E-mail from Anonymous Nov.25
DAR ES SALAAM, Tanzania (Reuter) Nov.23
Burundi's Tutsi-dominated army and
rebel Hutu forces are battling along the Tanzanian border, with heavy
artillery being used in the conflict, Tanzanian state radio said Thursday.
Fighting has been going on for the past five days, the radio quoted
residents in border villages as saying, and heavy shelling could be heard
last night.
There was no immediate comment from the governments of Burundi and
Tanzania, but aid workers said the clashes were most probably between
Burundi army forces and Hutu rebels who infiltrate southern Burundi from
Tanzania.
Tanzania is home to thousands of Burundian Hutus and 700,000 Rwandan
Hutus. The Burundians continue to flee ethnic civil conflict in a country
where government forces are engaged in daily brutal hit-and-run battles
with Hutus.
The Burundi government says Hutu rebels have recently stepped up
cross-border attacks staged from refugee camps in neighboring Tanzania and
Zaire.
The Rwandans fled last year between April and July during a civil war
sparked by genocidal killings of Tutsis and moderate Hutus by the former
Hutu army and pro-government militia. Aid workers and the U.N. estimate
that up to a million people were slaughtered.
Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter is organizing a regional peace summit
on Burundi and Rwanda -- nations with the same ethnic composition -- in
Cairo next week.
Copyright (c) Reuters America Inc.
E-mail from Anonymous Nov.23
DAR ES SALAAM, Nov.22(Reuter) By Matt Bigg
Tanzania's fragmented opposition
suffered a bitter defeat Wednesday when ruling party candidate Benjamin
Mkapa took the presidency with 61.8 percent of the vote.
Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM-Party for the Revolution) also won a landslide
victory in a new multi-party pluralist parliament, taking 186 seats against
46 for the four main opposition parties, the National Electoral Commission
(NEC) announced.
At a colorful ceremony attended by outgoing President Ali Hassan Mwinyi
and diplomats but boycotted by the opposition, the commission declared as
president Mkapa, a former journalist and science and higher education
minister in the last government.
''Benjamin William Mkapa has won the election for the presidency of
Tanzania,'' NEC Chairman Judge Lewis Makame said.
State radio quoted main opposition leader and anti-graft campaigner,
Augustine Mrema, as conceding defeat. Mrema, leader of the opposition
NCCR-Mageuzi party, blamed Tanzania's founding father and ex-president
Julius Nyerere for the loss.
Mrema said the opposition lost because of campaigns across Tanzania by
Nyerere, who retired from active politics in 1985 but still commands great
respect in Tanzania and is widely seen as CCM king maker.
''Without Nyerere I would have defeated the CCM party in the elections,''
Mrema said. ''The whole exercise had been a big success for the
NCCR-Mageuzi, which had recently started to gain strength.''
Final results showed Mkapa, a former foreign minister and ambassador,
beating Mrema who took 27.8 percent of votes cast.
Two other presidential contenders, Ibrahim Lipumba of the Civic United
Front (CUF) won 6.4 percent and John Cheyo leader of the United Democratic
Party (UDP) took 4.0 percent.
Makame said CCM took four million votes while Mrema's NCCR scored 1.8
million, CUF took 410,000 and the UDP 250,000 votes.
Mkapa, 57, will be sworn in Thursday at a rally attended by Presidents
Daniel arap Moi of Kenya and Yoweri Museveni of Uganda.
Mkapa succeeds Mwinyi who is stepping down after 10 years at the helm of a
one-party political system that has ruled Tanzania since independence in
1961. Mwinyi could not run for president as the constitution only allows
two five-year terms.
Mwinyi, a free-market oriented Muslim, will be best remembered for
throwing out Nyerere's dogmatic socialist policies which nearly brought
Tanzania's economy to a standstill.
His Western-backed economic reforms put essential goods on once empty
shelves.
But critics say the diminutive former primary school teacher also presided
over Tanzania's most corrupt post-independence government -- a charge
supported by Western donors who cut off lifeblood government to government
aid last year in protest.
Poor organization despite weeks of preparation prevented many people from
voting on Oct. 29 in Tanzania's first multi-party presidential and
parliamentary elections.
The polls were chaotic, especially in the capital, and the NEC scrapped
the entire vote in Dar Es Salaam and reran it last Sunday. At least 6.8
million Tanzanians voted in the elections.
