Allah Most Merciful bestowed vast blessings on the two islands of
Zanzibar. This was so for centuries and centuries until the iniquity of
12 January 1964.blasted our country and the nobility and the blessings
of Zanzibar disappeared as if by magic.
From that time onwards instead of the ancient tradition when if one
blew the trumpet in Zanzibar the whole of Africa upto the lakes danced,
the opposite occurred. When a whistle is blown on the mainland the islanders
now dance to the tune.
WAS THERE DISCRIMINATION
BEFORE THE INVASION?
I dare say without any hesitation that there was NO DISCRIMINATION
of any kind in Zanzibar. The people of Zanzibar were so mixed racially
that it was not an easy matter to pinpoint anybody as to his racial or
tribal origin by merely observing the colour of his skin, or his nose or
his ears or his stature or his name. How could there be discrimination
among such a mixed people?
Government salaries were not given according to race. Places in schools
or hospitals were not apportioned accordance to race.
In the neighbouring countries of Tanganyika, Kenya and Uganda there
was discrimination established by government. Workers' salaries were
given according to race and not according to ability or qualification.
There were different scales of salaries for Africans, for Asians and Europeans
in ascending order. Doctors, engineers, teachers and all workers irrespective
of education and experience were paid differently because of their different
ethnicities. The Africans, by virtue of their being African, were paid
the least. Europeans by virtue of their being Europeans enjoyed the highest
salary scale. In between came the Asians.
Public toilets and railway waiting facilities were also subject
to racial discrimination. Africans could only use the facilities provided
for them, and so could the Asians and the Europeans. It was an offense
for any one to use facilities that were not allotted to him racially. Especially
serious would be for an African to use toilets or sit in the waiting room
reserved for Asians or Europeans.
In Tanganyika, Kenya and Uganda there was the system of Poll Tax,
what in Swahili is called Head Tax. It was imposed on every adult person.
That also was racially administered. If Europeans or Asians failed to pay
their taxes in time, they were not arrested in the street, nor were they
raided in their homes. Africans, however, were subject to arrest in the
street and being hounded out by the police from their homes at night. On
their being arrested droves of them would be tied with a rope in a long
convoy as they were herded to the administrative headquarters. They were
more humiliated than cattle. All those who failed to pay were sentenced
to imprisonment.
To escape such humiliations many, especially from neighbouring Tanganyika,
chose to cross to Zanzibar where such economic and social discriminations
did not exist. They settled in the islands which never had Poll Tax and
no salary or social discrimination. As the popular song has it: "Zanzibar
is good, let him who wills, come!"
DISCRIMINATION BROUGHT BY INVASION
Soon after the invaders (the so-called revolutionaries) had usurped authority
Zanzibar was plunged into racial discrimination. Every "coloured" person,
as they used to term those of Arab, Indian or Comorian origin, and everyone
who was not supporter of ASP, was subject to arbitrary dismissal from government
service. Farms, homes and even places of business belonging to the "wrong
people" were indiscriminately confiscated and given to aliens as a reward
for the massacres and iniquities they had inflicted on the nationals in
their own country.
The usurper government officially announced through public media
the enforcement of discrimination in education which they were introducing.
The allocation of places for Africans in form one of the secondary schools
was to be 77% whether they had passed or not, Arabs 16%, Indians 6% and
Comorians ONE per cent.
In addition to that the usurping government spent public funds
to build for the members of the revolutionary council a completely new
hospital, with every equipment including beds, bedsheets, pillows, spoons
and forks etc. ordered specially from Europe. If an honourable member happened
to be admitted in hospital then he was accompanied by his wife, as if they
were in a hotel enjoying their honeymoon! This was being done at the time
when humble citizens lacked even the most rudimentary medicines in hospital!
Was that the equality for which they had massacred thousands? Was that
not discrimination against the people?
FREE EDUCATION AND MEDICINE
We are told by the government which calls itself "revolutionary" that education
and healthcare became free after the coming of the "Revolutionary Government"!.
This is an unmitigated lie. From the time the Sultan Ali bin Hamoud
opened the first government school, and from the time hospitals were established,
never were they on payment. Consultation, examination, prescription of
treatment, food and bedding in hospitals everything was free.
Education
For both nationals and aliens, from class one to eight education was free
for all. Every pupil had a desk by himself, and every pupil was provided
with free exercise books, free textbooks, pens and pencils, ink pots and
ink, even blotting paper was provided free (in the days before ballpens
had come into use.) Every Friday pupils were provided with free soap for
washing their clothes. In rural schools pupils were provided with
breakfast - beans and porridge - before they entered their classrooms.
