Meanwhile, top officials from the ministry of Home Affairs and the Police Force were in an overdrive as they sought to unearth the real causes and culprits behind the breach of peace, which saw riotous mobs with purported anti-Union sentiments engage the police in running battles.
For the whole of yesterday, heavily armed anti-riot police personnel were seen patrolling the streets to put in check unruly youths who were clearly spoiling for confrontation.
As traders counted losses and with life returning to normalcy in most streets and neighbourhoods, the minister for Home Affairs, Dr Emmanuel Nchimbi, led high-ranking officials in a meeting with Zanzibar leaders to chart out the way forward to peace.
Just a day after several people who were arrested in connection with the weekend chaos got released on bail, some youths besieged several streets, blocking roads with logs that they set on fire using old tyres. Inspector General of Police (IGP) Said Mwema led a team of police officers in discussions with leaders of Jumuiya ya Uamsho na Mihadhara ya Kiislamu (Association of Islamic Awareness and Public Discourses) – Jumiki. The Jumiki has been largely blamed for the chaos, an accusation its has flatly denied.
As officials met in Zanzibar, US ambassador to Tanzania Alfonso Lenhardt urged Tanzanians to amicably find a solution to problems facing the Isles, noting that animosities and violence won’t benefit anyone.
The Nchimbi-led meeting had only one major agenda – how to bring to an end differences that threaten peace in Zanzibar and Tanzania at large, once and for all.At the end of the meeting, the parties agreed in principle to work together to ensure that peace, security and tranquility prevail in the Isles.
The meeting, which was held at the Police headquarters here, also involved officials from the tourism sector and representatives from US, UK and Norway embassies.
Briefing reporters at the end of the meeting, Dr Nchimbi insisted that peace building and maintenance was the responsibility of all Tanzanians. He called on religious and political leaders to work towards a common goal of keeping Zanzibar safe and secure.
“For more than a year the Government of National Unity (GNU), under President Ali Mohammed Shein and his deputies, Maalim Seif Shariff Hamad and Ambassador Seif Ali Idd, has been doing a good job. We should not let them down,” he urged.
He said the chaos would denote that the top leaders have failed in their work, and that wasn’t the case. He said disorder as witnessed over the weekend could scare away tourists, and this would hurt the Zanzibar economy, which draws huge amounts of foreign income from tourism.
Dr Nchimbi said his visit here had three goals. One was to ensure all Zanzibaris that the Police Force would work for the people and two, to meet religious and political leaders and deliberate with them on their immense responsibilities in securing and maintaining peace.
“And three, I am here to ensure that officials of the Police Force are properly briefed on what is expected of them in order to keep the peace and take appropriate steps against all those who were behind the weekend chaos,” he said during the open door meeting.
For his part, IGP Mwema promised to collaborate with all parties to ensure peace prevails in Zanzibar.
“Chaos won’t help anyone and likewise, any use of excessive force in controlling a chaotic situation. In order to ensure everything is okay I will remain here for several days helping to build a special participatory policing programme,” he said.
Leaders from religious institutions urged the Police to ensure that whenever chaos erupts it should be handled professionally.
Dr Mohammed Hafidh Khalfan from the UKUEM, an Islamic institution dealing with Education, Economy and Development, said common sense and logic should guide the Police and other State organs when dealing with unruly gangs during protests.
The secretary of the Zanzibar Imams Association (Jumaza), Sheikh Muhidin Zubeir Muhidin, promised to continue with efforts to engage all parties in a peace-finding mission. He was the first religious leader to take the initiative to engage the Police Force and other institutions in the endeavour to find a solution to the problem.
The Zanzibar Tourism director, Mr Ali Khalil Mirza, emphasised the need to keep the peace in order to safeguard the sector, which accounts for more than 75 per cent of the Islands’ income.
In a statement issued in Dar es Salaam, Ambassador Lenhardt encouraged prompt response from political leaders to address the issue.
“We recognise the importance of a robust public debate and encourage all parties to proceed in a peaceful and democratic manner… What transpired over the past two days risks tarnishing the image of Zanzibar’s first peaceful and successful elections in 2010 that created the Government of National Unity,” he said, adding:
“Maintaining a peaceful environment in Zanzibar that allows for tourism and development is beneficial to all Zanzibari citizens and foreign visitors alike. Most importantly, we urge everyone to exercise restraint and protect the lives and property of innocent people.”
Spot checks by The Citizen established that roads were littered with stones, logs and burning tyres, making it difficult for motorists to drive through.
As usual, law enforcers had to use teargas canisters to disperse unruly gangs of rioters.
The ugly situation came to a head after members of Jumiki torched two churches and destroyed other properties worth millions of shillings, including a motor vehicle.
Unconfirmed reports from local sources hinted yesterday that the Police has been reinforcing troops here to contain the situation.
According to our sources, there have been about 400 police officer who were dispatched to Zanzibar to restore peace. But reached for clarification yesterday through telephone, police spokesperson, Ms Advera Senso, declined to divulge any information, arguing that the Zanzibar Police Commissioner would brief the media on the matter.
In an interview with The Citizen, Mr Ali Mzee Mansour, 52, blamed both Zanzibar and Union governments for failure to address grievances of Zanzibaris regarding the Union.
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