The three opposition presidential candidates boycotted the rerun, saying
they could not trust the NEC after denouncing Oct. 22 elections on the
islands of Zanzibar as rigged by CCM.
Copyright (c) Reuters America Inc.
V.O.A.21-Nov-95 10:49 AM EST (1549 UTC)
INTRO: IN TANZANIA, 57-YEAR-OLD BENJAMIN MKAPA OF THE RULING
CHAMA CHA MAPINDUZI PARTY HAS WON THE COUNTRY'S FIRST-EVER
MULTI-PARTY PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS AND HIS C-C-M PARTY HAS
CAPTURED CONTROL OF A CLEAR MAJORITY OF SEATS IN THE NEW
PARLIAMENT. V-O-A EAST AFRICA CORRESPONDENT ALEX BELIDA REPORTS
ON THE REACTION OF LEADING DONOR COUNTRIES TO THE VOTING RESULTS.
TEXT: LEADING DONORS, INCLUDING THE UNITED STATES, SAY CERTAIN
ORGANIZATIONAL ASPECTS OF THE ELECTORAL PROCESS IN TANZANIA WERE
LESS THAN SATISFACTORY. BUT OVERALL, THEY BELIEVE THE ELECTION
OUTCOME FAIRLY REFLECTS THE PREFERENCES OF A MAJORITY OF THE
COUNTRY'S VOTERS.
AT THE SAME TIME, HOWEVER, THE DONORS SAY THEY NOW BELIEVE THE
RESULTS OF THE EARLIER ELECTION HELD TO CHOOSE A NEW PRESIDENT
FOR THE SEMI-AUTONOMOUS ISLANDS OF ZANZIBAR MAY HAVE BEEN
INACCURATE.
C-C-M CANDIDATE SALMIN AMOUR SCORED A NARROW VICTORY OVER HIS
OPPOSITION RIVAL. BUT DONORS SAY INTERNATIONAL MONITORS
UNCOVERED SERIOUS DISCREPANCIES IN THE COMPILATION OF THE VOTES
THAT, IF CORRECTED, COULD HAVE AFFECTED THE OUTCOME. THEY SAY
THEY ARE DISAPPOINTED AUTHORITIES WENT AHEAD WITH MR. AMOUR'S
INAUGURATION.
THE NEW NATIONAL PRESIDENT, MR. MKAPA, UNTIL NOW THE COUNTRY'S
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY MINISTER, IS MEANWHILE SCHEDULED TO BE
INAUGURATED ON THURSDAY AS LEADER OF THE REPUBLIC LINKING
ZANZIBAR AND MAINLAND TANZANIA. (SIGNED)
NEB/BEL/MH/CF
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
V.O.A.21-Nov-95 8:47 AM EST (1347 UTC)
// EDITORS: TRANSCRIPT OF AN INTERVIEW WITH BENJAMIN MKAPA'S
CAMPAGIN MANAGER BY ALEX BELIDA //
INTRO: IN TANZANIA, 57-YEAR-OLD SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY MINISTER
BENJAMIN MKAPA, THE CANDIDATE OF THE RULING C-C-M OR CHAMA CHA
MAPINDUZI PARTY, APPEARS TO BE THE CLEAR WINNER OF THE COUNTRY'S
JUST-CONCLUDED FIRST-EVER MULTI-PARTY PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS.
V-O-A EAST AFRICA CORRESPONDENT ALEX BELIDA WAS RECENTLY IN DAR
ES SALAAM, WHERE HE INTERVIEWED MR. MKAPA'S CAMPAIGN MANAGER,
FERDINAND RUHINDA, ABOUT THE NEW TANZANIAN LEADER'S IMAGE, HIS
REPORTED CLOSE TIES WITH THE MAN REGARDED AS THE FATHER OF MODERN
TANZANIA, JULIUS NYERERE, AND MR. MKAPA'S LONG-RANGE GOALS. MR.
RUHINDA FIRST ADDRESSED THE QUESTION OF MR. MKAPA'S IMAGE.
