ACT -Wazalendo questions police escorts for contractor as it winds up rallies

Unguja. Unity among Zanzibaris, the legal status of oil and gas, and the alleged preferential treatment of a certain contractor who is alleged to have access to state instruments emerged as one of the key issues as opposition party ACT-Wazalendo concluded their rallies in Zanzibar.

The 12th rally that took place on Sunday was the final in the current series, which kicked off in May and took the party to different parts of both Unguja and Pemba to market their Brand Promise to the electorate.

Addressing hundreds of supporters, party cadre, Ismail Jussa faulted the security detail that a certain road contractor in Zanzibar has been granted, saying it sets a bad precedent and wondering why he is being offered such preferential treatment.

He was speaking in Makoba, Bumbwini, in Unguja, saying it was rather surprising to see a road contractor being escorted by the police with a siren wherever he goes.

"This is very disturbing. You Zanzibaris, where on earth have you seen this kind of thing? Is this the new standard that we are offering to contractors? Was this part of the contractual obligations? It all points to some rot in our systems," said Mr. Jussa.

On his part, the party's vice chairman and First Vice president, Othman Masoud Othman, faulted President Mwinyi's administration, saying it was an illusion to tell Zanzibaris that oil and gas are not union issues.

Last week, Zanzibar's authorities announced that they had put new oil and gas exploration blocks up for grabs in an effort to diversify their economy and reduce their reliance on tourism, which now accounts for more than a quarter of their GDP.

The opening of the 12 blocks also comes after a multinational company, Schlumberger, completed the assignment of processing oil and gas data that was presented to the Zanzibar government by the government of the United Republic of Tanzania.

In August 2022, Tanzania Mainland (Tanganyika) and Zanzibar officially announced that they would no longer oversee the oil and gas sector jointly.

Prior to that, oil and gas were Union matters overseen by the United Republic of Tanzania. However, with the receipt of oil and gas data from Tanzania’s Mainland, Zanzibar can now go ahead with the search for exploration investors independently.

However, in his assessment, Mr. Othman, who was Zanzibar’s former attorney general, said as long as the issue is still enshrined in the United Republic of Tanzania’s constitution, it remains a union matter.

"Article 64 of the union’s constitution of 1977 states this clearly: unless this article is amended or repealed, then the status quo shall remain the same," said Mr. Othman.

On the other hand, the party’s chairman, Juma Duni Haji (Babu Duni), said unity among Zanzibaris is now more critical than ever before if at all they are to bequeath the coming generations a nation that is worth living in.

"We have had very bad experiences at times when we are required to speak as one; some people choose their stomachs instead of the nation. In 2014, we had an opportunity to speak out loud about our aspirations in Dodoma, but that was betrayed by our own people," he said.

He added: It doesn’t matter whether you wear a purple or green shirt; Zanzibar must come first in all your dispensations because we can never replace it for anything else.

‘Babu Duni’ said their aim is to continue sensitising the electorate about why they should be the preferred party to lead them towards a new Zanzibar.