I FLEE MY NATIVE LAND

Since the time I was in prison I began planning how I would flee my native land, Zanzibar, if and when I would be released. When I was let out of jail on 12 January 1972 I began the task of searching for a passport. It was not an easy task, They kept pushing me about from office to office, from person to person, until ultimately I had a friendly tip: "It would not be easy for you to get a passport at this time." When I heard that I began casting my nets about. On 7 May 1972 (one month from the time Karume had been killed) I committed myself to God, and fled the country accompanied by two companions, Sheikh Muhammad Ali Abbas and his son Ali Muhammad.
 At that time so soon after the assassination of Karume leaving the country in any way was extremely risky, but we decided to put ourselves in the hands of God Most Merciful. At nine p.m. on 7 May we left Zanzibar by canoe. By dawn we entered one of the fishing villages  on the coast of Tanganyika. We said our morning prayers in the village mosque, and then had breakfast of tea and some buns in a village coffee shop.  We waited for the bus which was going to Tanga via Pangani. At about eight the bus arrived and we embarked. When we got on the bus we saw a young Zanzibari in the company of a young Tanganyikan who was wearing the dress of Tanu Youth League. The Zanzibari was known to me since we were together in the Langoni prison. He was then serving sentence for having had sex with a cow. He met us well and we sat with him until we reached Pangani.
 When we reached Pangani and as we were having lunch the young Zanzibari came to our table and told us: "That youth who was sitting with me has been stationed in these areas to watch for illegal immigrants and smugglers of cloves. He told me he was suspicious of you and wanted to take you to the police station of Pangani here.  I have begged him not to do so. But he says he wants your identity cards, so give them to me and I will show them to him."
 We told him that we did not take any identity cards, as we never thought it necessary to do so when we were traveling within the same country. The young man pretended to be going to report to his partner. He kept on moving from us to him, when all that he wanted was that we should give him something. All of us had only a total of Sh.1000. That Tanganyika youth, according to what the Zanzibari told us, was expecting us to pay him Shs. 1500 for the three of us. Even if we wanted to pay that amount we could not have done so because we just did not have it. Then we launched into haggling over the amount we should give. The haggling took all the time we were traveling from Pangani to Tanga. At the end of it we gave them Shs. 50 and all the trouble ended.
 When we reached Tanga we were received by a dear friend of mine whom I had come to know when we were in Langoni prison together. That brother of ours had been imprisoned for smuggling cloves. He was born in Tanga and that was where he was living. After arriving there our escort from Zanzibar returned home We remained there making plans to enter Mombasa, Kenya. Our host here received us with great warmth, and gave us all the assistance we needed, and even more than what we needed.
 As a result of the assassination of President Karume a very strict watch was imposed at the Tanzania/Kenya border so much so that some men from the Security Department of Zanzibar were present on the Tanzanian border before entering Kenya. Our friend engaged himself in searching for ways and means for us to leave, and everywhere he met with insurmountable difficulties. He went to the extent of getting us membership cards of Tanu Youth League and that we belonged to the Wadigo tribe born in Tanga. All this did not help, so tight was  security on the border at that time. In his endeavour to find means for our safe crossing he got one of his brothers who was an expert in following bush trails from Tanzania into Kenya. One day in the morning he came with his brother and told us: "If God wills it I can get you across to Mombasa through the bush. But for those unaccustomed with such ways it may be difficult, for in fact there are no roads at all, it is all bush country." He went on to tell us that there might be game rangers whose job was to protect animals from poachers. It might happen that if they saw people at that time they might put them into trouble. If they were tipped something they let them go.
 "If you are prepared to bear such difficulties, then I agree to go with you and I don't want you to give me anything. What you will have to pay is the bus fare upto the place we shall start our journey through the bush."
 We thanked the young man for what he told us and we told him: "We are prepared for anything that will take us from here to Mombasa."
 The young man said: "Tomorrow, then, about eight at night we shall leave by taxi to go to the bus station which comes from Dar-es-Salaam on its way to Mombasa. Give me therefore the taxi and bus fares."  We gave him the money willingly and with pleasure.
 The next day at the stipulated time the young man accompanied by our host came. After saying bon voyage to our host we got into a taxi and drove to the bus station. On arrival our escort took us to a restaurant to have a meal. As we were eating he went out and came back hurriedly and told us: "Let us move quickly, stop eating!"
 We were amazed and thought perhaps the bus had arrived. When we got out of the restaurant the young man stopped a taxi and ordered the driver: "Take us to Amboni." We went straight to Amboni. There the young man told us why he had so hurriedly got us to leave the restaurant.
 He said: "When I got out I saw three young Zanzibaris sitting  outside. I happened to have seen them before, and I suspected that these were among those who spy on Zanzibaris trying to get out of the country this way. Hence I thought it would be better to leave as quickly as possible.. We will stay here until the bus arrives. When it arrives you will find all the passengers disembark and walk across the bridge on foot. The bus will cross empty. After crossing the bridge the bus will stop and there the passengers including ourselves will get on to it. I have already made arrangements for the reservation of our seats."
 The young man went on saying; "Further on when you see me stopping the bus and descending you also descend."
 At bout ten thirty the bus arrived at Amboni and before crossing the bridge all the passengers got down, and we joined the other passengers and crossed the bridge on foot and then got on to the bus. At about two at night we saw our escort stopping the bus. When we saw him getting ready to get down, so did we. We stayed for a short while, and then the young man said to us: "The journey that I told you about starts from now, so let us pray to God." At that time the moon was shining very bright. We began getting into the bush without any fear or suspicion. The boy Ali was very young at that time, but he was tough and bore very well all the tribulations of the journey.
 At about four in the morning our escort told us: "You see those lights on our right? Those are the lights of a police station on the Tanzanian border."
 After walking for another two hours he told us: "The lights you now see are those of a police station on the Kenya border."
 After a time he told us: "Now here where we are is the land of Kenya."
 When he told us that we raised our hands above and thanked God Almighty for enabling us to escape from Tanzania safely and to enter Kenya. We believed that if by any misfortune anything happened to us here where we were we would be in the hands of a government which recognized human rights and appreciated the rights of political refugees.
 About six in the morning we entered the suburbs of Mombasa, and after having a breakfast of tea and buns in a village coffee shop we waited for a bus to take us to Mombasa. We arrived at Mombasa at about eleven in the forenoon. That young man who escorted us all the way from Tanga bade us farewell after our arrival at Mombasa and returned to Tanga.  It is difficult to describe how deeply grateful we were to this young man for his kindness and great daring. If anything went wrong it would have been he who had sacrificed his life for our safety. God alone is the One who would repay him and his brother our host at Tanga for what they did in enabling us to escape from Tanzania.
 When we arrived at Mombasa, the first thing we did was to look for our brother Maalim Wazir bin Ali who had preceded us in leaving Zanzibar and who was waiting for us at Mombasa so that we might leave together for Arabia. When we arrived at where he was staying his hosts told us: "He waited for you for a long time, when he saw you so late he thought it better to go. But he asked us when you arrive to receive you and to be with you until the time of your departure.."
 In fact we were sorry to have missed our companion, but we had no alternative but to remain there until we could leave for Arabia. We are thankful to Allah, and we are grateful to our Mombasa hosts, for they did indeed look after every need of ours.
 After staying there for several days, all of a sudden one day as we were taking a stroll along Salim Road, now called Digo Road, I came into contact with my brother-in-law, Sheikh Muhammad Soud Bashir. Both of us were caught by surprise. For a time each just stared at the other, and then held each other in an embrace. There and then he took us to his home where we met with our sister, Bi Zuweina Muhammad Rashid. Bi Zuweina was also pleasantly surprised to see me. She never expected to see me, particularly as they had heard of the wanton arrests of people in Zanzibar after the assassination of Karume. She could not control herself and could not resist the tears of joy that flowed from  her eyes. After exchanging emotions and well-wishing we began arguing over their request that we move to them from where we were staying. We did not think it proper to tell our hosts that we would be leaving because we had found our relatives. We agreed in the end that we should not leave all of a sudden, but should gradually broach the subject until we came to a mutual understanding. And that was what happened. We talked over the question of our moving out gradually and we shifted to our relatives with good will on all sides. We kept on paying friendly visits  to our original hosts from time to time to see how they were.
 From the first day of our arrival at Mombasa we began looking for ways to go to Dubai. First of all we submitted ourselves to the representative of the United Nations Refugee Commission, Sheikh Salim Muhasham. He received us warmly and gave us a one-way travel document from the Immigration Department of Kenya. He also helped in everything needful. Having got that document our stay in Kenya became legal.
 After a stay of four months at Mombasa, God  facilitated my departure from Kenya to Dubai. It was agreed that I should precede my two companions. I left Kenya on 29 September 1972 being assisted with an  air ticket and some pocket money from the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR).
 At about eight p.m. on 30 September, 1972 I arrived at Dubai. With me on the same plane were other refugees,  the families of Sheikh Kassim Amour Barwani and of Sheikh Ahmed Issa Barwani. When we arrived at the airport we found a large group of Zanzibaris anxiously waiting for us. After finishing the immigration and custom formalities we got out and fondly embraced with our brethren. Then everyone went with those who had come specially to receive him. It was arranged that I should on that first night stay with Sayyid  Hashim Abdul-Muttalib Hashim, who at that time was the President of the Zanzibar Association in Dubai. The next morning I was taken by another of our brothers Sheikh Abdulla Ali, popularly known as Abdulla Baba or Abdulla Nura. I stayed with him for a long time. All my affairs were with him at his residence.