In the '50's parents were expected to supplement a token sum for
the pupils from class seven to class twelve. The payment was minimal and
not every parent was obliged to pay. Most parents did not have to pay a
single cent. Those who paid had to pay from five shillings to twenty shillings
every term of three or four months.
Before a decision was made whether a parent should or should not
pay there was a process to be followed. The parent had to fill a questionnaire
regarding his income, his employment, and the number of his dependents.
To ascertain the correctness of the information given the filled form was
sent to the Sheha (headman), then to the Mudir (the area administrator).
After this the form was sent to the District Commissioner. After
this exercise decisions were made whether to pay or not to pay, and how
much for each applicant.
From this sort of arrangement more than 70% of the parents were not
obliged to pay, and their children received education absolutely free.
Twenty per cent paid reduced fees, and only 10% paid full fees which
was less than 200 Shillings a year. Those who paid full fees were almost
entirely from the Indian community. The so-called Africans and the so-called
Arabs were not in that category. The important thing about education was
not so much to pay or not to pay. The vital thing was the quality and type
of education available in those days of pre-1964, and what became available
after 1964. That is the deciding factor which we have to face. If
what is branded as "Free Education" means what we are seeing today - schools
having no desks, children having to squat on bare earth, no books to read
or write on, and above all no qualified or trained teachers - that sort
of education is indeed too costly even if free. It is the condemnation
of generations to come. Our Zanzibari children have developed into hunchbacks
having to double-bend in order to write on the floor. When they return
from school they look like grave-diggers, so dusty and dirty are they after
a whole day of crawling on bare earth in their classrooms
Free education! My foot! Children are being taught nothing but so-called
African traditional dances, and church-like hymns to glorify party leaders
or visiting notables from outside. From the month of Decembers pupils
are being prepared and rehearsed in dances and songs for the celebration
of the so-called "revolution" day which is in January. When they finish
that they are given no respite but are launched into preparing for the
celebration of the founding of the Afro-Shirazi party (February 2). As
soon as this is over, before they have time to take a sip of water they
are herded to prepare and practice for the celebration of the "Union"
(April 26). Before they have sat down to take a breath they are lifted
to practice for Workers' "May Day". A little rest and then there
is the "Saba Saba" Day, July 7th when TANU was born. Hardly do they have
time to sneeze when they are pushed to celebrate for "Free Education
Day" in September. When that is over, they are again expected to practice
for the celebration of the independence of Tanganyika in December.
The Zanzibar independence day goes by default. That is the day to be forgotten,
not remembered, for the usurping authorities took no part in the struggle
for Zanzibar's independence. They on the other hand celebrate the days
when Zanzibar's independence was overthrown on 12th January and 26 April.
Those are the red letter days in the calendar of the usurpers.
When you look at all this you will see that during the whole year
through, our children instead of being provided with useful instruction
they are kept fully engaged in singing church hymns, drilling and so-called
traditional dancing. And yet it is claimed that education is free, free
for whom? Free for the fool.
Truly speaking the standard of education in Zanzibar has deteriorated
to a deplorable degree One might say that it is now below zero. We have
arrived at a stage when a student who has completed Form IV in the Secondary
school cannot even write a simple letter applying for a job in any language.
. When we had proper schools and qualified teachers pupils from Standard
8 were capable of penning letters in quite readable English.
Medicare
It is in medicare that the situation is even more dangerously deplorable.
Hospitals lack the most common medicines and drugs. They are poorly
equipped. Beds and bedsheets are in short supply. Patients on entering
hospital are expected to bring with them cotton, gauze, razors and even
bottles for drips. The would be in-patient has to bring with him bedding
including pillows and pillow-cases. Without all that he stands no
chance of getting treatment. That is the hospital for the public. Beside
it the denied citizens can see with longing and bitterness their masters
and mistresses, the leaders of the invasion, called "revolution" enjoying
deluxe facilities in their special wing.
From the day hospitals were established in Zanzibar healthcare was
free for all people., nationals, alien residents and even passers-by.
Medical consultation, medicines and treatment were absolutely free in all
government hospitals and clinics.. On admission into hospital there was
no charge. The hospitals were upto international standard, with every type
of medicine available. Fully qualified medical and nursing staffs cared
for the patients. After the "revolution" nurses became "doctors and surgeons"
to the extent of performing operations on human beings! In countries where
law and order prevail evidence from such unqualified people is not admissible
in court. Who lacks a mother may well be nursed by a donkey, as the Swahili
saying goes.
It is true that in the government central hospital there was a
paying section for those who wanted private rooms and could afford them.
For government servants the charges were Sh. 6 a day, and others
were charged Sh. 12 a day. In truth there was little to differentiate
between the paying and the non-paying wards Except for a few extras the
essentials were much the same. In treatment and general medicare there
was absolutely no difference between them The differences lay in
the following: Patients in the paying section were provided with pajamas,
their food was given them in a tray, and their utensils were of chinaware.
