Below is an article written by Mwinyi Sadallah published by IPP Media:

Zanzibar Attorney General Idd Pandu Hassan has said that Zanzibar cannot join the East African Community as independent country because it lacks the status of sovereignty.

The AG made the clarification yesterday in the House of Representatives, which kicked off its sessions yesterday, after being pinned down by house members to explain why Zanzibar is not an independent member of the regional bloc.

The law that established the EAC, he explained, required member countries to have the status of sovereignty, which Zanzibar, being part of the United Republic of Tanzania, is lacking.

Zanzibar will continue to be represented in the regional grouping by the United Republic of Tanzania, said Hassan.

The AG’s reaction came after Gando legislator Said Ali Mbarouk (CUF) sought clarification on a recent statement made by Prime Minister Edward Lowassa that Zanzibar could not join the EAC as independent nation.

Mbarouk had wanted to know if the statement came out of Union meetings that discussed ambiguities in the union structure or if it originated from Lowassa himself.

However, Hassan said that both governments had made significant progress in resolving the ambiguities and two joint meetings had already been conducted both on the Mainland and in Zanzibar.

Responding to a basic question from Ali Usi (Chaani, CCM), who had wanted to know the exact number of union ambiguities resolved so far, Hassan said five issues had been discussed, namely distribution of foreign aid, Bank of Tanzania interest rates and loan issues.

Others are double taxation on goods from Zanzibar, implementation of the Commission for Human Rights and Good Governance, oil and gas exploration and management of fishing activities on the Indian Ocean shores.

He said the issue of oil exploration had been forwarded to the Union government because it required change of the country’s Constitution.

The Union Parliament had already amended the law that established the Commission for Human Rights and Good Governance, basing on recommendations from joint meetings before implementing the same in Zanzibar.

He said the House of Representatives had approved the establishment of a fishing authority and that 40 percent of revenue to be generated would go to Zanzibar and 60 percent to the Mainland.

According to the AG, a joint Financial Commission has already compiled its preliminary report on modalities of sharing foreign aid coming to Tanzania and interest of the Bank of Tanzania.

The report had been presented to the Chief Minister, while discussions on other issues are still going on, he said.