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RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 DAR ES SALAAM 000128 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
FOR AF/E JLIDDLE, INR/RAA FEHRENREICH 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KDEM PHUM PGOV PINR TZ
SUBJECT:  ZANZIBAR: IDEAS FOR CONFIDENCE BUILDING MEASURES; LOOMING 
LAND CRISIS 
 
REFS: (A) Dar es Salaam 75, (B) Dar es Salaam 54, (C) Nairobi 284, 
(D) 08 Dar es Salaam 444 
 
¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: Professor Haroub Othman, Chairman of the Zanzibar 
Legal Service Center and one of the foremost observers of 
contemporary Zanzibar politics, holds the view that a power sharing 
deal between CCM and CUF needs to be in place before any referendum. 
 The trick would be how to bring the parties together to even 
discuss what a deal might look like, given the bad and worsening 
political climate (Refs. A and B).  One idea would be to sponsor a 
conference on "The Zanzibar We Want," taking an idea that seemed to 
work recently for Kenya and seeing if it would work locally.  At the 
same time, Othman said the international community should be using a 
"carrot and stick" approach in the delivery of aid to get the 
Zanzibari government to act more responsibly.  Over the long term, 
Othman thought that land confiscation issues dating back to the 
revolution were the most dangerous problems facing Zanzibar, not 
politics.  END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2. (U) In early February the Zanzibar Affairs Officer (ZAO) and 
Washington analysts met with Professor Haroub Othman, Chairman of 
the Zanzibar Legal Service Center, a pro-bono legal clinic.  Prof. 
Othman lives in Dar es Salaam but comes to his Zanzibar Legal Center 
every Friday.  He also Chairs the Institute of Development Studies 
at the University of Dar es Salaam and heads the Tanzanian Legal and 
Human Rights Center.  In the early 90's he was a key player in the 
"Nyalali Commission" that submitted recommendations and draft 
legislation to make Tanzania (including Zanzibar) a multi-party 
state.  Known as the foremost observer of contemporary Zanzibar 
politics, he nonetheless claims no affiliation with any political 
party. 
 
ABOUT THE CENTER 
 
¶3. (U) The Mission Statement of the Zanzibar Legal Service Center 
states "The Center is dedicated to raising people's awareness on 
their rights and responsibilities through the provision of legal and 
Human Rights education, research on legal issues and conducting 
seminars, workshops, conferences, counseling and legal aid.  The 
goal is to ensure that Zanzibaris - especially the poor, women, 
children, the disabled and other marginalized members of society 
have access to legal assistance."  The Center is a lobby platform 
for rule of law, good governance and the observance of human rights 
norms.  In addition to pro bono legal work, the meat and potatoes of 
Othman's activities, the Center also has a newsletter, runs a weekly 
radio show and a weekly tv show, and provides classes for 
non-government organizations.  It has an internship program for 
students and young lawyers and operates the law library in the 
Zanzibar archipelago. 
 
JUDICIARY REFORM ESSENTIAL, ESPECIALLY ELECTORAL OVERSIGHT 
 
¶4. (SBU) To begin with, Professor Othman expressed concern about the 
Zanzibar judiciary system, which he said "collapsed after the 1964 
revolution, revived in the 1980s, but became infected by the 
corruption syndrome ever since." Now there were regular miscarriages 
of justice, corruption and lack of basic ethics by people working in 
the judiciary, Professor Othman decried. These days were as bad as 
any he had seen.  Of particular concern to him was the "complete 
disregard" of electoral- related cases by magistrates.  The 
Professor said that not one single case related to voter fraud - and 
there were many during the previous general elections-- ever had a 
day in court, and most were thrown out in the first instance. 
According to Professor Othman, the birth of Zanzibar Legal Service 
Center, which he has led since its birth in 1992, was an attempt to 
remedy the situation. Ensuring a multi-party Zanzibar had been his 
life's work.  Reforms needed now in the judiciary were to make it 
apolitical and responsible to the citizenry, within an ethically 
binding framework. 
 
¶5. (SBU) The Judiciary and the Zanzibar Electoral Commission (ZEC) 
needed reform.  In terms of the judiciary there was a lack of 
capacity and competence.  More specifically, there were no checks 
and balances in trial procedures.  Judges and Prosecutors were all 
party appointees, cut from the same cloth and enjoying revolving 
seats.  There were no provisions for a "right of defense."  Accused 
citizens could bring an advocate if they wanted to, but if they 
could not afford one the only requirement was that they themselves 
attended the trial.  There was no proviso for Public Defenders. 
 
DAR ES SAL 00000128  002 OF 003 
 
 
Further, one's advocate need not be a lawyer; more often than not 
locals might bring an imam. Statistically, Othman said, if a 
Zanzibari was accused by the state, chances are he would be 
convicted of something. 
 
¶6. (SBU) In terms of ZEC, most bothersome was that the system 
allowed for two representatives from each party (which in Zanzibar 
means only CCM and CUF) plus two from the State, plus a Chairman, 
also from the State.  Since the CCM party controls the state, that 
meant, in practice, for the last three elections, every time there 
was a dispute, the ZEC board voted five-to-two.  Hence, electoral 
disputes rarely made it to court since local courts would seldom 
accept a case that wasn't already determined to be an anomaly by the 
ZEC board. 
 