They were also given bed-tea in the morning and afternoon tea. Their main
meal was rice, meat curry and some desert.
Patients in the general wards were not given their food in trays, and their
utensils were made of aluminium. Tea was given them in metal mugs. There
was little difference in their meals except that instead of being given
bed-tea they were given some porridge. All patients were given fruits and
vegetables. On doctor's recommendation a patient in the free ward would
be given the same diet as a similar patient in the paying section without
any charge. The doctors and the nurses were the same for both sections,
and medicare was exactly the same for both paying and non-paying patients.
Today we are told that medicare is free. But if a patient goes to
hospital and has been prescribed certain medicines (by the doctor, more
often a mere nurse), he is told at the pharmacy that the medicines
prescribed are not available in hospital. He has to go and buy them outside!
Such a reply is a daily experience.
When you venture to go and visit the in-patients a penetrating stench
of urine and human faeces emanating from the toilets is the first impact
you experience. The hospital lacks adequate running water. In the wards
cats play hide-and-seek among the rubbish, and the ubiquitous black Zanzibar
crows fly in through one window and fly out through another. The floor
is sticky with muck. To see the patients in bed is an experience itself.
They are covered with all sorts of fancy coloured materials from their
various homes. They look very much as children did during circumcision
in the days gone by. Fanciful and fantastically varied too are the bed-covers,
for everyone is expected to bring his or hers from their homes. The slogans
printed on the various "kangas" or "lessos" can be a subject for the social
researcher. One such has "WELCOME VISITOR". In another corner of the ward
there is another printed with "THE BRIDE'S PLEASURE', and still another
says: "I HAVE NONE OTHER'. There is still another slogan: "OUR CHILDHOOD
LOVE", and finally you may find one which says: "YOU AND I HAVE NOTHING
TO VOW TO EACH OTHER". The list is endless in its variety and fantasy.
Indeed hospitals in Zanzibar have lost their meaning, and cannot, cannot,
fulfill their mission of rendering medical service to the people.
That is the state of affairs in the sector which brags of its being
"free medicare". All this however is what happens to the ordinary man and
woman. As for the elite, the leaders, the hierarchy - they and their families
- have not an inkling of what happens to the rest of the population. They
experience nothing of the sufferings of the masses. To beguile the people
they boast: "We have got rid of the government of the sultans and feudalists!"
During the reigns of the Sultans no ruling Sultan ever had a hospital or
wing of his own. He and his family used to attend the same hospital
and received the same treatment as the ordinary citizens. When the Sultan,
Sayyid Abdulla bin Khalifa bin Harub was taken ill he was admitted in the
same hospital, and underwent surgery in the same hospital where the common
man received his treatment.
The British colonialists had indeed in the old days established
a special section which used to be called the "European Wing." As
a result of a campaign conducted by the nationalist paper, the "Mwongozi"
the colonialists abolished the exclusiveness of the wing. They called it
"West" wing and was open to all who were willing to pay for
its private rooms irrespective of race or status.
Today, after the so-called revolution which allegedly brought about
equality and abolished the sultanate and feudalism, if any of the ruling
clique suffers as from a tiny infection of the toe, he immediately takes
to the plane and goes to the United Kingdom for treatment. If indeed medicare
is available at home free for all, why do these special people go
after foreign treatment which has to be paid for in foreign currency? But
it is the common man, the poor Zanzibari who has to foot the bill
for the treatment of the bosses and their wives and children. We may here
ask, which indeed deserves to be called a "feudalist government"? This
government which has kept itself exclusively apart even in medicare or
the one they removed which shared the same facilities with the ordinary
citizens?
He who has eyes need not be told: Look! You can cheat some people
some of the time, but you cannot cheat all the people all the time.
STANDARD OF LIVING
The best fruit earned by the people of the islands of Zanzibar from the
so-called "revolution" is the terrible fall in their standard of living
in every respect. Food prices have rocketed, ordinary clothing is beyond
the capacity of the common man. Youths look terribly old due
to hard life, a life of deprivation. The market is called "the battlefield"..
Indeed it is so. If you go to the market you will not get a collection
of six pieces of cassava if you have not armed with Sh 200! A bunch of
bananas would cost you Sh. 3000, one coconut costs Sh. 50, a handful of
green pepper 30 to 50 shillings, a sprig of spinach 50 to 70 shillings.
A small collection of oranges costs 100 to 200 shillings according to size.
Practically all the people have become vegetarians for meat is beyond their
budgetary capacity. A kilogram of meat costs Shs. 1200!
The minimum wage, which is what the average person earns, is
Shs. 7000. A man with a wife and two children has to niggardly spend Sh.
