Zanzibar tightens security as president is re-elected

ZANZIBAR – Security forces tightened their grip on Zanzibar ahead of the swearing in yesterday of Amani Abeid Karume as president of the Tanzanian archipelago following elections marred by violence and charges of ballot fraud.

Military vehicles stepped up patrols of the historic capital, Stone Town, and armed police cordoned off the headquarters of the main opposition Civic United Front (CUF) from the rest of the town to prevent planned protests against alleged poll fraud. Pockets of opposition supporters who spent the night camped close to CUF headquarters were also forbidden to leave the restricted area.One of them, opposition supporter Rafik Suleiman, said: “They won’t let us out.We’re trapped here.We have no food, no toilets.What democracy is this?” At least one person was killed and scores were injured and arrested in three days of clashes between security forces and opposition supporters since Sunday’s turbulent poll.Reuters reporters yesterday saw at least three people being picked up by security forces in the narrow alleyways close to CUF’s base.But analysts say general foreign endorsement of the poll will make it hard for the CUF to annul the results.The opposition says it was again cheated in its third successive electoral bid to wrest power from the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM or “Party of the Revolution”), which has ruled in Zanzibar and across Tanzania for four decades.But the government accuses the opposition of trying to bring chaos to the tourist islands of 1 million.It says Karume, its candidate and son of Zanzibar’s first post-independence leader, won fairly.Privately, many foreign election observers have expressed serious misgivings over the violence and noted numerous irregularities including multiple voting, incomplete voters’ registers, and intimidation by security forces.But in their public assessments, the Southern African Development Community, the African Union and the Commonwealth have all given a thumbs-up overall to the election.The government’s victory, by 53,2 per cent of votes to 46,1 per cent for the opposition, was a relief for Tanzanian President Benjamin Mkapa, whose only real political threat is on Zanzibar, a traditional CUF stronghold.”Mkapa and the CCM are going to be relieved that the results are endorsed, but nervous about whether the results will trigger more of the violence we saw in 2000,” UK-based Africa expert Tom Cargill said.Mkapa is popular with the international donor community and was a member of British Prime Minister Tony Blair’s prestigious Commission for Africa that drew up recommendations for changes on the continent for the G8 rich nation group.Mkapa stands down at a national election on Dec.18, and his party’s candidate, Foreign Minister Jakaya Kikwete, is on course to win easily, analysts say.- Nampa-ReutersPockets of opposition supporters who spent the night camped close to CUF headquarters were also forbidden to leave the restricted area.One of them, opposition supporter Rafik Suleiman, said: “They won’t let us out.We’re trapped here.We have no food, no toilets.What democracy is this?” At least one person was killed and scores were injured and arrested in three days of clashes between security forces and opposition supporters since Sunday’s turbulent poll.Reuters reporters yesterday saw at least three people being picked up by security forces in the narrow alleyways close to CUF’s base.But analysts say general foreign endorsement of the poll will make it hard for the CUF to annul the results.The opposition says it was again cheated in its third successive electoral bid to wrest power from the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM or “Party of the Revolution”), which has ruled in Zanzibar and across Tanzania for four decades.But the government accuses the opposition of trying to bring chaos to the tourist islands of 1 million.It says Karume, its candidate and son of Zanzibar’s first post-independence leader, won fairly.Privately, many foreign election observers have expressed serious misgivings over the violence and noted numerous irregularities including multiple voting, incomplete voters’ registers, and intimidation by security forces.But in their public assessments, the Southern African Development Community, the African Union and the Commonwealth have all given a thumbs-up overall to the election.The government’s victory, by 53,2 per cent of votes to 46,1 per cent for the opposition, was a relief for Tanzanian President Benjamin Mkapa, whose only real political threat is on Zanzibar, a traditional CUF stronghold.”Mkapa and the CCM are going to be relieved that the results are endorsed, but nervous about whether the results will trigger more of the violence we saw in 2000,” UK-based Africa expert Tom Cargill said.Mkapa is popular with the international donor community and was a member of British Prime Minister Tony Blair’s prestigious Commission for Africa that drew up recommendations for changes on the continent for the G8 rich nation group.Mkapa stands down at a national election on Dec.18, and his party’s candidate, Foreign Minister Jakaya Kikwete, is on course to win easily, analysts say.- Nampa-Reuters