Zanzibar, semiautonomous archipelago and island, Tanzania: Independence and Union

Independence and Union

After World War II political activity in Zanzibar increased. In the 1950s three main political parties were established—the Zanzibar Nationalist party (ZNP) and its offshoot the Zanzibar and Pemba People's party (ZPPP), both of which principally represented the Arabs, and the Afro-Shirazi party (ASP), whose followers were Africans. In 1957 popularly elected representatives sat on the legislative council for the first time, and in 1961, they were given a majority of seats. In June, 1963, Zanzibar gained internal self-government, and a ZNP-ZPPP coalition emerged victorious in elections held in July. On Dec. 10, 1963, Zanzibar (including Pemba) became independent, with Sultan Jamshid ibn Abdullah as head of state and Prime Minister Muhammad Shamte Hamadi, also an Arab, as the leader of government.

On Jan. 12, 1964, this arrangement was overthrown by a violent leftist revolt of the Africans led by John Okello. A republic was declared, with Abeid Karume of the ASP as its president and as head of the Revolutionary Council (the country's chief governmental body). The sultan was forced into exile, all land was nationalized, the ZNP and ZPPP were banned, and numerous Arabs were imprisoned. Subsequently, many other Arabs and some Indians left the country. Three months later Zanzibar and Tanganyika agreed to merge, and the resulting republic was renamed Tanzania in Oct., 1964.

Zanzibar retains considerable independence in internal affairs, but its foreign relations and defense are handled by the central government. Zanzibar's chief executive serves as the first vice president of Tanzania when Tanzania's president is Tanganyikan, and as second vice president when Tanzania's president is Zanzibari. In 1979 a separate constitution was approved for Zanzibar.

In 1984, Zanzibar's president, Aboud Jumbe, resigned, as the Tanzanian government appeared to be seeking greater control over Zanzibar. Ali Hassan Mwinyi, a mainland loyalist, took over as president and several secessionists were arrested. Mwinyi went on to introduce liberal reforms in Zanzibar and in the mainland and became president of Tanzania in 1986. In 1990, Dr. Salmin Amour became president of Zanzibar; he was returned to office in a 1995 vote that observers said was rigged.

Amani Karume was elected president in 2000 in an election with such blatant irregularities that international observers denounced it as showing contempt for Zanzibar's citizens; the opposition, which favored greater independence, had been expected to do well. An accord signed in 2001 called for a number of electoral and governmental reforms that were designed to end political tensions.

Karume was reelected in 2005 in an election that was criticized for some irregularites and political violence and denounced by the opposition, but it was also regarded as an improvement over previous elections. Subsequent negotiations to establish a coalition government that would include the opposition, which is especially strong on Pemba, proved unsuccessful, but in 2010 voters in a referendum approved the formation of proportionally based power-sharing coalition governments. A 2006 court challenge by Zanzibari activists to the legality of the 1964 Act of Union that formed Tanzania was dismissed by the High Court of Zanzibar.

Ali Mohamed Shein, the ruling party candidate, was narrowly elected president in 2010 and reelected in 2016. The 2015 election was annulled and rescheduled in 2016 by the election commission, which claimed that there had been gross violations. The opposition charged that the government was trying to steal an election it had lost, and boycotted the 2016. The 2015 Zanzibari vote was included in the national presidential totals. In 2020, Hussein Ali Mwinyi, the son of Ali Hassan Mwinyi, was elected president. In recent years there have been increasing sectarian tensions and attacks on Zanzibar.

Sections in this article:

See more Encyclopedia articles on: Tanzania Political Geography