Violence mars voter registration in Zanzibar

Police shot dead a primary school student on Wednesday at a voter registration centre in Pemba, the second largest island of Zanzibar. Two other people were seriously injured. One was flown to Tanzania's commercial capital, Dar es Salaam, for treatment while the others remain hospitalised in Zanzibar. "Local police had to act because a crowd was continually hurling stones at the centre in Ng'ombe," Abubakar Kyanga, the commander of the national police for the district of South Pemba, told IRIN on Thursday. The stone throwers were allegedly militants from Zanzibar's main opposition party, Civic United Front (CUF), who had accused electoral officials of allowing people to register even though they had not resided on the island for the mandatory three-years. The CUF deputy secretary-general, Juma Duni, had told reporters on Tuesday that his party would block the registration of anyone who did not qualify. "We have told our youth not to allow this," Duni told reporters. "Someone from Pemba cannot be denied registration while this right is given to someone from Unguja." Unguja is the largest island of Zanzibar, where there are more supporters of the ruling party, Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM), than on Pemba. The CCM is also the ruling party in Tanzania's national government. CUF is seeking greater autonomy from the mainland. Since the registration process began on Pemba in November, to create a voter list for general elections scheduled for October 2005, several violent incidents have occurred. The registration centre in Kendwa area was petrol-bombed on Tuesday, according to the officer in charge of the electoral commission's Pemba office, Abdallah Rashid. Attacks also occurred in Kiwani area and in Chake Chake district where stone throwers injured the deputy electoral officer. According to unconfirmed reports, 12 local electoral officials have resigned following Wednesday's incident out of fear for their lives. Zanzibar's electoral commission spokesman was not available for comment. Previous elections in Zanzibar have also been marred by violence.