Bakar: Late Zanzibar AG who did not mind ruffling a few feathers

Dar es Salaam. The former minister for Constitutional and Legal Affairs in Zanzibar, Mr Abubakar Khamis Bakar, who died yesterday, came to the limelight of the union government politics in the year 2014 when he was a member of the Constituent Assembly (CA).
Being someone, who took part in the drafting of standing orders for the CA, Mr Bakar showed his prowess in legal affairs whenever things seemed to be moving retrogressively.
In fact, at one point, his viewpoint on who should be allowed to speak and who should not in an effort to move forward almost tore the House apart.
It was during the early days of the CA in March 2014 when – while debating the draft standing orders - some members almost exchanged blows, forcing the interim chairman, Mr Mr Pandu Ameir Kificho, to prematurely postpone proceedings
Tempers flared when Mr Bakar asked Mr Kificho to allow only members who had tabled schedules of amendments to speak.
“If you allow members who have not tabled schedules of amendments, it will be difficult for us to respond to any queries because we don’t have answers to impromptu contributions,” said Mr Bakar.
Mr Kificho responded that he was allowing members to speak according to the list he was being given by the secretariat. The rest of what happened in the CA on that particular day remains part of history.
Mr Bakar was not the kind of a person who would be easily skewed if the one opposition’s viewpoint did not have concrete data to bring him to his orher side of the argument.
It was basing on this position that he minced no words in voting against the two-tier system despite being a cabinet minister though the decision later  cost him his job in the Dr Ali Mohamed Shein’s cabinet.
Mr Bakar, who was born in November 2 in 1951 in Pemba died at the wee hours of yesterday at his Mbweni home in Unguja.
He achieved his primary and secondary education in the Isles before joining the University of Dar es Salaam (Udsm) for a bachelor’s degree in law. He later pursued a Master’s degree in law at the West Indies University.
He worked in all three pillars of state; as minister in the Revolutionary Government of Zanzibar (RGZ), deputy Chief Justice and Attorney General and representative in the House of Representative.
The deceased served as a member of the Afro-Shiraz Party (ASP) and CCM, but later, he decamped to CUF and became member of the executive committee.
Following intensified political wrangles within CUF, Mr Bakar was part of the team that decamped to ACT-Wazalendo where he continued to serve as party’s member of the executive committee.
The ACT-Wazalendo’s vice chairman for Zanzibar Juma Duni Haji said at the late Bakar’s burial in Zanzibar yesterday that the deceased will be remembered for his role in writing constitutions of Zanzibar and that of the United Republic.
“He has been kind and reconciliatory throughout his life. He played an important role in bringing reconciliation in the Isles,” he said. Mourning his demise yesterday, retired university don, Prof Abdul Sheriff, described the deceased as a person with a firm stance who made significant contributions in constitutions for both sides of the country.
“I received news of his demise with great shock. Zanzibar has lost a person with a firm stance and law expertise as well as a true patriot who stood firm to advocate interests of people in the Isles,” he said.
A political science lecturer at the University of Dar es Salaam, Prof Bakari Mohamed, said the deceased has left a huge legacy through the 1984 constitution that provided the Isles with principles of political and economic development of Zanzibar.
“He successfully served the CCM government and the opposition CUF as head of legal issues hence greatly benefiting Zanzibar and Tanzania at large,” he said.
He added: “He made a significant role in United Republic Constitution review process under the CA. He was a person who can’t be easily influenced and changed for political gains, instead he was ready to sacrifice for interests of the country,” he said.
For his part, a lecturer at the State University of Zanzibar (Suza), Prof Ali Makame, described the deceased as the Zanzibar law guru who led all the three pillars of state.
“He played significant role in ending political impasse following embarked amendment of the constitution that introduced the Government of National Unity (GNU). He was an exemplary leader who was picked Constitution and Legal Affairs minister in the unity government,” he said.

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Louis Kolumbia@Collouis1999 [email protected]