We wish all our esteemed readers a happy, successful, and prosperous new year 2021.
In the course of last year, I received a very encouraging message from an avid reader of this column, comrade Ole Kambaine, who said the following: “ I thank and congratulate you heartily, on your series of articles in the Daily News. I not only enjoy reading them, but am learning a lot from them. Please keep it up for the benefit of our young and future generations”.
It is in the high spirits of this encouragement, that I am now embarking enthusiastically on this pleasant task, of writing presentations for all the 52 Thursdays of the year 2021.
And for that specified purpose of providing benefits to our young generation, and because of its historical value and importance, our starting point in this column will be a presentation of the historical background to the glorious Zanzibar revolution of January, 1964, whose 57th anniversary will be celebrated next Tuesday, 12th January 2021 which terminated Sultan Jamshid Abdullah’s rule; to whom the departing British colonial Administration in Zanzibar had, unfairly, granted the Instruments of Zanzibar’s independence.
The said revolution was successfully carried out by “the Committee of Fourteen”; composed of young, bold, and extremely dedicated revolutionary cadres of the Afro-Shirazi party, whose expressed sole purpose was to “liberate Zanzibar from being ruled by the Arab Sultan Jamshid Abdullah to whom the departing British colonial Administration had unfairly granted the ‘Instruments of Independence’ at midnight on December 9th, 1963, following a seriously flawed and disputed general election held earlier that year”.
The historic background : Zanzibar under Arab rule.
The relevant history books show that Zanzibar was, for quite a long time, an Arab colony, initially ruled from Oman by the Sultan of the then vast Arab-dominated Oman commercial Empire in East Africa. But around the beginning of the nineteenth century, as a result of the ‘wars of succession’ which had erupted in Muscat when Sultan Seyyid Said died in 1856, with strong factions refusing to recognize his successor in Zanzibar, Sultan Seyyid Bargash bin Said as their Sultan; and instead making it known that they wanted to secede from the Zanzibar Sultanate.
And for that specified purpose of providing benefits to our young generation, and because of its historical value and importance, our starting point in this column will be a presentation of the historical background to the glorious Zanzibar revolution of January, 1964, whose 57th anniversary will be celebrated next Tuesday, 12th January 2021 which terminated Sultan Jamshid Abdullah’s rule; to whom the departing British colonial Administration in Zanzibar had, unfairly, granted the Instruments of Zanzibar’s independence.
The said revolution was successfully carried out by “the Committee of Fourteen”; composed of young, bold, and extremely dedicated revolutionary cadres of the Afro-Shirazi party, whose expressed sole purpose was to “liberate Zanzibar from being ruled by the Arab Sultan Jamshid Abdullah to whom the departing British colonial Administration had unfairly granted the ‘Instruments of Independence’ at midnight on December 9th, 1963, following a seriously flawed and disputed general election held earlier that year”.
The historic background : Zanzibar under Arab rule.
The relevant history books show that Zanzibar was, for quite a long time, an Arab colony, initially ruled from Oman by the Sultan of the then vast Arab-dominated Oman commercial Empire in East Africa. But around the beginning of the nineteenth century, as a result of the ‘wars of succession’ which had erupted in Muscat when Sultan Seyyid Said died in 1856, with strong factions refusing to recognize his successor in Zanzibar, Sultan Seyyid Bargash bin Said as their Sultan; and instead making it known that they wanted to secede from the Zanzibar Sultanate.
They were successful in that demand, with the intervention and help from the British Government, through what became known as “the Lord Canning Award of 1861”. Thus Zanzibar and Oman became separate Sultanates.
It is further recorded that “the Sultan of Zanzibar, being apprehensive of the encroachments by the European powers, agreed to British Protection on February 17th, 1890”. That is when Zanzibar became a British Protectorate, under the administration of an official called “the British Resident”.
It is further recorded that “the Sultan of Zanzibar, being apprehensive of the encroachments by the European powers, agreed to British Protection on February 17th, 1890”. That is when Zanzibar became a British Protectorate, under the administration of an official called “the British Resident”.
It is this British Administration which, decided, against good and wise advice, to hand over the Instruments of Independence to Sultan Jamshid Abdullah in December 1963; and this is what precipitated the resolve by the Afro-Shirazi Party, to throw that Government out of power at the earliest opportunity.
