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Presidential aspirant forced off dais
2005-07-20 09:30:50
By Issa Yussuf, Zanzibar
Zanzibar presidential candidate Hajji Mussa Kitole has been forced to cut short his speech at a public rally after police told him that his time was up.
Kitole was speaking at Kibanda Maiti grounds in Zanzibar Municipality when he was forced off the dais after allegedly exceeding the time limit set for political rallies.
As the crowd was listening intently to Kitole, a police officer marched to the high table and ordered the Jahazi Asilia candidate to cut short his speech and come off the dais.
’’Time is up…time is up…time is up,’’ the police officer said as he waved a stunned Kitole off the dais.
Kitole complied but slammed police ”double standards”, saying it seemed that there were different sets of rules for the ruling party CCM and the opposition as far as public rallies were concerned.
’’We have no problem with the order, but such treatment should not be reserved for opposition parties. The police must be strict even when the ruling party holds political rallies,” he said.
Public rallies are not allowed to proceed beyond 6pm in Zanzibar.
Kitole earlier said in his speech that Jahazi Asilia would respect human rights, respect the rule of law and improve Zanzibaris’ living standards by creating more jobs.
The former CCM youth wing leader said the ruling party’s policies were an impediment to development in Zanzibar and added that it was high time Zanzibaris voted for change.
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