USURPERS' GOVERNMENT CONTINUES  DISCRIMINATION

The Usurpers' Government of Zanzibar is still continuing with its policy of discrimination. Whoever was once a member of ZNP/ZPPP is looked upon with disfavour and subjected to ill-treatment. It is now three decades since the formal banning of all parties except the ruling one, and yet those who were once themselves or their parents members of the ZNP and ZPPP are hateful to the authorities. Although there is nothing that can be proved against them they are still subjected to every type of discrimination. What has been done to me as I am going to relate below is an indication that the Usurpers' Government of Zanzibar still continues with its policy of discrimination, discrimination in everything and every aspect.

I AM KICKED OUT OF MY COUNTRY

Twenty years after living abroad, I the writer of this little book, requested permission to visit my native country, the country of my birth and the birth of both my two parents. With  difficulty I was given permission to stay therein for three months. As a result I visited Zanzibar on 9th January 1992 and on 18th February 1992 I returned to Dubai where I was residing After six months, that is 9th August in the same year of 1992 I went again to Zanzibar. I intended this time to stay for three months in order to start  a farming project.
 When I arrived at the airport  I was told that if I wanted to extend my visit I should apply  to the Immigration Department. After a month I went to the Immigration Department to apply for an extension. On arrival they impounded my passport and was told to see the "boss". I was escorted to the 'boss", one called Ali Daud.  After some shilly-shally he told me:
 "Come the day after tomorrow, for the Boss is not here today. He has gone to Dar-es-Salaam."
 I asked this boss: "What is the matter?"
 He replied: "The boss wants to see you."
 I kept quiet and left. On the "day after tomorrow"  I went again to the Immigration Department. This time I was sent to another "boss", Himid Yusuf Himid. This was a young man. His father and I were old acquaintances, and, although we had opposing political views we respected each other and got on well together. When I went to the office of the young man, Himid, he told me: "Your problem has not yet been finalized. You may either wait outside or you may go and come back about twelve noon."
 When I returned at noon he asked me: "When does the plane to Arabia leave?"
 I told him: "It depends upon which plane you mean. There are two planes which go to Arabia, and each one has its own day and time of departure."
 He told me: "I mean the plane by which you travel."
 I told him: "It leaves here for Dubai every Sunday morning at nine."
 After I had told him that he told me: "Follow me!"  I followed him to another office where he handed over my passport to another young man and instructed him: "Give him permission to stay in Zanzibar to Sunday 3-9-92, and write for him 'Final Extension'"
 I asked that young man, Himid: "Why has all this come about? What have I done in this country that I am denied extension to stay, and that I am chased out of the country?"
 The reply he gave as he was walking away was: "That is the decision that has been arrived at." I kept quiet and waited for my passport. When I got it I left to go and prepare for my departure. That day was  Friday and the date was 1-9-92. You will note that I was given less than 36 hours to depart from my country in which I was born, without being told that I had committed any offense. The person who accompanied me was deeply sorry for what happened, and he asked me: "Why should all this have happened?"
 I told him: "Do not think that I have infringed any law during my stay here. I have done nothing at all. However a lion is a lion even when aged. All are afraid whenever he appears, particularly those who knew him before. So, brother, do not seek for any other reason."
 After my return to Dubai I began pondering over all that was done to me, and I considered writing to the authorities in Zanzibar, particularly as it was they themselves who had in the first place given me permission to go and visit Zanzibar. In fact I could get no written answer from them, but I heard that the authorities were saying that they knew of nothing offensive that I had done during my stay in Zanzibar, but they would be  making further investigations. On my part I was trying hard to get permission to re-enter Zanzibar without let or hindrance. I thank my in-laws and other fellow countrymen for the great trouble they took, until finally with God's help the way was open and I received permission to visit Zanzibar again.
 I arrived in Zanzibar on 24 July 1994, and after staying for a month and a few days I returned to my residence in Dubai on 27 August 1994. I am grateful that this time I entered peacefully and left on my own peacefully, and God willing it will always be peace.

MY FAMILY JOIN ME AT DUBAI

From the day I arrived at Dubai all my thoughts were concentrated on  looking for means to get my wife and children to join me so that we might live together. The difficulty was not the question of transportation but how to get out of Zanzibar. After my fleeing the country impediments were placed to prevent my family leaving.
 In due course Allah sent down His blessings. As the fly says: "If you know one trick I know another." On 28 December 1976 my entire family, my wife and children, arrived at Dubai through the assistance of UNHCR. I   am grateful to God that we are now living all together. Three of my children have produced for us grandchildren that we can play with. .I pray to God that He may help them to grow up in health and happiness and through them He may prosper them and others not yet born.
 Here I have come to the end of what I was anxious in my heart to relate to my fellow-countrymen. In particular I was keen to get the young ones who knew not the truth to know the facts regarding what happened in their country, from the time of the beginning of political activities to the time of what is called the revolution. They have been deceived and told a great deal of lies and fabrications. This is therefore the truth. These are the facts as far as I have been able to know them and have been able to relate them. As I have already said it is my hope that others will arise after reading this little book, who will be encouraged and feel it is their duty to write more than what I have done about matters that I did not know or simply forgot. Only God is perfect.

