Zanzibar President Mwinyi nominates 2nd Vice President from Pemba

Dar es Salaam. Zanzibar President Dr Hussein Mwinyi on Sunday, 08 November 2020 appointed Hemed Suleiman Abdalla as the Second Vice President.

Prior to his appointment, Mr Abdalla was the Regional Commissioner for Pemba South.

The appointment was in line with Article 39 (6 and 7) of the Zanzibar Constitution.

According to the Constitution, the 2^nd Vice President is supposed to be a member of the Zanzibar House of Representatives. He/she must also come from the President’s party.

Apart from being the President’s chief advisor, the 2^nd Vice President will also be the leader of government business in the House of Representatives.

Signs that Mr Abdalla would be up for a bigger role in Dr Mwinyi’s government started showing on Saturday when the president nominated him (Mr Abdalla) to become a member of the House of Representatives.

Nominated alongside Mr Abdalla were Ms Saada Mkuya Salum, Ms Tabia Maulid Mwita and Mr Juma Ali Khatib.

On Sunday, Dr Mwinyi also nominated Ms Anna Athanas Paul as a member of the House of Representatives.

The Zanzibar House of Representatives convened yesterday, ready for the start of business tomorrow where it (the House) is expected to confirm Mr Abdalla for the position of 2^nd Vice President.

Mr Abdallah becomes the second person to hold the position of 2^nd Vice President since Zanzibaris amended the constitution to create what came to be known as the Government of National Unity (GNU).

He is replacing Ambassador Seif Ali Iddi who held the position for ten years from 2010 to 2020.

In its 2010 amendments, the Zanzibar Constitution also created the position of 1^st Vice President who is supposed to come from a party other than that of the President. The 1^st Vice President is supposed to be someone from the party that acquired not less than 10 percent of the votes in a presidential election. In 2010, it emerged that Mr Seif Shariff Hamad’s CUF secured enough votes to secure the position of 1^st Vice President but with what came out to be deep-rooted political divisions in the 2015 elections, the ruling CCM decided to go it alone and the position was not filled after CUF boycotted the election re-run.

In the 2020 presidential election, Zanzibar Electoral Commission figures put Mr Hamad – who is now the national chairman for ACT-Wazalendo - on second position after securing 19.87 per cent of the votes while Dr Mwinyi secured 76.27 percent.

Whether Dr Mwinyi will nominate someone from Mr Hamad’s party to become 1^st Vice President remains everybody’s guesswork.