 20 years of stagnation, can work if African states increase interregional trade.

He therefore said regional economic groupings like SADC and COMESA should be strengthened to achieve this.

"SADC, for instance, is not only an important socio-economic tool; it also ensures development," he said.

Copyright � 1999 Panafrican News Agency. Distributed via Africa News Online(www.africanews.org).

Express Issue # 110 1st April to 7th April 1999
Norway urges for early end to Isles impasse
By Staff Reporter
NORWAY has asked Tanzania to find a solution to the Zanzibar political stalemate.
The call was made during the recently ended consultations to review development cooperation between the two countries that ended March 26 in Dar es Salaam.

Norway’s call comes barely three weeks since President Mkapa ruled out reconciliation between the CCM and CUF unless the latter relented to defeat in the 1995 presidential elections. CUF disputes the legitimacy of Zanzibar President Dr Salmin Amour on grounds that the elections were rigged in his favour.

The US government has also recently asked the Tanzanian Government to end the Zanzibar political problem.
“Norway stressed the need for a political solution and expressed hope that the negotiate efforts by the Commonwealth secretariat would lead to a negotiated settlement that would also include the situation for the arrested Opposition members,” Norway said a statement.

Britain has a long association with Tanzania. Can you briefly tell us how it all started? Yes, our relations go back to the end of the First World War after which the League of Nations gave us a mandate to administer what was then known as Tanganyika. After 1945, Tanganyika was given UN trustee status in place of the mandate. Through the period after the Second World War, Britain prepared the country for independence which was achieved with a smooth transition in 1961. It was at that time that the first Tanzanian Prime Minister, Julius Nyerere, asked the last Governor, Sir Richard Turnbull, who died only a few weeks ago, to stay on as Governor General for the first year after independence. There were a few ups and downs during the first decade after independence during the socialist period here.

Diplomatic relations were broken off for a time in the late 1960s because the Tanzania government thought Britain was not taking a strong enough line against apartheid in South Africa and the Smith regime in Rhodesia. But there remained a close affinity between our two countries and I believe our relations now are as good as they have ever been.

What kind of relations are these?
I am referring to both political and economic bilateral relations. We have very strong trade and investment relations with Tanzania. Another thick strand of our relationship is, of course, the development assistance which we are giving Tanzania principally bilaterally but also multilaterally through a number of agencies such as the World Bank and the European Union.

What kind of development assistance do you give this country?
First I should mention the volume of our assistance. It is edging upwards, helped by our government’s commitment to increase its worldwide development assistance programme. The total value of the programme will be about 45 million Sterling Pounds during our financial year ending in March, 1999. This amount includes 25 million Sterling Pounds of budgetary support disbursed through the Multilateral

Debt Fund which was launched by the Tanzanian government last year to help service the country’s international debt. The central purpose of our development assistance in Tanzania, as elsewhere, is to help reduce and, in due course, eliminate poverty. Priority sectors include public sector reform and good governance, health, education, renewable natural resources, water, roads and the promotion of small and medium size enterprises, as we see the development of the private sector to be crucial in accelerating economic growth and creating employment. The accent is on working in partnership with Tanzanians to help build capacity so as to make the country’s economic and social development self-sustaining.

Does this assistance come in terms of cash or in technical support?
About two-thirds of the assistance this year is in straight money, for budgetary support. The remainder, about 15 million Sterling Pounds or so, is principally in technical assistance, but also with some capital support for roads. At one time there was a lot of project aid. But except for the budgetary support most of our assistance is now in terms of technical cooperation.

Recently Britain tightened its immigration policies. Was this done to control the flow of outsiders into Britain or just to tighten existing regulations?
The new rules are meant to improve controls. Britain has a long tradition of welcoming people to its shores whether they are visitors or seeking humanitarian help. Our government is now planning to strengthen and modernise the immigration and asylum laws to provide a fairer and more efficient system, faster for those who are entitled to enter or remain in Britain, tougher dealing with any abuses.

Are there any Tanzanian citizens currently wanting asylum in Britain? Is this a major problem?
I don’t think it is a major problem. I am not aware of any specific cases fromTanzania.

You mentioned Zanzibar. I would like to know where Britain stands on the question of the political stalemate in the island.
We stand very close to the position of the other members of the European Union. We are not very happy about the way the 1995 elections were run, the speed with which the results were officially approved afterwards, and the failure of the authorities to respond adequately to criticisms of international observers. Our main concern now is to see the laying of a level playing field for the 2000 elections with results which all the people of Zanzibar can happily and willingly accept. We are also concerned by the fact that 18 members of the principal opposition party, the Civic United Front, have been in prison for some 15 months. There have been repeated hearings in court but there is still no presentation of evidence. We think on human rights grounds these people should be brought to trial or released. If we were to think of all other countries, the only country in a position to put pressure on the Government in Zanzibar is Britain.

What kind of pressure has Britain exerted other than through the Commonwealth Secretariat?
We set a lot of hope in the Commonwealth Secretary General’s initiative as
carried forward last year by Dr. Moses Anaf. The European Union has also strongly endorsed that initiative. But I wouldn’t say Britain has any particularly privileged bilateral place in influencing the authorities on this. What happens in Zanzibar is essentially an internal matter for the Zanzibar and Union governments.

Nevertheless, because of my government’s concerned about human rights, good governance, democracy, transparency and accountability, we think we should make our views known. Because we were not happy with the 1995 elections we have since had no direct contact with the Government of Zanzibar from a political point of view, and we have not been giving Zanzibar development assistance.