OTHER THINGS IN BRIEF

Mwalimu and Islam

For many many years Mwalimu Julius Kambarage Nyerere succeeded in deluding the Muslims of Tanganyika and afterwards of Tanzania as a whole, that is the mainland and the islands, by using the propaganda of  "Arabs and Slavery". Mwalimu's greatest enemy is not the "Arab" but Islam. Had he been able to suddenly remove Islam from his eyes he would not have delayed for one minute.  But Mwalimu as he is an expert in political strategy and tactics knows that to confront Islam openly and brazenly in a country where he knows that the majority of its inhabitants are Muslims (they form about 70% of the population) he would not succeed in his aim of keeping Muslims under oppression. That is why he resorts to strategy in pursuing his aim.
 It was the Muslims of Tanganyika who had placed Nyerere in the leadership because of their dedication to the welfare and development of their country. It never occurred to them that by so doing they were providing their enemy with a weapon with which he would try to eliminate them. As soon as Nyerere acquired administrative authority he began pushing aside all Muslim leaders. He began with kicking out of the party Sheikh Suleiman Takadir, then plotted against Chief  Said Abdulla Fundikira. Then pursued  Sheikh Said Tewa, Sheikh Zubeir Mtemvu, Sheikh Ali Mwinyi Tambwe, Bibi Tidi Muhammad and many others. These suffice to mention, out of many who were nationalistic supporters of TANU and the government, whom Mwalimu brought down and kicked out because he believed that their blood was different from his. Their belief was different from his own.
 In proportion to the denial of rights to which Muslims were subjected, in every aspect, in higher education, in government jobs, in industries and everywhere else, those same rights and privileges were granted to non-Muslims. Seeing the domination of non-Muslims in places of privilege and importance gives a wrong impression to an outsider that Muslims in Tanzania are a minority.
 Whenever Mwalimu Nyerere talks of "Uwarabu" (Arabism) he really means Islam. Unfortunately when he launches his bitter attacks against Arabs and their alleged slavery his Muslim African followers in their delusion clap for him and hail him as their spokesman. They are not aware that the man is actually directing his attacks against their religion. When Tanganyika got its independence on 9 December 1961 the Church prepared a special badge on which was written: "Maria Mtakatifu, Ubariki Uhuru wa Tanganyika". (St. Mary! Bless the Freedom of Tanganyika.)  That badge was worn by Christians as well as by many Muslims. of Tanganyika. Even some Muslims in Zanzibar who were followers of the Afro-Shirazi Party wore them. As I have said before in Tanganyika Muslims form the majority of the population, but during the celebration of independence on 9 December, 1961 the first to go up the platform to pray for blessings was a Christian bishop, who was then followed by a Muslim sheikh. It must have been the impression of anyone witnessing that ceremony that Tanganyika was a predominantly Christian country. The fact is contrary to that, but the majority are kept under suppression, politically, educationally, economically and socially. Nyerere has succeeded during his rule, and even after his official retirement (which is indeed a mere change of roles, for he is still the power behind the scene) it is clear that Christianity as a religion has the upper hand in all things because, allegedly, it is the faith of the majority. The real truth is that the State empowers Christianity and places it in the front, giving it dignity and importance and proportionately  denies equal opportunities to the majority  because of their Islamic  faith!
 In his tactics to undermine Islam Nyerere has devised a slogan which has also deluded the Muslims themselves who keep on singing it without understanding its real implication. The slogan says "SERIKALI YA TANZANIA HAINA DINI", literally meaning "The Government of Tanzania has no religion."  The apparent implication is that the Government is secular.  The real intention is to create a stick with which to control the Muslims of the country. It is to prevent Muslims from making any movement to improve themselves in various fields, such as co-operating with brother Muslims in other parts of the world,  and associating with international Islamic organizations, indeed even those of East Africa.  With that stick Muslims are prevented from seeking and executing projects of development for themselves  and even for the general public, such as the establishment of educational institutions, medicare and development in general. A very good example of Mwalimu's opposition to Islam for every Muslim to take into consideration is what happened towards the end of 1993 when the Zanzibar Government applied to join the Organization of Islamic Countries (OIC). Nyerere in his hatred for Islam could not hide his claws. He told Salmin Amour, the President of Zanzibar, to choose between his being President and his joining the OIC. Another example of the same type was Nyerere's crusade against  the flourishing East African Welfare Society, as well as the AMNUT (All Muslim National Union of Tanganyika. All these have been done during the reign of Nyerere. The great project of establishing a University for the Muslims of East and Central Africa in Zanzibar with the help of Egypt early in 1964 was largely responsible for the precipitation of the January 1964 invasion of the country. The saddest thing is that in all his work of undermining Islam Mwalimu utilizes the services of those who, however unworthily, bear Muslim names, to do his dirty work. Rarely does he personally muddy his own hands either in politics or religion. (As far as he is concerned there is no difference between religion and politics or politics and religion. It is others who should stick to that dictum of separating religion from politics!)
 The whole of East Africa was once upon a time under Muslim rule. Portugal did once rule over Zanzibar, and after her came Britain avowedly to "protect" it, but in reality to rule it. Germany ruled Tanganyika and then came Britain. The European nations were Christian but they never interfered with the religion of the people trying to change religious customs or traditions in the countries they ruled. Muslims had the freedom to marry and inherit one another according to their religion and customs, and so did the Christians, Buddhists, Hindus and Zoroastrians.. Indeed even pagans had the freedom to follow their own tribal traditions in matters of personal laws under Muslim rule. But when Mwalimu came into the scene he vowed that it should either be he or Islam. The two could not co-exist. Islam should give in. But Allah Most high will never bow to him.
 An important piece of strategy in undermining Islam in Tanzania was the law of confiscating people's properties under the pretense of what they call "nationalization". By this simple act the whole Islamic community has been fleeced, and not only the people but the mosques, madressas and orphanages. The farms of Said and Abdulla have been handed over to Peter and Paul and Edington. The bequests of the mosques have been confiscated, but those of the churches are intact because they are in Europe and America in banks earning usuries, and in big international corporations earning huge profits. The poor deluded African Muslims sing in jubilation with their Christian countrymen "Mali ya Umma! Mali ya Umma!" : "People's Properties!" when Mwalimu robbed the people of their properties. These are not the people's properties, they belong to Julius, John and James. And now without any subterfuge those Muslim properties, particularly in Zanzibar, are being handed over to Mafia gangs. Those are our new masters. Those will help build churches with corrupted laundered money. Where will Pandu and Jecha be? When Arabs, Asians and Comorians were being hounded out and humiliated others felt unconcerned if not inwardly jubilant. Now it is the Wahadimu, Watumbatu and Wapemba who are being hounded out of their islands, their hamlets, their beaches of the East coast, their Nungwi steppes and have their homes demolished. Now it is the indigenous peasants of Zanzibar who are receiving the brunt of foreign occupation. Under the guise of "secularism" and African chauvinism the Zanzibari has really been turned into the underdog to serve the interests of foreigners, be they white or black. The Zanzibari of Arab, Shirazi or Comorian stock has become the odd man out, like the Red Indian in America and the aborigine in Australia. Pandu and Jecha have no longer the right to draw water or pass through the land of their ancestors now occupied by the new white masters who have acquired proprietary rights over their land, given by usurping authorities, which came to power through massacres, lootings and deportation. That is the Mwalimu of Progress, Socialism and Self-reliance. That is the Mwalimu who is  fulfilling his vow of "Either I or Islam!" When the people see their leader trying to stop the march of time and tide, it is their duty to examine the head of such a leader and to make a choice between the profit and loss of continuing to have him with them.

