Court case on Zanzibar union begins

A case challenging the legality of the union that created the United Republic of Tanzania - a merger of the Tanganyika mainland and the two isles of Zanzibar - began on Monday in Stone Town, capital of the semiautonomous Zanzibar. A group of 10 Zanzibaris filed the case on 23 April before the Zanzibar High Court, seeking to have the union, signed in 1964, invalidated. The group, led by Rashid Salum Addiy, claims the 42-year-old union is illegal and wants it renegotiated. When Addiy's group filed the case, the attorney-general's office failed to produce an official copy of the original agreement signed by the founders of Tanzania, Julius Nyerere (Tanganyika) and Abeid Amani Karume (Zanzibar), both of whom are deceased. The union brought into a single entity Tanzania mainland and the two islands that make up Zanzibar: Pemba and Unguja. Zanzibar has its own president and national assembly but recognises the overall leadership of the president of the united republic. Addiy's group lists names of several prominent persons as defendants, including United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan, in his capacity as head of the world body, which they blame for stripping Zanzibar of its seat in the UN. The UN accepted the court's summons on Tuesday. However, Zanzibar High Court Judge Mbarouk Salim heard the case on Monday without a representative of the UN. The others listed as defendants in the case include the Zanzibar attorney-general, the secretary-general of the Revolutionary Council, the secretary-general of the ruling Chama cha Mapinduzi (CCM) and the Speaker of the Zanzibar Parliament. The Zanzibar deputy state attorney, Omar Makungu, appeared for the defendants while the Kenyan human rights lawyer, Pheroze Nowrojee, represents Addiy's group. Zanzibar lawyer Hamad Suleiman stood in for Nowrojee during the hearing on Monday. Suleiman pleaded with the High Court to give the parties mentioned in the case time to prepare. The case comes up for mention on 28 June. Tanzanians are keenly following this case, which comes amid Zanzibaris' complaints of suppression by the mainland. Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete has promised to look into the complaints. Addiy's group began their opposition to the current union in June 2005 when they went to the High Court demanding that the attorney-general's office present the original articles of the union. In a December 2005 ruling, the court said the attorney-general's office did not have a copy of the original agreement.