How many Britons are there in Tanzania and what are their common problems?
We don’t know exactly how many Britons are in Tanzania. We think the number is about 10,000. We encourage them to register with the High Commission and many of them fail to do so, but this indicates that the British community here faces fewer problems than in many African countries where there is instability. Businessmen sometimes complain about the tax regime, the investment climate and the level of corruption. And there are problems from time to time about crime and loss of passports. But I am happy to say that there is less crime in Tanzania than in many other African countries and other parts of the world. Most British expatriates here seem to enjoy the beauty of the country, the hospitality of the people and the climate.

Do you think some of those problems you mentioned could scare away investments? Problems like the tax regime, for example?
I am not sure about that. I am very keen to see more British investment here. I would like to see the path of the new investor inquiring about coming here, a little easier. I know the Tanzania Investment Centre has been working on this. Things have improved but still the new investor has to wrestle with quite a lot of bureaucracy, more so than in some other countries.

Compared to other European countries where does Britain stand in Tanzania in terms of investment and trade?
We have the advantage of having started on the inside track with Tanzania, even though most of our investments were nationalised during the socialist era. Our exports to Tanzania last year were worth some 63 million Sterling pounds. This was down from 77 million Sterling pounds in 1997. The basic reason in this decline is lack of purchasing power. The 63 million Sterling Pounds was mainly on vehicles, power generating and other electrical equipment, machinery and textile fibres. I believe we are still the principal European trade and investment partner of Tanzania. There is a large and diverse British investment portfolio in Tanzania led by the Commonwealth Development Corporation and British Petroleum. The total value of our investment is not known, but it is probably more than a hundred million Sterling Pounds. British banks were also much involved in the financing of the new Golden Pride mining project which was opened by the President recently in Nzega. Once in a while we read reports in the press that suggest that Britain may be insensitive to non-whites. How are your race relations?

I believe our race relations are pretty good. The size of our ethnic minorities has increased greatly in the past 50 years. Even by the time of the last census in 1991, more than 3 million people, that is 5 and half percent of our population, described themselves as other than “white”. And about half of the ethnic non-white population was born in UK. Many members of the Black and Asian communities are concentrated in the cities, many of them in conditions of social stress. But a lot of progress has been made in the last 20 to 25 years in tackling racial disadvantage, and there are strong procedures of investigating and stamping out unlawful discriminatory practices against any of the ethnic minorities.

Let us come back to Tanzania. How do you see the future of this country five, ten years from now?

I have great hopes for this country. I have only been here for ten months and I will be here for another two or three years. But even during this period I am sure we will see further consolidation of economic, social and political reforms to the benefit of the Tanzanian people.

The forum which was sponsored by the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES) Non-governmental Organisation raised concerns over the political situation in the semi-autonomous island, with participants urging for reconciliation at once.

The opposition party said in a statement recently that the removal of the term would emancipate Tanzanians from the hangovers of one-party rule which Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) enjoyed exclusively.

“Erasing the terminology will liberate Tanzanians after being manacled by CCM rule for over 30 years,” part of the statement signed by the party’s parliamentary director Shaban Shomari Ngozi reads.

The statement further accuses CCM leaders of self aggrandisement saying only a few enjoyed the fruits of independence under the guise of socialism. “It is through this liberation that the nation can gain its respect in the world - that it cares and respects human rights,” the statement further says.

The CUF also reiterated its demand that the government stop the ongoing exercise of collecting views from people on the White Paper and instead use the money set for the exercise to buy food in view of the imminent shortage.

The party says that the government should instead convene a constitutional referendum as Tanzanians are well represented in the political parties they belong to.

Express Issue # 100 21st Jan to 27th Jan 1999
Mwinyi wants two-system govt to stay
By Jamila Sulu
FORMER President Alhaj Ali Hassan Mwinyi has said that Tanzania should maintaina two-system government in order to fortify the union with Zanzibar.

Mwinyi, who was speaking before the committee soliciting views on the government's white paper on constitution in Dar es Salaam, stressed that the two-system government was the only suitable system for the union.

A source in the committee said Mwinyi along with other national leaders, retired or still in active politics, are being sought for their views on the impending constitutional review.

Mwalimu Julius Nyerere is yet to appear before the committee as he is reportedly busy. Each time the committee tried to reach him, he appeared busy with the Burundi peace talks.

The source told this reporter that most of the interviewed dignitaries were basically retired government and CCM cream who favoured the existing system of union between the government of the Republic of Tanzania and the Revolutionary Government of Zanzibar.

Some other personalities on the constitutional committee’s list are the first attorney general of independent Tanzania, Judge Mark Bomani, the first Prime Minister of Tanganyika, Rashidi Kawawa, the first CCM secretary general, Pius Msekwa, now the Speaker of the National Assembly, former prime minister and former minister for law and justice Joseph Warioba, and current CCM secretary General Phillip Mangula.

The government on its white paper maintains the idea of the two governments, attributing the position to the 1964 Articles and Acts of the Union which accepted and guided it. The government stresses that the union has the people’s mandate as the agreement was signed by the then presidents of Tanganyika and Zanzibar Julius Nyerere and the late Abeid Aman Karume, respectively, who basically represented their people.

There have been complaints from a cross-section of the public that the union was formed without the people’s mandate as they were not involved by any means. There are 19 points in the government white paper used as terms of reference in soliciting views on the constitutional changes in Tanzania. One of the points seeks opinion on whether the country should adopt a one, two or three-government system to precede a federal government.