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CUF salutes Kikwete’s peace efforts in Zanzibar
2006-09-04 09:23:26
By Lydia Shekighenda
Civic United Front (CUF) secretary-general Seif Shariff Hamad has acknowledged that there are signs that the political turmoil in Zanzibar would be tackled seriously.
Speaking in Dar es Salaam yesterday when opening a meeting of CUF leaders in Ilala district, Hamad said his party would co-operate with President Jakaya Kikwete in searching for a lasting solution to the problem.
\”When he visited Dodoma early this year President Kikwete told opposition members of the parliament that he had started working on the political turmoil in Zanzibar.
\”There are signs that the political turmoil will be sorted out, but we request the president to accelerate the process to resolve the impasse and re-energise economic growth on the twin islands,\” he said.
Hamad, who in recent years has been a leading critic of the government on the way it handles the Isle\’s political crisis, said the CUF leadership has been encouraging its members to desist from violent action and wait for the president to fulfill his promise to resolve the problem.
\”If the problem is not resolved immediately,it might cause more political problems. So we urge the president not to take too long in dealing with this issue,\” he observed.
Since coming to power eight months ago, President Kikwete has expressed the desire of the fourth-phase government to find a lasting solution to the political problems in Zanzibar.
Early this year, he pushed for the formation of a special committee led by the Prime Minister, Edward Lowassa and the Zanzibar Chief Minister, Shamsi Vuai Nahodha, to speedily resolve the impasse.
A delegation of Zanzibar leaders visited the mainland last month to follow up the implementation of the terms of reference agreed upon at the first meeting between Lowassa and Nahodha.
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