EDITORIAL: FRESH HOPES IN ZANZIBAR GOVT OF NATIONAL UNITY
We join Union President John Magufuli to heartily hail the Government of National Unity (GNU) which was recently formed in Zanzibar by the veteran ruling Party of the Revolution (‘Chama cha Mapinduzi’: CCM) and the relatively new Alliance for Change & Transparency party (ACT-Wazalendo).
In the event, Dr Hussein Ali Mwinyi, 53 – President and head of the Revolutionary Government of Zanzibar, the semi-autonomous part of the United Republic – appointed the ACT-Wazalendo national chairman Maalim Seif Shariff Hamad, 77, as the Isles’ First Vice President on December 6, 2020.
This came after a little more than a month of uncertainty following the October 28, 2020 elections which the CCM presidential candidate, Dr Mwinyi, won by 76.3 percent of the valid votes cast – thus trouncing his nearest challenger-cum-rival, Maalim Seif.
This historic development in power-sharing augurs well for the future of Zanzibar in particular, and the United Republic in general.
For starters: the formally constitutionalised GNU regime could very well neutralise the seemingly endless tensions in Zanzibar whose troubled socio-political history dates back to years before the January 12 Revolution in 1964 that ended the Omani Sultanate and ushered in the Revolutionary Government of aboriginal Zanzibaris.
Secondly, it needed and took special courage on the part of ACT-Wazalendo to stand up and be counted in the best interests of all the people(s) of Unguja and Pemba, the major islands of the archipelago. The two have virtually been at loggerheads with each other – what with past governments almost invariably being formed by ‘Ungujans,’ while ‘Pembans’ languished in opposition ranks.
With a functional GNU now in place – reinforced by unwavering support pledged by the President Magufuli Union Government – the road ahead is clear to a stronger Zanzibar within an equally strengthened United Republic.
We, therefore, hail the GNU in Zanzibar, and wish it Godspeed in its noble endeavours to forge a better homeland.
GET IT DONE, TAIFA STARS!
The Tanzania national football squad ‘Taifa Stars’ play their first Champion of African Nations (Chan) match against the ‘Zambia Chipolopolo/Copper Bullets’ squad in Cameroon next Tuesday, starting at 7PM.
Taifa Stars is in Group D with Zambia’s Chipolopolo, Namibia’s ‘Brave Warriors’ and Guinea’s ‘National Elephants/Syli Nationale.’
It’ll be recalled that Taifa Stars drew 1-1 in a preparatory friendly match against a DR Congo team at the Benjamin Mkapa Stadium in Dar es Salaam last Tuesday.
But Tanzanians should not be satisfied with that relatively good result – considering that DR Congo is usually a strong side that won the first edition of the Chan tournament held in Ivory Coast in 2009.
Tanzania has never done particularly well in continental soccer competitions in the past, and Taifa Stars should bear in mind the fact that the other 15 national teams in Cameroon this time also target victory and the trophy.
Hence the need for our players to try hardest and do their best in seeking to win the Chan title this year.
As the founder of Tanzanian nationalism, Mwalimu Julius Nyerere, pontificated long ago: it can be done… So, Taifa Stars must GET IT DONE this time round.
