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Families in Pemba seeking asylum, again!
2005-11-09 09:02:14
By Deogratias Mushi
In the past week, both print and electronic media reports, have been talking about families in Pemba that have been dispersed, right after the general elections in Zanzibar.
On Tuesday, British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) Correspondent in Pemba John Ngahyoma carried out an interview with people who had taken refuge in the forest, fearing to be arrested by police.
The interviewees, who included women lamented over their stolen property. Some of them complained that after escaping, thugs stole millions of money from their residences, including forex.
Others feared that their lives were in danger, since the police were still hunting for them.
Again, Wednesday morning BBC reports also revealed that some people from Pemba have taken refuge in Mombasa in the neighbouring Kenya, and they were now contemplating how to go back to Pemba.
Problems in that clove Isle started, not after the election results were announced, but in fact, after one Jeshi la Kujenga Uchumi (JKU) army official disappeared in some very doubtful circumstances.
Until yesterday he had not been traced, raising fears that he might have been killed.
Having heard about this asylum saga, I just asked myself one question.
Why do people run away from their families without reason?
Could an assumption lead us to thinking that they are guilty in some way, and could that be the reason for running away from the police?
Why is it that some people (and in fact the majority) have not run away from Pemba?
Some sections of the media have given primacy to this issue, without going into the details of the source of the problem.
Anyway, my concern is not political, but rather socio-anthropological.
That is, families in Pemba disintergrate after every general election.
There was a similar situation, both in 1995 and the year 2000 elections, where some residents of Pemba had to stay away from their homes for a long period.
During all that period, the economic situation of those who ran away from their residences definitely went down, simply because some of them abandoned their clove plantations, fishing industry or trading.
According to me, when a political situation worsens the lives of people, such a system should be abandoned immediately, because it brings misfortune to people rather than blessings.
Why accept something that hardens life?
We need more civic groups in Pemba and other areas where politics is bringing more harm to people than good just to educate wananchi about how to involve themselves in politics without necessarily affecting their families’ set-up.
No matter what party wins in Zanzibar, the reality remains that the priority should be the safety of the people and their property, then other things might be addressed once this assurance is guaranteed.
People in Pemba, need schools, teachers, good roads, dispensaries, and other social services.
Politicians who do not advocate for these fundamental issues are ’handicapped’ and should not be given the pulpit to address the people.
Let’s first improve the living conditions of the people in Pemba, later we can think of politicking.
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