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Declare union illegal, group tells Z’bar AG
2006-02-02 08:34:46
By Issa Yussuf, Zanzibar
Ten Zanzibaris yesterday gave the Zanzibar Attorney General a 14-day ultimatum to declare that Zanzibar is not part of the United Republic of Tanzania, and that the Union is illegal.
The group said in its letter to the attorney general that it would take the AG, secretary of the Zanzibar Revolutionary Council, Speaker of the Zanzibar House of Representatives and Secretary-General of the United Nations to court if the ultimatum was ignored.
’’We will take you to court along with your colleagues, including the UN secretary-general, because you stated in one of your counter-affidavits that the UN recognises the union between Zanzibar and Tanganyika.
Therefore, each one of you has to prove the legitimacy of the union. We need to see the original agreement,’’ says the letter signed by the group’s leader, Rashid Salum Adiy.
A fortnight ago, the group, which claims to represent the views of the majority of Zanzibaris, asked Zanzibar authorities to call a referendum on the 42-year-old union between Zanzibar and Tanganyika.
Adiy said at a news conference: ’’We wrote a letter to the Attorney General on January 20, 2006, advising him on the need to call a referendum which would make the feelings of Zanzibaris about the current union known.
’’We now have enough evidence that there was no legal agreement between Zanzibar and Tanganyika in forming the United Republic of Tanzania. Zanzibar has been illegally part of the United Republic of Tanzania. Zanzibaris should either reclaim their sovereignty or enter into a new agreement with Tanganyika.’’
Reacting to the group’s move, Zanzibar Attorney General Iddi Pandu Hassan said he did not believe that ten people could speak on behalf of all Zanzibaris, adding, ’’I believe the Articles of the Union document signed by the first president of Zanzibar and his Tanganyika counterpart in April, 1964 exists.’’
The AG admitted, however, that he had never seen the original document, but added that this did not imply that it did not exist.
Last December, Zanzibar High Court judge Mbarouk Salim ruled that the Zanzibar AG office did not have the original Articles of the Union after the group asked the court to order the attorney general to produce the document.
The group has vowed to continue waging a legal battle to ensure that Zanzibar regains sovereignty while maintaining that it did not intend to break up the union.
The union’s founders are the late Mwalimu Julius Kambarage Nyerere and Abeid Amani Karume, the first presidents of Tanganyika and Zanzibar, respectively. Karume is father of Zanzibar’s current president, Amani Abeid Karume.
Other members of the group questioning the legality of the union are Rashid Ahmed Rashid, Rashid Yussuf Mchenga, Haji Sheha Hamadi, Abdallah Hassan Mrisho, Mbaruku Sheha Simai, Khamis Ismail Makame, Ali Simai Mwadini, Abdallah Muhsin Abeid and Ali Omar Omar.
Inaugurating the Union Parliament on December 21, last year, President Jakaya Kikwete promised to solve problems dogging the Union.
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