CONFIDENCE BUILDING MEASURES 
 
¶7. (SBU) On the state of politics Professor Othman held the view 
that a power sharing deal between CCM and CUF needed to be in place 
before any election.  Given the divisions within CCM and the general 
dissatisfaction of the pubic with the Karume government, Othman 
thought that if there were to be a truly free and fair election, CUF 
would likely win.  All the more reason, he thought, for some kind of 
understanding to be in place.  In the absence of a transparent civil 
service system, the winner-take-all spoils system for government 
jobs meant that CCM rank and file, after 40-plus years in power, 
formed a de-facto civil service.  It would be chaos if jobs down to 
the assistant librarian would be swapped out in the event of an 
Administration change, Othman observed.  For technical and low-level 
jobs, even project manger positions and supervisory roles, having 
job security in place now would take a great deal of pressure off of 
certain segments of the electorate and alleviate the "win at all 
costs" mentality for many.  Local government remains the largest 
employer in Zanzibar, he reminded. 
 
¶8. (SBU) The trick would be how to bring the parties together to 
even discuss the outer parameters of what a power sharing deal might 
look like, given the bad and worsening political climate.  ZAO 
returned to Othman's office several times in February to hash out 
this very point.  One mechanism to bring the parties together might 
be to sketch out shared, broad-based values that eventually could 
form the basis of compromise. Professor Othman thought that one idea 
would be to sponsor a serious conference on "The Zanzibar We Want," 
taking an idea that seemed to work recently for Kenya and seeing if 
it would work locally (ref C).  The conference would have 
participation from all areas of civil society, including academic 
and Zanzibari expatriate luminaries.  Parties would be involved, but 
as minority participants so that they would not over shadow emerging 
views of everyone else.  Since each party claimed to represent the 
people, or at least look out for their interest, at the conference 
these interests could be more clearly and transparently defined.  At 
some point, but perhaps best done separately, Othman thought it 
might be useful to have a different conference on the Constitution, 
along the lines. 
 
¶9. (SBU) Professor Othman concluded that the U.S. and international 
community may need to use a "carrot and stick" approach for delivery 
of aid to Zanzibar.  "Development and Democracy go together," he 
said; "one without the other didn't make sense."  What was happening 
now was that the international community, by taking over essential 
services of the government, was allowing that government to shirk 
its responsibilities to the public.  He wondered if bench marks 
could be worked into aid for Zanzibar, or Millennium Challenge 
Account performance criteria be insisted upon for MCC projects here. 
 
 
"THE WORSE THING FACING ZANZIBAR: LAND DISPUTES NOT POLITICS" 
 
¶10. (SBU) Professor Othman said that if ever Zanzibar were to erupt 
in civil war, the spark would not be CCM vs. CUF or Pemba vs. 
Unguja, but rather over land title disputes.  He predicted 
widespread violence over this issue in the next 10-15 years if left 
unaddressed.  As background he explained, "After the 1964 
revolution, the Zanzibar government issued a Decree that provided 
for the confiscation of land with the aim that it would be 
redistributed to the needy African masses that had been deprived of 
this for years." The Revolutionary Government gave three-acre 
parcels without the issuance of title deeds, however. Meanwhile, in 
urban areas, some houses were abandoned and occupied by others, 
 
DAR ES SAL 00000128  003 OF 003 
 
 
while some were confiscated by revolutionaries and re-allocated. 
Those properties that were gazetted by the revolutionary government 
can now be titled and re-sold under present laws.  However, a 
significant portion of real estate of all kinds in Zanzibar is 
occupied but untitled. 
 
¶11. (SBU) With passage of time and the increase in the value of 
land, land related disputes on Zanzibar have been on the rise. 
Professor Othman said that land dispute cases out-numbered all other 
legal cases handled by his Center.  Cases from January and February 
2009 are about double from what they were last year.  The problems 
are most severe in north and south of the main island of Unguja, 
where tourism is on the rise - especially in the villages of Kendwa, 
Mangapwani and Muyuni.  The number of cases that Zanzibar Legal 
Service Center receives from these regions has been disturbingly 
high, Othman said.  In Kendwa village, currently where the hottest 
beach properties are, there are reports that "armed soldiers ordered 
villagers to vacate from their land." 
 
¶12. (SBU) Meanwhile, according to the law, non-Zanzibaris cannot 
purchase land, they can only lease it.  It is an open question under 
what circumstances the big hotels have been able to come in and 
build.  Construction seems to be going on everywhere, yet the 
planning and approval process is opaque, coming through the office 
of Minister of Energy, Lands and Water Mansour Yusef Himid, 
President Karume's brother-in-law.  Stories of out-and-out land 
piracy are the daily subject of tea-time chatter, while at the same 
time even prominent families and revolutionary veterans are becoming 
stuck in land squabbles as they try to pass parcels down to the next 
generation. 
 
COMMENT: 
 
¶13. (SBU) The ideas of Professor Othman may have merit and are worth 
pursuing, and the projects of the Zanzibar Legal Service Center are 
the kind of activities the Embassy would like to support with such 
funding mechanisms as the Ambassador's Self-help Fund and the 
Democracy and Human Rights Fund.  However, for 2009, no finding has 
been allocated for the Democracy Fund this year, and the Self-help 
fund has decreased every year for the last two years. 
 
Andre