Photo courtesy of Mohamed Somji@flickr

Below is a report published by Daily News Tanzania:

CCM leaders in Zanzibar have stressed the need for people in the isles to come out and vote for the proposed constitution since it contains all the necessary and beneficial requirements that they had been longing for since the establishment of the Union.

Ambassador Ali Abeid Karume and former Minister for Defence, Mr Shamsi Vuai Nahodha, made the call here over the weekend when addressing a public rally at Tomondo Ward, Unguja West District.

“The proposed constitution has the resolutions to all the needs that we have been longing for between the union,” he said, urging the people to come out “in good numbers and vote for the constitution on April 30 [2015]”.

On the other Hand, Mr Nahodha noted that the people in the islands have all the reasons to support the Union between Zanzibar and the Mainland as the bonds benefited both sides.

“Zanzibaris are the ones benefiting most from the union compared to their Mainland counterparts and that is why they should fight to ensure that it remains permanent,” the former chief minister and member of the CCM Central Committee said. He added that most people in the isles do not wish to see the union breaking and would do everything to consolidate it.

Mr Nahodha told the rally that Zanzibar stands to benefit a lot compared to Tanzania Mainland, which has over 42 million people compared to about 1 million people in the isles.

He singled out the union between Scotland and England as the best example of a stable union, saying that the people in Zanzibar ought to do what the people in Scotland did for their own benefit.
Addressing the rally, Ambassador Karume highly commended President Ali Mohamed Shein for his efforts, which he said have enabled Zanzibar to register more economic and people’s development.

He urged the people to vote for President Shein in the elections in October [2015] to enable him to carry his development agenda forward.