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Tanzania stuck with federo
June 15, 2004
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By Joachim Buwembo You probably heard the story of how Uganda got colour television in the early seventies. The story goes that the new President, military strongman Idi Amin, discovered that Zanzibar not only boasted of the most modern sports stadium around, but the island also had colour TV. Amin reportedly directed that UTV immediately goes colour, regardless of the expense, for there is no way we could lag behind the island. That was Zanzibar, then a jewel of sorts in the bigger United Republic of Tanzania. The flourishing Zanzibar isles, made up of the bigger one called Unguja and the smaller one of Pemba, then commanded the world market for cloves and were also an exclusive tourist destination. An ordinary Tanzanian from the mainland needed a travel document to go to the islands. The islanders were leading their quiet comfortable life. They attended Islamic darasas and did not see much need for formal education. They were part of the union mostly for security reasons because the islands were a temptation to adventurers and ideological empire builders in the days of the cold war. You have probably heard of our own self-styled Acholi Field Marshall John Okello who went down there in the early sixties with a few guns and overthrew the government. There was then the strong fear that Zanzibar could become another Cuba. In short, the West and Tanganyika thought it best to put the islands in a union with the mainland. So a much older version of federalism (federo) than what the Mengo guys are advocating for - a one-sided federation- was crafted and Tan-Zan-ia was created. Like the federo the Baganda monarchists want, it was not a full federation because there is no other federal state to federate with. Put it this way. A real federation in Uganda would mean a governmnt in Mengo for Buganda, another in say Entebbe for the rest of Uganda and a third one, the central government, at Nakasero. By the way that is quite a sexy idea - there would be another set of big jobs to vie for. Actually, the President of the rest of Uganda minus Buganda would be a powerful man or woman and a ministerial job in the Entebbe government would be almost as good as the one at Nakasero and certainly better than one at Mengo. Anyway, Zanzibar was given federo � although they had not asked for federal - and life went on. As the years went by, the cloves wealth dwindled, as did the tourism. Today, Zanzibar is a very poor place. But it must remain part of the union. It is just like the once firm breasts on a young woman that gave milk and beauty and then eventually sag and dry up. But the owner cannot opt to have them cut off as this would be fatal. Although they are no longer giving milk nor beauty, they are part and parcel of the body and any problem they get must be treated immediately. Zanzibar is more than that. The Zanzbar people have invested heavily on the mainland, more than the mainlanders have invested on the islands. Many new buildings in the once squalid Kariokoo slum of Dar es Salaam belong to guys from Zanzibar. Okay, I have not examined the title deeds but that is what anybody on the street in Dar will tell you. Now the islands of one million people out of the nation�s 35 million needs some serious subsidies from the union government. If it had been a full federation the guys from the other state would be asking why they have to shoulder the burden. But it is one country, just like you do not ask why there is a ministry for Karamoja Affairs yet we do not have one for Masaka. But that does not stop some people from still wanting to make Zanzibar �different� from the mainland. Islamic fundamentalists would certainly want it for obvious reasons. But even politicians need to use it as leverage in national politics. Under the current arrangement, the President of Zanzibar is one of the two vice chairman of the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) party. But with multiparty politics taking root, a possibility of CCM not winning in the islands cannot be ruled out. In fact the main opposition party, Civic United Front (CUF), is very strong on the islands. Last weekend, CUF provocatively promised Zanzibar President, CCM Vice Chairman Amani Karume, a big post come next year when they win the elections on the islands. They say the offer is unconditional. The psychological war is already on. [EMAIL PROTECTED] |
� 2004 The Monitor Publications
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