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Kikwete urged to forestall looming chaos...
2008-05-17 09:33:33
By Lydia Shekighenda
Legal and Human Rights Center wants President Jakaya Kikwete to go public and give the government stand on the emerging political crisis in Zanzibar in order to maintain peace and tranquility in the country.
LHRC public engagement officer Leonard Elias told reporters yesterday in Dar es Salaam that the Muafaka issue was taking a new face in Zanzibar and concerted efforts were needed to prevent a breach of the peace.
``The situation in Zanzibar is critical but we are surprised that our president is not taking any action to rescue the situation,`` he said.
He said the silence by President Kikwete worries people because the situation in Zanzibar was becoming worse everyday.
Elias said the statement by Civic United Front (CUF) leaders recently indicated that President Kikwete was the only person to rescue the nation after the failure of Muafaka talks which was interpreted as lack of seriousness by CCM representatives in the discussion.
``We don`t want President Kikwete to speak to us through his executives. He should speak to the public as he normally does at the end of the month,`` he said.
He also said that the 12 elders arrested recently in Pemba for allegedly demanding autonomy for Pemba were not liable to be charged with treason because what they did was simply to express their views.
Elias said Chapter 16 of the Penal Code and Penal Decree Act of 2004 of Zanzibar did not have provisions which consider requests to secede from Unguja as treason.
Elias said the request to split from Unguja did not constitute the offence of treason.
Citing the case of the Government of Zanzibar vs Machano Khamis and others of 2000, Elias said in that case the court ruled that four matters had to be proved in an indictment for treason.
``First, the act has to be committed; two, the act must be treasonable; three, the act is against a sovereign or a state and, lastly, the act was done by a person who owes allegiance to the sovereign or the state,`` he said.
He said it was a breach of law to prosecute such people under the offence of treason because they were just expressing their opinion.
The 12 elders were arrested on Saturday night last week allegedly for demanding that Pemba be split from Unguja.
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