TEXT:
(RUHINDA) MR. MKAPA IS NOT YOUR CONVENTIONAL POLITICIAN, I
WOULD HAVE TO SAY. HIS WHOLE BACKGROUND HAS BEEN ONE OF SERVICE
RATHER THAN PORTRAYING HIMSELF AS THE MAN OF THE PEOPLE. IN
OTHER WORDS, HE RESPONDED TO A CALL TO DUTY RATHER THAN
PROJECTING HIS OWN PERSONALITY. HE IS NOT YOUR CONVENTIONAL
POLITICIAN WHO BRAGS ABOUT HIS QUALITIES. HE LETS OTHER PEOPLE
SPEAK ABOUT HIM.
(BELIDA) I UNDERSTAND HE IS ALSO VERY CLOSE TO MWALIMU (FORMER
PRESIDENT JULIUS) NYERERE. COULD YOU DISCUSS THAT RELATIONSHIP
BETWEEN THE TWO MEN AND WHETHER YOU THINK THAT AS PRESIDENT MR.
MKAPA WOULD BE HIS OWN MAN?
(RUHINDA) MR. MKAPA IS CERTAINLY GOING TO BE HIS OWN MAN. IT IS
TRUE HE IS VERY CLOSE TO MWALIMU NYERERE IN HIS THINKING AND IN
HIS CORRECTNESS AND HIS INCORRUPTIBLE BEHAVIOR. BUT HE IS GOING
TO BE HIS OWN MAN. TO BEGIN WITH, MR. MKAPA DECIDED TO ENTER
THIS RACE. HE WAS NOT ASKED BY MR. MWALIMU NYERERE AND TO BE
QUITE CANDID WITH YOU, I THINK NYERERE DID NOT HAVE MKAPA IN
MIND WHEN HE STARTED THIS CAMPAIGN TO GET (INFLUENCE THE CHOICE
OF) THE C-C-M (RULING PARTY) CANDIDATE. I THINK THE RELATIONSHIP
BETWEEN THE TWO IS GREATLY EXAGGERATED. MR. MKAPA HAS DIFFERED
WITH MR. NYERERE ON A NUMBER OF ISSUES. HE DISAGREES FOR
INSTANCE WITH MWALIMU'S OPPOSITION ON PRIVATIZATION (OF STATE
INDUSTRIES). HE IS SOMEWHAT IN CONFLICT WITH BEN MKAPA'S SUPPORT
FOR PRIVATIZATION. THERE ARE A NUMBER OF OTHER ISSUES ON WHICH I
DON'T THINK THEY AGREE. BUT IT IS TRUE THEY ARE VERY CLOSE, THEY
DISCUSS THESE ISSUES AND THEY DISCUSS THEIR DIFFERENCES. IT'S
NOT THAT MWALIMU NYERERE IS GOING TO RUN THE SHOW.
(BELIDA) DOES BEN MKAPA HAVE A VISION OF A FUTURE FOR TANZANIA
AND WHAT IS IT?
(RUHINDA) HIS VISION OF TANZANIA IS TO TAKE THIS COUNTRY TO THE
21ST CENTURY, TO HAVE A COUNTRY IN WHICH SYSTEMS WORK, IN WHICH
THERE IS LESS OR LITTLE CORRUPTION, IF AT ALL, AND TO HAVE A
MODERN COUNTRY. MODERNIZATION WILL BE THE EMPHASIS.
(BELIDA) TANZANIA HAS HAD TROUBLE ATTRACTING FOREIGN INVESTMENT
LIKE SO MANY AFRICAN COUNTRIES. IS HE OPTIMISTIC HE WILL BE ABLE
TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE THAT WAY?
(RUHINDA) I BELIEVE THAT IF YOU HAVE GOOD GOVERNANCE IN PLACE,
IF YOU START DEALING WITH THE ISSUES OF COMMUNICATIONS, IF YOU
PROVIDE HOTELS LIKE THIS (REFERENCE TO NEW SHERATON WHERE
INTERVIEW TOOK PLACE), INVESTORS WILL COME. INVESTORS ARE ALL
INTERESTED IN MAKING A PROFIT. THEY WILL ONLY TAKE THEIR MONEY
WHERE THEY CAN MAKE A PROFIT. THAT IS HIS CHALLENGE.