And, as we shall see below, this revolution took place primarily because the Afro-Shirazi Party had been continuously cheated, through the British Administration’s gerrymandering of constituency boundaries and other uncouth election malpractices, aimed at ensuring the success of the Arab dominated political party, the Zanzibar Nationalist Party (ZNP) at the relevant elections. And this was the root cause of that revolution.
The ugly face of elections in Zanzibar.
Zanzibar has an unfortunate, long history of closely fought, controversial, and violent elections; based on the ‘politics of hatred and animosity’, that had practically divided that country into two warring parties which appeared to be unable, or unwilling, to cooperate and work together.
The first general election, July 1957.
The Zanzibar election process started (as indeed was also the case in Tanzania Mainland), with the formation of political parties which would compete in the proposed elections. The first to be formed was the Zanzibar Nationalist Party (ZNP), which was established in December 1955, consisting mainly of the Arab subjects of the Sultan, also known as ‘Hizbu’. On the African side, a Union was formed between the ‘African Association’ and the ‘Shirazi Association’, which gave birth to the ‘Afro-Shirazi Union’; that was later renamed the ‘Afro-Shirazi Party’.
And, as we shall see below, this revolution took place primarily because the Afro-Shirazi Party had been continuously cheated, through the British Administration’s gerrymandering of constituency boundaries and other uncouth election malpractices, aimed at ensuring the success of the Arab dominated political party, the Zanzibar Nationalist Party (ZNP) at the relevant elections. And this was the root cause of that revolution.
The ugly face of elections in Zanzibar.
Zanzibar has an unfortunate, long history of closely fought, controversial, and violent elections; based on the ‘politics of hatred and animosity’, that had practically divided that country into two warring parties which appeared to be unable, or unwilling, to cooperate and work together.
The first general election, July 1957.
The Zanzibar election process started (as indeed was also the case in Tanzania Mainland), with the formation of political parties which would compete in the proposed elections. The first to be formed was the Zanzibar Nationalist Party (ZNP), which was established in December 1955, consisting mainly of the Arab subjects of the Sultan, also known as ‘Hizbu’. On the African side, a Union was formed between the ‘African Association’ and the ‘Shirazi Association’, which gave birth to the ‘Afro-Shirazi Union’; that was later renamed the ‘Afro-Shirazi Party’.
For the purposes of that election, Zanzibar was divided into six constituencies, which were: Zanzibar North and South; Pemba North and South; Ng’ambo and Stone Town. In that first election, the newly formed Afro-Shirazi Party won in five of those six constituents, and lost only in Stone Town, which was won by a candidate fielded by ‘The Muslim Association’, one of the two Indian Associations.
The (Arab) Zanzibar Nationalist Party did not get any seat.
It is reported in the Report o the Provincial Administration for the year 1958, that “this resounding defeat of the ZNP (with the resultant disappointment to its supporters), greatly contributed to the rise in the political temperature which, from then onwards, continued to gain momentum. It was notable to the extent to which politics infested almost every side of life in Zanzibar: traders, cultivators, labourers, fishermen, and even house wives, were all affected.
It is reported in the Report o the Provincial Administration for the year 1958, that “this resounding defeat of the ZNP (with the resultant disappointment to its supporters), greatly contributed to the rise in the political temperature which, from then onwards, continued to gain momentum. It was notable to the extent to which politics infested almost every side of life in Zanzibar: traders, cultivators, labourers, fishermen, and even house wives, were all affected.
Villagers in the rural areas argued among themselves. Funerals and religious were boycotted by rival political parties. Women even pawned their clothes in order to raise funds for the bus fare to political meetings . . . Such were the immediate results of the first common roll elections for these formerly peaceful Islands”. It would be instructive to note that nearly identical, or similar incidents, were repeated after the first multiparty general elections of 1995.
The second general election, January 1961.
For the second Zanzibar general election, the number of constituencies was increased to twenty two, and that is when the first gerrymandering activities started to be implemented in favour of the Arabs; when the tiny Stone Town constituency, a predominantly Arab and Indian residential area with only 1622 registered voters, was split into two constituencies, deliberately ignoring Ng’ambo constituency, a predominantly Africa residential area with 4,853 registered voters.