Mwalimu and Slavery

This is the second question which Mwalimu uses in his strategy when he confronts Islam, especially when he discusses Zanzibar and "Arabism". Whenever Mwalimu talks about slavery he never fails to associate it with Arabism, the Sultanate and Zanzibar, as if indeed that institution had never been practiced anywhere in the world except in Zanzibar, and nobody had ever engaged in it except the Arabs. Everybody knows that slavery was in the old days a common practice all over the world. Arabs, Europeans, Africans, Indians and all races of all faiths engaged in the trade of purchasing and selling their fellow human beings. If you were to make comparisons you would see that it was the Christians who were foremost in this trade. From Africa came slaves, and it was to America the colonies of the Europeans that they were sent to cultivate their plantations and to do other hard jobs in their various projects.
 How did the black men reach America if they had not been taken by Europeans who were Christians? Or were the slave traders who sent two hundred and fifty million black Africans to America Muslims?  Mwalimu has for too long been hoodwinking the Muslim community of Tanzania, but thank God, the Muslim community of today has come to understand Mwalimu very well, just as much as they understand that when he refers to "Arabism" he really means 'Islam". The Muslims have now opened their eyes. They will no longer be cheated to the extent of killing each other as they did in the year 1964 in Zanzibar. By treachery the people of Zanzibar were instigated to get rid of Monarchy and Arabism, and thousands who were not even Arabs or monarchists were then murdered  because of their conscience.  Many others were murdered after the invasion (among whom were those whom I have earlier mentioned) who were not Arabs, such as Othman Sharif, Mdungi Usi, Jaha Ubwa, Saleh Saadallah, Abdulla Kassim Hanga and others. There are a considerable number of so-called Arabs who committed atrocities together with the rest of them who were part and parcel of the usurping authority. They were protected and privileged because they agreed to subjugate their faith and uphold the faithless doctrines of the usurping regime. In the eyes of Nyerere, Ali Muhsin was an Arab, but Babu was not;  Muhammad Shamte was an Arab but Salmin Amour was not. Strange criteria!
 There are fundamental questions regarding slavery in Zanzibar which are well known to Mwalimu, he not being illiterate like Karume, but which he for reasons of his own does not like to mention. In 1822 Sayyid Said bin Sultan, who was then Sultan of Oman and East Africa, banned slave trading between his dominions and all European countries. In 1845 he prohibited the export of slaves from East Africa to Oman. In the year 1872 Sayyid Barghash, son of Said, who was Sultan of Zanzibar abolished the slave trade completely. It was only in 1890, eighteen years later, that the Western nations, which were all Christian, that they abolished the slave trade by what is called the Brussels Act of 1890.
 In the year 1897 the Sultan of Zanzibar, Sayyid Hamoud bin  Muhammad, grandson of Said,  abolished slavery itself in Zanzibar. Thus as from that date there could be no slave at all in Zanzibar and anyone arriving a slave would automatically be a free man. However in British ruled Kenya slavery was not abolished until 1912, and in Tanganyika under the Germans slavery continued until they were driven out, and the victorious British continued with it until 1920. It was at that time that they abolished slavery. One can see therefore that slavery flourished in Tanganyika for 23 years after it had been abolished in Zanzibar. We may well ask Mwalimu Nyerere which country deserves to be entitled "The navel of slavery"?
 The slavery under which we groan and which is much more oppressive than that of the past is the slavery that has been imposed on us by Nyerere and Karume. It is the slavery of subjecting the people of Zanzibar and of Tanganyika to the law of arbitrary arrest and imprisonment without committing any offense and without trial for indefinite periods, under the so-called law of Preventive Detention, a law which indeed nullifies all laws and all Human Rights.
 As a further punishment those slaves of Nyerere/Karume were subjected to humiliating tortures from which many died. Those committed  (without resort to courts of law) were condemned to hard labour from seven in the morning to six in the evening.  Others were put in torture chambers without food and were subjected to humiliating and debilitating torments  that are impossible to describe. That is the slavery that we have witnessed and experienced under Karume and Jumbe, and whose notorious law of so-called "Preventive Detention" still exists in the law books of Zanzibar and Tanzania. So also does the "Forced Marriage Act". Mwalimu Nyerere was the President of the Tanzanian Union and is still the chief manipulator of everything that goes on in the country. He is therefore squarely responsible for the slavery that we all have been labouring under. Why is it that we never hear Mwalimu saying anything against this slavery that is practiced under his very nose?  Neither do we hear any of his stooge mouthpieces say anything about this slavery?

