The High Court of Zanzibar has dismissed a case challenging the legality of the 1964 Act of Union, which made the islands of Zanzibar a part of Tanzania.
STONE TOWN, 4 October (IRIN) - The High Court of Zanzibar has dismissed a case challenging the legality of the 1964 Act of Union, which formed Tanzania out of the islands of Zanzibar and the mainland area formerly known as Tanganyika - yet the claimants say their fight had just began.
"We will continue to struggle against this fake union," Rashid Addiy, the leader of the anti-union group, said on Tuesday after the ruling. He said his anti-union movement was growing and that at least 10,000 people had signed a petition calling for an appeal. "If the appeal doesn't work we will find other means," Addiy said.
During the hearing, the lawyer defending the union, Masumbuko Lamwai, said the claimants in the case were asking the court to commit treason. "Not only does this endanger the union, it incites the population to violence," Lamwai said. In dismissing the case, Zanzibar High Court Judge Mbarouk Salim said the claim had not been properly filed. "The applicants had no proper understanding of legal procedures," he said.The judge also said the time for challenging the union had expired. "The proper people to have been sued on this matter were the late Mwalimu Julius Nyerere [who signed on behalf of Tanganyika] and the late Abeid Amani Karume [who signed on behalf of Zanzibar) because they are the founders," Mbarouk said.
Ten Zanzibaris filed the case on 23 April, claiming that the 42-year-old agreement signed by the two leaders had never been properly ratified. The claimants also said the agreement was invalid because Tanzania's attorney-general's office failed to produce an official copy of the original agreement and it seems to have been lost. The judge said the original document was not needed after 12 years for the agreement to be valid.
The agreement gave the two islands that form Zanzibar - Pemba and Unguja – semi-autonomous status. Zanzibar has its own president and parliament but they must still defer to the president of the United Republic of Tanzania.
Zanzibaris have said the Tanzanian government oppresses them economically. The Zanzibar government cannot sign agreements with international companies that want to invest in the islands.
Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete has promised to look into the complaints.
