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Commonwealth Secretariat press release

Commonwealth Secretary-General’s Statement on Zanzibar

24 March 2000

In a statement issued in London today, the Commonwealth Secretary-General, Chief Emeka Anyaoku, called upon the political leaders of Zanzibar, and in particular the leadership of the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM), to implement the Commonwealth brokered Agreement of 9 June 1999 in full as a matter of urgency. Chief Anyaoku said:

When the Commonwealth-brokered Agreement between the political parties in Zanzibar (Tanzania) was signed in June 1999, it was greeted by all Zanzibaris with great joy. The Agreement between the CCM and the Civic United Front (CUF) held out the prospect of true reconciliation and an end to the tension and division resulting from the elections of October 1995.

I welcome the progress made towards the implementation of the Agreement by the inauguration of the Inter-Party Committee (IPC) comprising representatives of the two parties to facilitate its implementation, the return of CUF members to the House of Representatives and, more recently, the work of the teams of consultants on the review of the Constitution and the electoral laws, the reform of the Zanzibar Electoral Commission (ZEC) and the judiciary. I also commend the steadfast support of the donor country ambassadors in Tanzania whose contributions remain central to the success of the initiative. 

But I am deeply concerned at the lack of progress in other critical areas of the Agreement. The appointment by the President of Zanzibar of the two new members into the House of Representatives from the ranks of CUF has still to be made. The appointment of an Independent Assessor to examine the claims about damaged properties also remains outstanding. And there is the issue of the appointment of a committee to look into allegations of civil servants and students unfairly treated for political reasons.

Of the outstanding issues, however, the most urgent is the reform of the ZEC as agreed in order to ensure that its composition is a matter of consultation between the Government and the parties, that it is truly independent and that its management of the forthcoming and subsequent elections is transparent and credible. That is the accepted practice in other parts of the Commonwealth.

Even at this increasingly late hour, I believe that the Agreement of 9 June 1999 can still help to achieve national reconciliation and consolidate democracy in Zanzibar. I therefore call on all concerned, especially the leaders of the CCM in Zanzibar, to implement it in full as a matter of the utmost urgency. The highest national interest of Zanzibar, and indeed of Tanzania as a whole, demands no less.

 

00/17 24 March 2000

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