1000 a day for breakfast and lunch. By that token he should be getting
Sh. 30,000 a month for only two meals a day. If his monthly pay is
merely Sh. 7000, where is he to get the remaining 23,000?
Due to these hard conditions civil servants, from top to bottom,
are extremely vulnerable to corruption. Corruption in the country has become
a virulent epidemic. It is appreciated that life is generally hard
in many other countries, due to a set of conditions which do not
exist in Zanzibar. We pray that we may not have those conditions. Excessive
drought, floods, forest fires, earthquakes or warfare may, and usually
do, bring about deprivation and general want. But what among these
has caused these hard times in Zanzibar, under which we have been groaning
for the last three decades since authority was usurped by invaders in 1964?
These natural calamities have not befallen our country, The question now
that we may well ask: What is it then that has destroyed our former comparatively
high standard of living? Every citizen should ask himself this question.
If we are sincere in our quest it would not be difficult to get the right
answer.
Until 11 January 1964 a pishi of rice (which is equal to 3
kilograms) used to cost Shs. 4 to 5. And rice of various varieties
and grades was readily available. Every commodity was obtainable in plenty
and within the reach of every citizen . Such blessings have disappeared
from the islands because of the evil deeds and wickedness brought about
by the so-called "revolution". The usurpers behaved like the fools
who killed the goose that used to lay the golden eggs. The unpardonable
sin of slaughtering thousands of innocent people, the confiscation of people's
properties, the imprisonment of thousands and the exile of many thousands
others from the country of their birth, all these iniquitous and hideous
deeds could not, and did not, pass without repercussion. Because of massive
expropriation of people’s lands the whole population is being largely fed
on illegitimate stolen food. Food grown on confiscated land is HARAM, unfit
for consumption. Who eats such food is committing a mortal sin. How can
there be prosperity under such circumstances? Those who have acquired,
confiscated properties directly or through a third party by "purchasing",
should realize that their dealing is HARAM, and their prayers and worshipping
in such properties are not acceptable to God. Similarly those who
have acquired confiscated lands should realize that they are wallowing
in sin, and nothing of theirs will prosper. In the end they will come to
rue the day they acquired such stolen properties, and then it will be too
late to repent. Who feeds on anything grown on confiscated land is
feeding himself with hell-fire. This is the main reason why nothing that
is being done in Zanzibar ever prospers. How can prosperity come out of
iniquity? How can you make a silken purse from a sow's ear? Unless there
is genuine REPENTENCE and RECTIFYING the wrongs that have been inflicted
no good will ever come out of Zanzibar. Whatever changes in the leadership
will mean nothing. if, as it has happened so far, those who come merely
inherit the injustices of the past and continue with them. There can never
be a halt to the downward trend in the political, social and economic conditions
in Zanzibar. Poverty, disease, ignorance and mutual recrimination, will
be our lot for ever and ever. Whatever the authorities do amounts to nothing
more than patch-up work. The whole bloody system imposed on the country
in January 1964 must be wholly discarded. God Almighty says: "To the unjust
it causes nothing but loss after loss."
PROSPERITY EXISTED
During the so-called "colonial" days the Zanzibar Government used to meet
the entire expenses of running everything, such as building and running
schools, hospitals, roads, transport ships between the islands and mainland
ports, paying salaries to all government servants local and expatriates.
The government also met the expenses of inducement allowances to
the expatriate officers and passages to and from their homes during
vacation. All these expenses used to be met entirely from the revenue
principally derived from custom duties. The Government did not engage in
trade, nor did it stand in need of foreign assistance for running
its services.
The present government however which calls itself "Revolutionary"
has the monopoly of purchasing all essential products, such as cloves,
copra and chilies from the producers at prices it dictates, and then selling
the products abroad at world market prices. Further this government, like
its senior partner Tanzania, is heavily subsidized by foreign aid from
various quarters. The present government does not have to pay for expatriate
staff, how comes it that it has no money to pay to the local civil servants?
Without any doubt the reason for all this is the prevailing injustices
which continue unabated, corrupted executives, who are led and goaded by
jealousy and an inordinate and consuming greed to concentrate money and
power in their soiled hands.. That is the policy of the ruling party CCM,
a policy which has robbed the citizen of the last vestiges
of dignity and means of livelihood in his own country. This policy has
deprived the citizen the capacity to think what he can contribute towards
the betterment of his country. All he can think of is: how is he
going to get the next meal! This deliberately chalked out policy
prevents the ordinary person from any thought regarding the development
of his life, cultural improvement, advancement in his education or any
aspect of his life as a balanced human being. The old warning of Karume
rings true: "The educated one is your enemy." By definite policy
the Zanzibari is kept in perpetual ignorance and backwardness.
