At least 26 people were injured when CCM and CUF supporters clashed in Zanzibar on Sunday evening, police said yesterday.
The clashes took place after the two groups met near Daraja Bovu as they were coming from rallies addressed by officials of the rival parties.
Three cars and as many CUF offices were destroyed in the fracas which took place just a stone’s throw from the residence of CUF Secretary-General Seif Shariff Hamad. A number of shops were also looted.
Zanzibar Deputy Director of Criminal Investigations Ramadhani Kinyogo said the clashes pitted CCM supporters coming from a public rally at Karakana-Chumbuni against CUF members who had just attended a meeting at Kibanda Maiti.
He said “fiery” speeches made by officials of the two parties at the meetings could have incited supporters of the two parties to violence.
“Party officials should watch their tongues lest they plunge the country into anarchy. They should be very careful about what they say at public rallies, especially at this time when we are preparing to go to the polls,” Kinyogo said.
Most of those hurt were women and the casualties were admitted to Mnazi Mmoja Hospital.
One of the few men receiving treatment at the hospital, Jema Kombo, said he was coming from the CCM meeting with several colleagues when people believed to be CUF supporters ambushed them.
“These people started hurling stones at us. We were hopelessly outnumbered and some of us were seriously injured,” he said.
CCM Publicity Secretary (Zanzibar) Vuai Ali Vuai had, earlier in the day, issued a statement accusing CUF of being behind the violence. He said CUF did not respect the peace accord reached by the two parties.
His CUF counterpart, Salum Bimani, pointed an accusing finger at CCM, saying the ruling party’s “failure” to abide by electoral rules was heightening political tensions in the Isles.
Speaking at Karakana grounds on Sunday, CCM Urban District Chairman Silima Borafia said the party was confident of winning the general election in October.
“As we move closer to the general election, our political rivals (CUF) are threatening people and creating fear among the electorate, but people should remain calm.
There will be adequate security that will enable each and every person to vote without fear,” he said.
At the CUF rally, the party’s officials told the crowd that they would take the Police Force in the Isles and the Zanzibar Electoral Commission (ZEC) to court for “violating” electoral laws.
They also said CUF would organise a peaceful demonstration against the government’s decision to introduce identity cards for Zanzibaris ahead of the general election.
“We have collected enough evidence to enable us to go to court. We will present all the evidence to the DPP (Zanzibar Director of Public Prosecutions),” the party’s secretary-general, Seif Shariff Hamad, said.
He added that the party had evidence that “hundreds” of children, non-citizens and people hailing from mainland Tanzania had been registered as voters.
Hamad said CUF had also written to President Benjamin Mkapa, informing him that there were “elaborate” plans to disrupt the elections and favour the ruling party in the October 30, polls.
CUF also claimed that five information technology experts from abroad had been hired by the Zanzibar government to “tamper” with identity cards in the run-up to the elections.
Party officials told the crowd that there were plans to issue 150,000 mainlanders with Zanzibari identity cards that would enable them to vote in Zanzibar.
But the Zanzibar Minister of State in the Chief Minister’s Office, Ali Juma Shamhuna, dismissed the claims as baseless, saying they were aimed at tarnishing the Zanzibar government’s image.
“The government is doing all it can to ensure that the elections are free and fair,” he said.
