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Tanzania: 'Pemba Plea is Treasonous'
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The Citizen (Dar es Salaam)
9 May 2008
Posted to the web 9 May 2008
Vicent Mnyanyika And Kizito Noya
The Government yesterday described Pemba elders' demand for secession as treason, comparing it with what took place in the Comoros recently.
The demand made two weeks after the collapse of the Zanzibar peace accord, which previously cited power sharing as the solution to the Zanzibar political crisis, is unconstitutional, according to the Government.
Minister of State in the Vice-President's Office responsible for Union Affairs, Mr Mohamed Seif Khatib, compared the elders and their supporters with "dangerous individuals" like Colonel Mohamed Bacar, who was recently ousted from the Comorian island of Anjouan by Tanzanian-commanded African Union troops.
On Wednesday, 12 elders from Pemba presented their secession plea to the resident director of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Mr Oscar Fernandez-Taranco, a month after first floating the idea of breaking away from Zanzibar.
The elders presented their petition to Mr Fernandez-Taranco, and asked him to forward it to UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon.
The group last month asked the US ambassador to Tanzania, Mr Mark Green, to send their message to President George W. Bush, asking him to help them break away from Pemba's union with Zanzibar and Tanzania mainland.
But Mr Khatib declined to state whether the elders would be arrested and charged with treason.
"Their move, according to the country's laws, is treasonous I don't believe that Pemba can be an independent country," Mr Khatib, who later yesterday flew to Zanzibar to assess the crisis, told The Citizen by telephone.
He accused the Opposition of fuelling and backing the secession plans by taking advantage of "ignorance among their supporters".
"Personally I believe that (Opposition) political parties have a hand in this development, and this is very dangerous. Politicians must under no circumstances mislead the people," he said.
Although it has yet to be established who is behind the move, political analysts see this as yet another litmus test for President Jakaya Kikwete's government which has been struggling to end the long-standing political impasse in Zanzibar.
To back their secession agenda, the Pemba elders claim that the island has been economically marginalised by the Revolutionary Government of Zanzibar on the grounds that Pemba has been an Opposition stronghold since the 1964 Revolution.
For instance, they claim that out of the 192 top positions in the Zanzibar government, only 26 are occupied by people from Pemba Island, with the rest coming from Unguja.
They further claim that development efforts are concentrated in Unguja, leaving Pemba residents with "crumbs".
But Mr Khatib dismissed the claims as "baseless and lacking credible evidence to support them".
He said it was true that there were economic and social disparities between Pemba and Unguja, but was quick to attribute the underdevelopment of Pemba to "geographical factors".
"Unguja is the seat of the government and it is to be expected that it will have a higher level of development than Pemba.
"But nobody can claim that Pemba is a forgotten Island because development has been taking place, including the building of airports, a stadium and ports," Mr Khatib said.
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Pemba is situated about 50 kilometres to the north of Unguja. Small-scale farming is the main economic activity in Pemba, which is more fertile than Unguja.
if i were Moh'd Seif i would agree with those who support the idea of separating pemba island from the union. I think the source of political problems that face zanzibar today is the pemba people who think that they are opressed something which is not at all true. So give these people their freedom so that we unguja people will live peacefully in our issand. Whatever the government do to these people I m sure that they wont be satissfied. Wana roho mbaya sana.
I hope when u wrote this u was in full conscious.it seems u are walking dead. wake up brother.u know the meaning of opressed? and look the situation of pemba , look the entire system of gorvement of zazibar. dont try to put uunguja and upemba and dont think IF pemba people leave unguja, unguja u will be in peace and prosperities my friend. Because pembans in unguja do nothing except business and their daily life in basic.
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