LOCAL GOSSIP

After the victory of what was called the "Revolution" a great deal of falsehood was propagated against the ZNP/ZPPP government which had been overthrown. The aim was to destroy the love and confidence that a considerable portion of the people had with that government which had been democratically elected.  The authors of this anti ZNP/ZPPP propaganda so cleverly plotted their strategy that some people, because of their weak faith, came nearly to believe the falsehood that was being spread about. The ground was well prepared for the spread of any falsehood. The people as a whole had been terrorized and traumatized. Many, particularly those who knew and could speak and write, had been killed, exiled or were kept in cold storage in prison. Fantastic allegations and fabrications had therefore their heyday..
 One such allegation which gained credence in those days was that the leaders of the ousted ZNP/ZPPP government had turned down the offer of aid from the British Government. Others alleged that the Egyptian government had offered  to dispatch military assistance for the defence of Zanzibar, but that the ZNP/ZPPP government turned down that offer, and instead requested a musical and dancing group from Egypt. Others still alleged that Ali Muhsin had a secret arrangement with Karume to bring about the revolution in order to get rid of the Sultan. I say that all such allegations, which were bandied about and are still being spread, are false and lies. They have not the slightest basis of truth. The British Government (for reasons which became clear afterwards) did not want to offer any defence assistance to the Government of Zanzibar, although it did give military assistance to Kenya, Uganda and Tanganyika.
 Britain ruled Zanzibar (by the subterfuge of protection) in peace and understanding for 73 years (1890-1963).  That same Britain a month after relinquishing its rule by mutual consent and without a single British national being touched, totally refused to come to the aid of Zanzibar in its hour of need while people were ruthlessly being massacred! The damning thing in the eyes of Britain was that the government which was then in power and which requested that aid was the ZNP/ZPPP government.
 The Prime Minister Muhammad Shamte, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ali Muhsin and the Minister of Finance, Juma Aley, requested Mr. Crostwaith, the British High Commissioner in Zanzibar on  12 January 1964 to convey to Britain Zanzibar's request for  military assistance to stop the carnage of innocent citizens by mobs of thugs specially brought for the purpose. The High Commissioner turned down that request made by a fellow Commonwealth government which had been democratically  elected by the people.  He refused alleging that he could not convey that request because it was a week-end. He could not therefore get in touch with the Home government! Was it conceivable that the entire British Government went out fishing or swimming on week-ends?  Under any circumstances, he said, he would not recommend to Her Majesty's Government to interfere in Zanzibar's internal affairs.  A week later, on 20 January 1964 after the overthrow of Zanzibar, there was an attempt by the army of Tanganyika (not mobs of hooligans, mind you!) to overthrow Nyerere's government. Within no time that same British Government came to the rescue of their blue-eyed boy. The British navy bombarded the Karito military barracks, landed marines, disarmed the mutineers, rescued Nyerere from his hiding and put him back on the throne. What was the difference between the two, the overthrow of Zanzibar with its attendant massacres failing to get even humanitarian assistance from the head of the Commonwealth, and the attempted overthrow of Tanganyika which was immediately quashed by the military might of Britain. The difference was that Jamshid, Shamte and Muhsin did not fit in the imperial scheme of things, but Nyerere did. What happened to the thousands of innocent Zanzibaris who were killed was just too bad. But did it really matter when imperial, nay Western,  interests were at stake?
 It is not true at all that the ZNP/ZPPP government turned down an offer of military assistance from Egypt. It is true that the question of  security and defence of Zanzibar had been thoroughly discussed by the two governments. As a  result of those discussions certain necessary procedural steps had to be taken. These were necessarily of a highly sensitive and secretive nature. A leakage took place and the "powers that be" arranged to forestall the entrenchment of Zanzibar as an independent sovereign state. The machinery that down the centuries had engineered the reduction of  the once expansive Zanzibar empire to the two tiny islands, would dearly wish to see  its being totally wiped out of the map. Hence the precipitate invasion of 12 January 1964 as a prelude  to its final annexation.
 Regarding the story of a musical and dancing group from Egypt, in that the ZNP/ZPPP rejected the offer of security arrangements in favour of singers and dancers, such an allegation is childish even in conception. The two have not the least relevance. The Firqat Ridha troupe came on their own to take part in the celebration of independence as a gesture of goodwill and brotherhood between the people of Egypt and those of Zanzibar. The first inkling that the Zanzibar government knew of their coming was when they were already in Nairobi and they telephoned Sh. Ali Muhsin of their coming. Hastily the minister got into contact with the go-getter Sh Ali Said Kharusi, to make hasty arrangements for their reception, as there was hardly any accommodation for these unexpected guests when our limited facilities had already  been so sorely stretched. Sh Kharusi however managed hurriedly to make arrangements for them to stay in the Girl School Hostel at Forodhani, the school being closed for vacation.
 The allegation that  Ali Muhsin had a secret agreement with Karume to oust the Sultan  is not only a lie but also stupidity itself. For anyone to utter such nonsense is either due to a complete lack of brains, or utter ignorance of the Zanzibar constitution  one of whose principal architects was Ali Muhsin himself. The position of the Sultan was constitutionally entranced and therefore inviolable. Even so if both the government and the opposition wanted to terminate monarchy there was no constitutional impediment to do so peacefully and constitutionally. There was no need for the massacres,  imprisonments and floggings that accompanied the so-called revolution.