(SIGNED)
NEB/BEL/MH/CF
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
V.O.A.17-Nov-95 1:39 PM EST (1839 UTC)
INTRO: TANZANIA'S VOTERS ARE GETTING READY TO GO THE POLLS AGAIN
SUNDAY. THIS TIME THEY WILL BE DETERMINING THE FINAL RESULTS OF
LAST MONTH'S INITIAL ROUND OF PRESIDENTIAL AND PARLIAMENTARY
ELECTIONS. OCTOBER'S VOTE WAS ANNULLED IN THE DAR ES SALAAM
REGION AFTER A NUMBER OF IRREGULARITIES -- INCLUDING THE FAILURE
OF MANY VOTING STATIONS TO OPEN. SOME TANZANIANS POINT OUT THAT
RESULTS FROM OTHER REGIONS GAVE AN OVERWHELMING LEAD TO THE
RULING PARTY. THEY WONDER WHETHER SUNDAY'S BALLOT REALLY
MATTERS. WILLIAM EAGLE SPOKE TO ONE PROMINENT OPPOSITION LEADER
WHO SAYS IT DOES.
TEXT: The Oppotition's chance looked bright before the October polls.
Thehead of the main oppotition party -- The national convention for construction and reform [NCCR-MAGEUZI] -- boasted a popular anti-corruption crusader: Augustine Mrema. is oppornent: Pro-maket incumbent Ben Mkapa, OF THE LONG-RULING
CHAMA CHA MAPINDUZI [CCM] PARTY.
BUT OPPOSITION OPTIMISM WAS SHORT-LIVED. CONTROVERSIAL ELECTIONS
LAST MONTH GAVE GOVERNMENT CHALLENGERS ONLY 45 SEATS TO THE
RULING PARTY'S 180. THIS WEEKEND'S REPEAT ELECTION IN DAR ES
SALAAM IS NOT EXPECTED TO CHANGE THE OUTCOME SIGNIFICANTLY.
BUT ABDULRAHMAN BABU -- A FORMER FOREIGN MINISTER OF ZANZIBAR AND
TANZANIAN MINISTER OF ECONOMIC PLANNING -- REMAINS OPTIMISTIC.
HE WAS A VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE FOR THE OPPOSITION
NCCR-MAGEUZI PARTY IN THIS ELECTION -- UNTIL CONTROVERSY OVER A
FORMER TREASON CONVICTION PERSUADED HIM TO WITHDRAW FROM THE
RACE.
MR. BABU AGREES WITH SOME WHO WANT TO PROTEST ELECTION
IRREGULARITIES WITH A PARTIAL BOYCOTT OF THIS WEEKEND'S
ELECTIONS.
// BABU ACT //
I DO NOT SUPPORT THE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES STANDING
FOR ELECTION, BUT I SUPPORT PARLIAMENTARY CANDIDATES
DOING SO. IF THERE IS GOOD SUPERVISION, THE RIGGING
COULD NOT TAKE PLACE.
// END ACT //
PLUS, HE SAYS THE OPPOSITION IS A DOMINANT FORCE IN THE DAR ES
SALAAM -- AND THAT WOULD CERTAINLY HELP TO BEEF UP THE
OPPOSITION'S NUMBERS IN THE NEW PARLIAMENT. THAT SAME
OPPORTUNITY FOR THE OPPOSITION DOES NOT EXIST IN THE
PRESIDENTIAL RACE:
// BABU ACT //
FIRST OF ALL, THERE'S NO POINT BECAUSE THE C-C-M
PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE HAS WON OVERWHELMINGLY, AND IF
OUR OPPOSITION PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES STAND, IT MEANS
WE ARE CONDONING THE PRESIDENTIAL VOTE. BUT IF
PARLIAMENTARIANS STAND, IT DOES NOT MEAN WE CONDONE IT
-- IT MEANS WE CAN STILL GO RAISE HELL IN PARLIAMENT
[AGAINST THE RULING PARTY].
// END ACT //
MR. BABU SAYS DESPITE CHARGES OF RIGGING -- HE'S STILL OPTIMISTIC
ABOUT MULTI-PARTY POLITICS. HE SAYS MILLIONS OF TANZANIANS VOTED
FOR THE OPPOSITION PARTIES. THE CHALLENGE NOW IS FOR THE
OPPOSITION TO UNITE, RATHER THAN TO COMPETE AGAINST EACH OTHER --
AND TO MAKE HEADWAY IN LOCAL ELECTIONS SCHEDULED FOR NEXT YEAR.
HE SAYS OPPOSITION UNITY MAY NOT BE THE VIEW OF SOME LEADERS --
BUT HE SAYS IT IS AMONG THE RANK AND FILE.
