We’ll fight to safeguard Union, Magufuli reassures

President John Magufuli addresses a public meeting at Ruanda Nzovwe grounds in Mbeya yesterday. The President started his eight-day tour of Mbeya on Thursday soon after he arrived from Lilongwe, Malawi where he had gone for a two-day state visit. PHOTO | STATE HOUSE

Dar es Salaam. President John Magufuli yesterday assured the President of Zanzibar, Dr Ali Mohammed Shein, that the Union government would continue to preserve the status quo between the Isles and Mainland.

Speaking in Mbeya Region when he was on official visit, Dr Magufuli said: “I would like to take this opportunity to thank our founders of the nation, Julius Nyerere and Abeid Karume, for coming up with the idea to establish the Union which we continue to enjoy today.”

The nation marked Union Day without much fanfare after it was announced by Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa that, while April 26 would be a public holiday, the funds which were meant for Union celebration, about Sh985 million, should be diverted to other development projects.

President Magufuli’s stance on the Union was echoed by the secretary general of the ruling CCM, Dr Bashiru Ally, who noted that Tanzania cannot escape debate on the need for a new Constitution if the country is truly committed to a stable and working political system based on the Union.

A political scientist and a former university lecturer by profession, Dr Ally said it was for the purpose of achieving this vision that previous governments did establish various commissions on how best the vision could be realised.

These included the Nyalali Commission (February, 1991), the Kisanga Commission (1998), and the Warioba Commission (2012).

Dr Ally was speaking to Azam TV’s Tido Mhando during an interview aired on the 55th anniversary of the Union of Tanganyika and Zanzibar commemorated on every April 26.

“This issue [of the appropriate political system and structure of the Union] has been resurfacing every now and then – and the debate has always refused to die,” he said.

There has always been a debate surrounding the structure of the Union in the public domain, both on the Isles and in Tanzania Mainland, he was quoted as saying.

While others have commended the current two-tier government, others have criticised it, saying it is the source of various contentious issues that the Union is forced to endure.

In any case, he described the debate and its related issues as “a healthy way of improving both leaderships and democracy” in Tanzania.

“But I think it is necessary to expand its scope from just focusing on the structure of the Union to incorporate the far bigger issue of what type of political and economic system is appropriate in our context,” as a country, he said.

Dr Ally further said that he is among the people who support the current structure of the Union.

“It has got its effectiveness – especially in uniting the people,” he explained.

Apart from the issue of the Union, the secretary general also commented on the unfolding political events in the country – including, for instance, the recent rift within the opposition Civic United Front (Cuf), saying “we were shocked” on learning of the split.

A leadership crisis had gripped the opposition party which split it asunder, dividing it into two factions: one led by its long-time secretary general Seif Shariff Hamad, and the other led by its embattled chairman Prof Ibrahim Lipumba.

The crisis started after Prof Lipumba rescinded his resignation as party chairman in 2016. He had written a resignation letter in August 2015 – but withdrew it in 2016 as the party was preparing to choose another chairman.

“We never expected that kind of changes: to see a party which had been exemplary in solidarity fall into a conflict which would end up dividing it,” Dr Ally said during the interview that lasted nearly an hour.