Party Conflict in Zanzibar

Abstract

The British Protectorate of Zanzibar, comprising the two islands of Zanzibar and Pemba and a number of small adjacent islands, is progressing from Protectorate status towards self-government. In strict constitutional terms, Zanzibar is a multi-racial state with an Arab Sultan under the protection of the Government of Great Britain. Though the concept of protectorate implies a limited domestic role on the part of the protecting power, Great Britain has—through usage, agreement, and concession—come to occupy a position of decisive ascendancy within Zanzibar. The present policy of the British administration is to devolve full political power into local hands through a process of constitutional development which will result in a fully representative system of government. This policy has expressed itself in Zanzibar, as elsewhere in the British African territories, in the expansion of the unofficial side of the Legislative Council, in the gradual replacement of nominated and ex-officio members of the Legislative Council by members chosen on the basis of nation-wide common roll elections, and in the introduction of a ministerial system, which is now to be followed by internal self-government.

Film as archive:Africa Addioand the ambiguities of remembrance in contemporary Zanzibar

“…They were humiliated, beaten, raped, killed. Attempts to control or contain the turbulence of the revolution appeared vain in the face of the violence and 'terror' (Clayton 1981: 71) that was unleashed for days (see also Lofchie 1963Lofchie , 1965.…”

Sortie de clandestinité des années sombres à Zanzibar (1964-1975)

“…L'Arab Association prône un nationalisme insulaire, ancré dans une culture zanzibari musulmane métissée, mais fortement réticent à octroyer une place aux Africains originaires du continent. Qu'ils soient anciens arrivants ou nouveaux venus, le stigmate de l'esclavage reste attaché à ces Africains continentaux auxquels est reproché, par ailleurs, de ne pas adopter tous les référents arabes et islamiques caractéristiques de la culture insulaire (Lofchie 1965 ;Babu 1991). Les partis politiques issus de ces associations, formés entre 1957 et 1959 (l'Afro-Shirazi Party en 1957, le Zanzibar Nationalist Party en 1956, et le Zanzibar and Pemba People's Party en 1959 d'une scission avec l'ASP), reconduisent ces conceptions radicalement opposées de l'identité et de la nationalité.…”

“…Il fait de cet événement la première révolution africaine en Afrique de l'Est. Embrassée par des intellectuels étrangers contemporains de la révolution (Lofchie 1965) et réaffirmée dans de nombreux travaux universitaires, cette lecture de l'insurrection comme accès à une souveraineté noire africaine remportée par la force gagne en publicité. Elle se voit reproduite dans des ouvrages récents, tels le très controversé Zanzibar : Revolution (1996 d'Omar Mapuri, responsable politique de haut rang dans le gouvernement de Zanzibar 9 .…”

Race, Nation, Class: Ambiguous Identities.

“…These are Zanzibar (Arabs and Afro-Shirazis), Rwanda (Tutsi and Hutu), Burundi (Tutsi and Hutu), Madagascar (Merina and others). In all these cases (except Burundi) the pre-colonial majoritarian lower stratum has now achieved political top status (see Lofchie, 1963;Kuper, 1970;Ziegler, 1967;Kent, 1962 ). Where similar pre-colonial stratification systems existed within larger colonial and post-colonial units, the political outcome has been far more ambiguous (Fulani sultanates in Nigeria and Cameroon, Hima kingdoms in Uganda and Tanganyika).…”