 As for those who allege that Ali Muhsin was offered a ministerial post by the usurper government of Karume their permanent residence should be the mental hospital. I  think here there is a question of mistaken identity. The man who associated with Karume in ousting the Sultan and was then rewarded with a ministerial post was Babu, and not Ali Muhsin. Ali Muhsin could never be a traitor to his country, to his people or to his Sultan..
 Another unfounded allegation is the oft-repeated one that Ali Muhsin was warned of the Afro-Shirazi and Comrades plotting to overthrow the government but Ali Muhsin pooh-poohed the whole idea saying: "A government is not a cup of tea to be overturned." Others allege it was Juma Aley (Minister of Finance) who made that statement, and others it was Dr. Baalawy (Minister of Health). In short such allegations have several ramifications, each one making his assertion according to his own particular taste.
 The true situation was that Sh Ali Muhsin was the leader of the Zanzibar Nationalist Party. He was so not by being elected, but just being accepted by the party in appreciation of his services and  commitment to the national struggle. But even so he was not the leader of the  government. He was Minister of External Affairs. The leader of the government was Sh Muhammad Shamte as Prime Minister. Defence and security were under the Prime Minister and the Minister of Home Affairs, Sh Salim Kombo. The Assistant Minister for Home Affairs was Sh Rashid Hamadi. Therefore Sh Ali Muhsin was not responsible for security at the time of the revolution.
 As soon as the Prime Minister, Sh Muhammad Shamte, received information that the Afro-Shirazis and the Comrades were preparing to cause disturbances as they had done in June, 1961 he immediately took the necessary administrative steps. He summoned the heads of Police and Security and discussed with them the situation. Those heads assured the Prime Minister that they would be able to contain the situation so long as it was internal. In compliance with democratic procedure the Prime Minister had fully discharged his obligation. It was for the executive officers, the departmental heads, to carry out the instructions.
 If anyone was guilty of negligence to the extent that disaster followed the guilty party was not the Prime Minister or any of the Ministers. The guilty parties were the executive officers responsible for security. The Ministers were responsible for policy, initiating legislation and  direction, but not execution on the ground. If the question is whether the Ministers did or did not follow  procedure that is a totally different question. They did.
 Facts must be stated, not for the sake of laying blame on somebody, or looking for scapegoats for one's own default. This is not the time for mutual recrimination. This is the time to join hands together and put heads together in seeking ways of wisdom, peace and constructiveness in reviving our bleeding and dying country which has been badly mauled.  . We should not just sit down lamenting and crying over spilt milk, while time is flying past, every day, every hour, indeed every minute. Our immediate duty is to bury our differences and become One, an indivisible entity. Let us unite all our forces to save our country for posterity. The responsibility is fully and squarely on our shoulders. We are all, individually and collectively, answerable to God Almighty, and we are answerable to generations yet unborn..
 The most noticeable thing in the false allegations that are leveled against the ZNP/ZPPP is their crystal clear  contradiction. On the one hand Ali Muhsin and the ZNP/ZPPP government are accused of being royalists, loyalists and pro-Sultan. At the same time they are accused of conniving with Karume, of all the people, to overthrow the Sultan. And, so the spinners of lies propound, Karume turned against Ali Muhsin. Instead  he put him in prison where he remained languishing for ten years and five months. Now which of these contradictory stories shall we believe in?
 There has  now sprung up a completely new story created by a journalist, David Martin. He has alleged in a seminar organized by the usurper government of Zanzibar at Bwawani Hotel that the British colluded with  ZNP/ZPPP  and handed  over the government to them although the ZNP/ZPPP had lost the elections! Lost the elections? ZNP/ZPPP won 18 seats to the 13 of the ASP. According to the Constitution agreed to by all the parties including the ASP the group that commanded the majority seats, not votes, was the one that formed the government. And that is the democracy in practice in Westminster, the Mother of Parliaments. It did not require the British or any body else to hand over government to the winners. The winners were the ones that won a majority of seats in parliament. There is surely no shortage of figments of imagination among some people. They can create fantasies out of thin air. But this man Martin is not only ignorant of the past, ignorant of politics and ignorant of history. He does not know the present. He says that the present contradictions between the CCM and CUF parties in Zanzibar are  a result of a centuries old divide. His reference is to the favourable imperialist ploy of raising the eternal myth of Arab-African conflict. Where do Arabs  come in? And who indeed is an Arab and who is an African in the Zanzibar context? David Martin does not even care to know that the leaders of both the contending parties are of the same ethnic group. They are both Shirazis. Neither is an Arab or both are Arabs, if you like. That goes also for much  of the rank and file of the two parties. Under any circumstances why should a man be damnable merely because of his ethnic origin? For thousands of years, not hundreds, Arabs have been nationals of Zanzibar and the whole coast of East Africa. They have as much claim to indignity as any body else. And even so, indignity is not the arbiter in deciding one's nationality, and one's right to participate in the government of any country.. It is one's birth, nativity that is the criterion for nationality and belonging. How many generations does it take for a person to be identified with any country or region? Or is the criterion  colour? By any standards Arabs, Shirazis, Africans, Comorians and Asians born in Zanzibar are nationals of Zanzibar and nothing and nobody can deny them their national rights, least of all  David Martin.

