Commonwealth urges faster judicial reform

The Commonwealth, in its capacity of coordinator of the political reconciliation process on Zanzibar, has urged reform of the Judiciary and faster implementation of the Muafaka Agreement signed between two leading political parties on the Tanzanian island. The call follows a visit to the island by Commonwealth Secretary-General Don McKinnon from 10 to12 October. "We had meetings in Dar es Salaam and on Zanzibar and they went well," Ade Adefuwe, the Commonwealth's special adviser for Africa, told IRIN on Wednesday. "But we passed on to the Zanzibari government the donors’ concerns about the lack of reform of the judiciary." Adefuwe also said that McKinnon discussed the reform of the Zanzibar Electoral Commission (ZEC) with the authorities. "They are making progress but have been given time limits to complete this," Adefuwe said, declining to give further details. A Commonwealth legal system was introduced to Zanzibar in January 1985. The reform of the judiciary and the ZEC are two fundamental elements of Muafaka, which was signed on 10 October 2001 by Tanzania’s ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi party and the opposition Civic United Front. The agreement followed the police killing in January 2001 of some 35 opposition party supporters on the Tanzanian island of Pemba, during protests over the flawed elections the previous year. Other elements of the agreement, intended to bring political harmony to the politically divided islands, are the establishment of the permanent voters register, a review of the constitution and electoral laws, reform of the publicly owned media and ensuring freedom of political activity. Adefuwe said that the Commonwealth - an organisation linking Britain with its former colonies - had provided two experts to help with the reform. He added that his organisation was working with Zanzibar to ensure that the coming elections in 2005 were free of the complaints of 2000 and 1995, which were also marred by accusations of rigging.