// OPT // MR. BABU ALSO SAYS IF MULTI-PARTY DEMOCRACY IS TO
SUCCEED IN AFRICA, IT MUST BE SUPPORTED BY LOCAL COMMUNITIES --
AND NOT BE GRANTED BY POLITICIANS AT THE TOP. THAT MEANS
FINANCIAL SUPPORT AND PARTY STRUCTURES THEMSELVES MUST BE BUILT
FROM THE GROUND UP -- WITH ROOTS IN COMMUNITIES AND REGIONS. HE
NOTES THAT IN OTHER COUNTRIES -- LIKE MALAWI OR ZAMBIA -- THE
OPPOSITION WAS FUELED BY LOCAL TRADE UNION OR CHURCH GROUPS. IN
TANZANIA, HE SAYS, IT IS LIKELY TO COME FROM RURAL PEOPLE.
// OPT // BABU ACT //
MY EXPERIENCE OVER THE LAST FEW WEEKS OF CAMPAIGNING, WE
WERE SELLING MEMBERSHIP CARDS TO ORDINARY FOLKS, PEOPLE
AT THE VILLAGE LEVEL. THEY WERE BUYING THEM LIKE HOT
CAKES FOR 200 SHILLINGS PER CARD. WE SOLD ABOUT ONE
MILLION IN THE COURSE OF SIX WEEKS. THIS BROUGHT IN
ABOUT 200 MILLION SHILLINGS, OR OVER 30 THOUSAND
DOLLARS. SO, I THINK THAT'S A GOOD SOURCE OF INCOME.
// OPT /// AND, WE HAD A LOT OF SUPPORT FROM YOUNG
ENTREPRENEURS WHO FEEL THE SYSTEM OF CORRUPTION IS
HAMPERING THEM IN THEIR BUSINESSES. WE GOT A LOT OF
FUNDING FROM THEM AS WELL, BUT NOT FROM LABOR UNIONS
UNDER THE CONTROL OF THE RULING PARTY. // END OPT //
// END ACT //
ELECTIONS HAVE TAKEN PLACE IN IVORY COAST, ALGERIA AND TANZANIA.
IN THESE ELECTIONS -- LIKE MANY OTHERS IN AFRICA -- THE RULING
PARTY HAS REMAINED IN POWER. BUT MR. BABU SAYS THE FUTURE OF
MULTI-PARTY POLITICS IS NOT NECESSARILY IN DOUBT.
// OPT // HE SAYS THE UGANDAN SYSTEM OF ALLOWING INDIVIDUALS --
NOT PARTIES -- TO RUN FOR PARLIAMENT MAY BE A TEMPORARY ANSWER.
HE SAYS THIS WOULD AVOID TRIBAL ANTAGONISMS. ALSO, IT MAY BE
NECESSARY TO KEEP THE OLD GUARD:
// OPT: BABU ACT //
IN MOST OF THESE ONE PARTY SYSTEMS, THE LEADERS HAVE
DEVELOPED A VESTED INTEREST IN THE STATUS QUO. THEY'RE
RELUCTANT TO GIVE UP AND BE EXPOSED FOR THEIR PAST -- AS
YOU CAN SEE IN MALAWI AND ZAMBIA. IN MALAWI, [FORMER
PRESIDENT ] BANDA IS NOW CHARGED FOR MURDER AND A LOT OF
[FORMER AFRICAN LEADERS] ARE SCARED THEY COULD BE
EXPOSED BY ALTERNATIVE POWERS IN POWER. THEY ARE
DELIBERATELY TRYING TO BE SURE MULTI-PARTY POLITICS DO
NOT SUCCEED IN AFRICA, WHICH I THINK IS ABSOLUTELY
WRONG.
// END ACT // END OPT //
THE VETERAN POLITICAN SAYS AFRICA'S OLD GUARD CAN BE TOPPLED WITH
IMPROVED ORGANIZATION, HONESTY, AND AND ABOVE ALL --
PERSEVERENCE. (SIGNED)
NEB/WE/MMK
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
.
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The letter from whom knows Zanzibar condition well.29.Oct.'95
E-mail from Tanzanian overseas.30.Oct.'95
E-mail from Tanzanian overseas 15.Nov.'95
E-mail from Anonymous Oct.31-Nov.3
E-mail from Tanzanian overseas 19.Nov.'95
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