MULTI-PARTY DEMOCRACY

It is not the aim of Multi-party democracy to enforce the creation of parties so that they may engage in inter-party conflict.  Neither is it the aim of democracy to have a  minority to rule over the majority, or the majority to rule over the minority. The aim is to get rid of the system whereby it is expressly prohibited to establish all political parties after the establishment of the one and only one which arrogates to itself the sole right of existence and ruling. Among Human Rights is the right for citizens to found or associate or not to associate with any party. It is against Human Rights to deny people their national right not to associate with the ruling party.
 Indeed if one person is denied equal rights with any other in the country because he or she is not a member of the ruling party, or because he or she belongs to a party other than the ruling party, or because of his colour, race or country of origin or religion - if any of these things happen, then the fundamental principles of democracy have not been fulfilled. The contrary is what is true democracy.
 A one-party democracy as it was (and still is in Tanganyika and Zanzibar, because all parties except one are of no account) is not democracy at all. That is not the rule of the people by the people for the people. It is the rule of the few over the rest. It is an "Oligarchy".  The leaders of CCM claim that their party has two million members, out of a population of 26 million! Granted that to be true those two million have no voice within their party. Their function is to say "Yes, Mwalimu!" to every decision taken by the oracle. In fact that is dictatorship, the dictatorship of one man, it is an "Autocracy". Neither is democracy the rule of the majority suppressing  the minorities. True Democracy is the participation of the people as a whole in the rule of their country through their freely elected representatives, with every citizen having equally recognized rights in the affairs of state for the general good. Indeed even non-citizens have their recognized rights as residents in a truly democratic society.