By then, some positive constitutional changes had been introduced, including the enfranchisement of women, and the lowering of the voting age from 25 years to 21 years. Those two measures considerably increased the voting population, from a total of 39,833 in July 1957; to 94,310 in January 1961. In the meantime, a new Arab party had been formed, known as the ‘Zanzibar and Pemba Peoples Party’ (ZPPP).
For the second Zanzibar general election, the number of constituencies was increased to twenty two, and that is when the first gerrymandering activities started to be implemented in favour of the Arabs; when the tiny Stone Town constituency, a predominantly Arab and Indian residential area with only 1622 registered voters, was split into two constituencies, deliberately ignoring Ng’ambo constituency, a predominantly Africa residential area with 4,853 registered voters.
By then, some positive constitutional changes had been introduced, including the enfranchisement of women, and the lowering of the voting age from 25 years to 21 years. Those two measures considerably increased the voting population, from a total of 39,833 in July 1957; to 94,310 in January 1961. In the meantime, a new Arab party had been formed, known as the ‘Zanzibar and Pemba Peoples Party’ (ZPPP).
The second general election was held in January, 1961. Its results were that the Afro-Shirazi Party obtained a total of ten seats in the Legislative Council, eight in Zanzibar, and two in Pemba. The Zanzibar Nationalist Party obtained nine seats, all of them in Pemba; while the newly formed ZPPP won three seats, also all of them in Pemba.
Two of the elected ZPPP members formed a coalition with ZNP, while the remaining ZPPP member joined the ASP; thus, producing a stalemate; because each side now had eleven seats; hence the Ministerial system of government could not be introduced.
The third general election, June, 1961.
In such circumstances, a fresh election was rapidly organized, and took place on 1st June, 1961, after one more constituency was created in Pemba, ostensibly in order to make an odd total of twenty three constituencies. This was how it was explained by the colonial Administration, that it was “an effort to avoid a repeat of the stalemate which had been caused by the even number of twenty two constituencies”. But, in reality, the additional constituency was deliberately created in Pemba, in order to give advantage to the Arab dominated parties, which had their greatest strength there in Pemba. The results of the third general election were that ASP and ZNP tied, with ten seats each; while ZPPP retained its three seats. The three ZPPP members again divided themselves in the same way as they had done previously thus giving ZNP twelve seats, and ASP eleven seats. The instruments of “Self- government” were therefore granted to the majority ZNP/ZPPP coalition. But then, bloody post-election riots quickly ensured, that reportedly left “sixty eight people dead, and more than 350 injured”.
The fourth general election, July 1963.
Thereafter, a Constitutional conference was held in Lancaster House, London, in 1962; in order to determine the constitutional way forward. At that conference, the Afro-Shirazi Party insisted on two conditions: one was that another general election be held before the granting of independence; and the second was that independence be granted in 1962. This second demand was rejected by the British Government. But it was agreed that fresh elections be held in 1963, before the granting of independence.
For that general election, which was held on 8th July, 1963; eight new constituencies were added, making a total of thirty one. The results were that: ASP secured thirteen seats; ZNP got twelve seats, and ZPPP got six sets. This clearly demonstrated the effects of the gerrymandering of constituency boundaries in favour of ZNP; for ASP secured a majority 54% of all the valid votes cast, by obtaining 13,000 votes more than the total of the votes obtained by ZNP and ZPPP combined, but obtained only 13 seats, while the other two, with a combined lesser number of votes, won a bigger total of eighteen seats.
The third general election, June, 1961.
In such circumstances, a fresh election was rapidly organized, and took place on 1st June, 1961, after one more constituency was created in Pemba, ostensibly in order to make an odd total of twenty three constituencies. This was how it was explained by the colonial Administration, that it was “an effort to avoid a repeat of the stalemate which had been caused by the even number of twenty two constituencies”. But, in reality, the additional constituency was deliberately created in Pemba, in order to give advantage to the Arab dominated parties, which had their greatest strength there in Pemba. The results of the third general election were that ASP and ZNP tied, with ten seats each; while ZPPP retained its three seats. The three ZPPP members again divided themselves in the same way as they had done previously thus giving ZNP twelve seats, and ASP eleven seats. The instruments of “Self- government” were therefore granted to the majority ZNP/ZPPP coalition. But then, bloody post-election riots quickly ensured, that reportedly left “sixty eight people dead, and more than 350 injured”.
The fourth general election, July 1963.
Thereafter, a Constitutional conference was held in Lancaster House, London, in 1962; in order to determine the constitutional way forward. At that conference, the Afro-Shirazi Party insisted on two conditions: one was that another general election be held before the granting of independence; and the second was that independence be granted in 1962. This second demand was rejected by the British Government. But it was agreed that fresh elections be held in 1963, before the granting of independence.
For that general election, which was held on 8th July, 1963; eight new constituencies were added, making a total of thirty one. The results were that: ASP secured thirteen seats; ZNP got twelve seats, and ZPPP got six sets. This clearly demonstrated the effects of the gerrymandering of constituency boundaries in favour of ZNP; for ASP secured a majority 54% of all the valid votes cast, by obtaining 13,000 votes more than the total of the votes obtained by ZNP and ZPPP combined, but obtained only 13 seats, while the other two, with a combined lesser number of votes, won a bigger total of eighteen seats.
It is on record that Sir George Mooring, the last British Resident in Zanzibar; as well as Mwalimu Julius Nyerere, the President of Tanganyika, both warned the British Government against granting independence in such controversial circumstances, but their warning was simply ignored; and the British Government just went ahead and granted the instruments of independence to Sultan Jamshid Abdullah, who thus became the Head of State of independent Zanzibar, at midnight ceremony on 9th December, 1963.
The final blow.
For the injured Afro-Shirazi party, this British action of granting independence to Sultan Jamshid in such controversial circumstances, must have been the “straw that broke the camel’s back”; and they soon began making secret preparations for the overthrow of the Sultan’s Government, which culminated in the successful revolution that took place during the night of January 11th, 1964, only one month after the country’s independence.
With the advantage of hindsight, it would be safe to assume that it is probably this frustrating background history of electoral cheating, plus the ensuing post election violence and other conflicts which occurred repeatedly in relation to all the pre-revolution (which could justifiably be described as a “curse”), that helps to explain why Zanzibar President Abeid Amani Karume declared that “there will be no elections in Zanzibar for the next fifty years”!
The final blow.
For the injured Afro-Shirazi party, this British action of granting independence to Sultan Jamshid in such controversial circumstances, must have been the “straw that broke the camel’s back”; and they soon began making secret preparations for the overthrow of the Sultan’s Government, which culminated in the successful revolution that took place during the night of January 11th, 1964, only one month after the country’s independence.
With the advantage of hindsight, it would be safe to assume that it is probably this frustrating background history of electoral cheating, plus the ensuing post election violence and other conflicts which occurred repeatedly in relation to all the pre-revolution (which could justifiably be described as a “curse”), that helps to explain why Zanzibar President Abeid Amani Karume declared that “there will be no elections in Zanzibar for the next fifty years”!
He must have been utterly frustrated, and hugely disappointed, by the negative experiences of those pre-revolution elections.
This also helps to explain why Zanzibar has continued to be haunted by its troubled past, which had created the “politics of hatred and animosity” that practically divided that county into two political ‘war camps’, unwilling to cooperate or work together for the country’s development.
And such understanding of the relevant background, greatly enhances the value of the reconciliation Agreement (MUAFAKA), which was concluded between Chama cha Mapinduzi (CCM) and the Civic United Front (CUF); that enabled Zanzibar to form a “Government of National Unity (GNU), of the kind which has been formed by the current Zanzibar President Hussein Mwinyi.
piomsekwa@gmail.com/0754767576.
This also helps to explain why Zanzibar has continued to be haunted by its troubled past, which had created the “politics of hatred and animosity” that practically divided that county into two political ‘war camps’, unwilling to cooperate or work together for the country’s development.
And such understanding of the relevant background, greatly enhances the value of the reconciliation Agreement (MUAFAKA), which was concluded between Chama cha Mapinduzi (CCM) and the Civic United Front (CUF); that enabled Zanzibar to form a “Government of National Unity (GNU), of the kind which has been formed by the current Zanzibar President Hussein Mwinyi.
piomsekwa@gmail.com/0754767576.
Source: Daily News and Cde Dr Msekwa Himself.
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