HOW TO ACHIEVE DEMOCRACY

The best way to achieve an acceptable democratic rule is through what is called Proportional Representation. It is the election of candidates not by a simple majority geographical constituency, but the voting strength of the party. By the simple majority voting there is a likelihood of two parties only coming into effective existence, the one that wins even by one seat, and rules unimpeded, and the one that loses even by one seat becomes the opposition and is denied participation in the government. Its function is limited to opposition, and struggling by every means to come to power even through the overthrowing of the ruling party by force. This is a vicious circle which never ends. The country becomes permanently on tenterhooks, permanently in conflict with itself. In underdeveloped countries such a system is a breeding ground for violent revolutions and counter-revolutions.
 With proportional representation however various parties have a much better chance of representation in the legislature, and a much greater opportunity to participate in the government. Thus with a greater spread of responsibility and accountability there will be a general feeling of political fulfillment among the populace and a reduction of the feverish rise of political temperature which generates violence.
 The Parliamentary Proportional Representation system is used in a number of countries such as Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Belgium, Holland, Austria, Switzerland, and Germany. The proposed Scottish parliament hopes to adopt proportional representation, which the Scotch consider more fair and just. In all those countries the Head of State has no administrative or executive functions. He is the head of state, not of government. His functions are honorary and symbolic. He is above the hurly-burly of politics and political parties. He symbolizes the unity and sovereignty of the state. The powers of government lie in the parliament through the cabinet which is answerable to the parliament and the parliament is answerable to the electorate, the people.  Such a system is commendable for those countries just emerging from a totalitarian or colonial regime, or in countries with a multi-tribal racial or sectarian structure, or those countries with parties not yet developed enough to accept with grace losing an election. More important still is that the proposed system will help in minimizing the greed for  power, since that power is not concentrated but  diffused, among the whole community who in one way or another share participation, responsibility and accountability.
 We, the people of Zanzibar, have been badly bitten by a snake. We must be wary when we see anything that wriggles ominously. Let us avoid the inculcation of hatred as we avoid the snake. Let us be wary of the past horrors. The West until this day are deeply suspicious of the revival of Nazism and Communism, their chiefest enemies of the past. We also must not forget that we would not have suffered so badly had it not been for the narrow-minded racialism preached by ASP and the infantile slogan-toting of the Comrades. As a result of our experience and the affliction under which we have been groaning for the last three or four decades let us beware and prevent the recurrence of those calamities; "The faithful is not bitten from the same pit twice.".
 

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I take this opportunity through this little book to express my gratitude to those who stood with me and my partners and extended to us unlimited assistance in arranging our departure from Zanzibar until we arrived at Mombasa, and from Mombasa until we reached Dubai.
 For obvious reasons I cannot reveal the identities of those who gave us that  assistance, in particular those who ferried us by canoe from Zanzibar to the coast of Tanganyika. Further than that they gave us their own kith and kin to accompany us in that hazardous journey in order to ensure our safety. I will not also divulge the name of our brother at Tanga who welcomed us, kept us in his house, and looked to all our human needs. Similarly I reserve the name of that youth of ours who at the risk of his life led us through the bush until we reached the safety of Mombasa.
 As for those whom I am free to mention by name on behalf of myself and my partners I will start with conveying thanks to Sh Muhammad Soud bin Ali bin Bashir together with the whole family of Sh Soud bin Ali bin Bashir of Mombasa. That is the family which received us at Mombasa and looked after all our needs. For all the time we stayed with that family there was not a single instance of any difference between us and them. I cannot in writing or speech express the deep sense of gratitude for this family, a gratitude that can come anywhere near what they did for us.  I am fully conscious that they themselves would not like to have their names mentioned like this or to be thanked for what they did.  I hereby beg their pardon as it is not easy for me to refrain from mentioning them. May God Most Merciful shower His unstinted blessings on this good family both in this world and the next.
 Similarly it is my duty and pride to extend my thanks to our respected elder Sh Nasser bin Salim Al Riyami. This elderly gentleman discarded everything of his and engaged himself fully in the task of helping in every way possible his fellow-countrymen and women who arrived at Mombasa as refugees from the terrors of Zanzibar. I dare-say that without this gentleman’s devoted assistance our onward journey to Arabia would not have been possible. Another person who deserves the gratitude not only of myself but all of us, refugees, is Sh Salim Muhasham. This gentleman was the official representative of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. However, he did much more than what his official duties demanded. It was with deep human devotion that he extended all the assistance he could to his brothers and sisters, the refugees fleeing Zanzibar. Another personality who quietly and unobtrusively received, welcomed and helped refugees to move forward or to get settled in Kenya was Abu Suleiman Al Mazrui. To a considerable extent he symbolized Mombasa hospitality.
 I would be failing in my duty if I did not mention the name of Bibi Sharifa Ahmed Al-Busaidy. This noble lady devoted all her time, day and night, in order to render help and assistance to those of her countrymen and countrywomen who in desperation reached Mombasa after escaping the hellish conditions of Zanzibar. She looked after everybody without any discrimination. She rendered moral as well as material assistance and personal service. Equal with Bibi Sharifa were Bibi Freya Mbarak Ali Hinawy and Binyomo (Bibi Raya Majid Maamiry). The services that these noble ladies rendered to the desperate refugees from Zanzibar arriving homeless and traumatized was worthy of Mother Tereza herself. May Allah shower them all with His blessings.
 Last but not least I would like to thank the Committee of the Zanzibar Association in Dubai which was in office at the time, namely Sayyid Hashim Abdul-Muttalib Hashim and his entire Committee. Their warm welcome and help in every way possible made all the refugees  feel at home Indeed the humanitarian work and help rendered by ordinary men and women on the coast of Tanganyika and the coast of Kenya for their tormented brethren fleeing from Zanzibar during those days of trial and tribulation deserve books and books. It is a field that calls for research and recording.
 To cap it all my thanks are due to my brother Sh Abdulla Ali (popularly known as Abdulla Baba) and his entire family. For it was with them that I put up since my arrival until the time when I could move into a place of my own. My Allah bless this family.
 To conclude I must here declare on behalf of all Zanzibaris who have sought and found refuge in the hospitable lands of the Arabian Gulf that there is nothing we can do and say to express the sense of gratitude to the Rulers and our brethren the people of the Gulf. for their kindness in receiving us as their own kith and kin. This region has become our home, no less dear than the one we had to leave in the hour of need. May Allah prosper the Rulers and People of the Gulf.