CIA-ZANZIBAR: THE HUNDRED DAYS' REVOLUTION

8/9/2019 CIA-ZANZIBAR: THE HUNDRED DAYS' REVOLUTION

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VE DMAY

FOR RELEASE2007

NS 18RSS No. 0013/6621 February 1966

INTELLIGENCE STUDY

ZANZIBAR: THE HUNDRED DAYS'REVOLUTION(ESAU XXX)

DIRECTORATE OF INTELLIGENCE

GROUP IExclude ommticecloirificotion


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Title 18, USC,


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-TI I

ZANZIBAR: THE HUNDRED DAY$' REVOLUTION

This is a working paper , t h e f i r s t i n a s e r i e sof ESAU s t u d i e s t o e xamine a g i v e n r e v o l u t i o n a r y s i t u a -t i o n . Because t h e ESAU s t u d i e s are p r im a r i l y c o n c e r n e dw i t h S i no - So vi e t r e l a t i o n s a nd w i t h t h e world Communistmovement i n t h e c o n t e x t of t h e Sino-Sov ie t d i spu te , w eh ave t r e a t e d t h e s u b j e c t of Zanzibar-Bloc relations i np a r t i c u l a r d e t a i l i n t h i s p ape r .

W have had many useful comments on t h i s e ap erL eers o DD/P, and from1 IOCI. TheDI)I /RS would welcome addi t ional comment , add res sed t o

l the Department of S ta t e , from seve ra ' l of- .- - _.Helen-Lou ise Hun te r , who wro te th e pape r , o r t o th eChief or Deputy Chief of the Sa


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. .

Summary and Conclusions ............................. i-xvP r e f a c eI . Za n z ib a r ' s P o l i t i c a l Awakening: 1955.62 ..........1A . I n t er n a l P o l i t i c s ............................ 1B . E x t e r n a l I n f l u e n c e s .......................... 7.1. Free World Contac ts ...................... 72 . The Sino-Sovie t Off ens i ve . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1. The Road t o Revol u t ion: 1963 2 4..........11 The Zanzib ar Revolu t ion: Januar y 1964 29A . Who S t a r t e d I t ? ............................ 2 9

1 The Various Th e o r i e s .................... 302 . The Revo lu t iona r ie s ..................... 36B The Armed Attack ........................... . 4 11 The R e b e l s ' Offens ive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 . The Government's Defense ................ 33 . The Death Tol l .......................... 44C . Sino-Soviet Involvement ..................... 45January-Apri l 1964............................. 52A . I n t e r n a l P o l i t i c s ........................... 52

1 The R i s e a n d Fa l l of Okel lo . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4Hanga. and Babu ........................ 61

D o m e s t i c Po l i c i e s ........................... 73F o r e i g n R e l a t i o n s ........................... 791 W i t h t h e West ........................... 802 . With t h e Bloc ........................... 84b . Bloc D i p l o m a t i c A c t i v i t i e s ..........92c . The Bloc A i d Program................ 4d . S u b v e r s i v e A c t i v i t i e s .............. 03e . Sino-Sov ie t R iva l ry ................ 13

I V . The Peop le ' s Repub l ic o Zanzibar:

2 . The St rugg le for Power: Karume.B .C

a . The Sino-Soviet PropagandaResponse ........................... 85

V . Union wi th Tanganyika: Ap ri l 1964............. 18P o s t s c r i p t ............................................ .30

__._ . .-


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-unhary. and Concl u4ions : *.A f t e r 73 y e a r s of B r i t ' i s h r u l e , Zanzibar becameA fr i c a ' s smallest i n d e p e n d e n t n a t i o n i n December 1963.I t s Arab-dominated government, which t h e B r i t s h had ,f a v o r e d , l a s t e d j u s t three weeks. On 1 2 Ja nu ar y 1964,i t was o v er thr o wn b y f o r c e , i n a r e v o l u t i o n t h a t seemsin r e t r o s p e c t t o have been a l l b u t i n e v i t a b l e b u t whichapparen t ly came as a g r e a t s u r p r i s e t o t h e West.The government of A l i Muhsin (a minor i ty govern -ment in t h e s e n s e of a p o l i t i c a l m i n o r i t y as w e l l as a

n a t i o n a l m in o r i t y ) had a lw a ys seemed t o be s i t t i n g o n t h eedge of a v o lc a no . N a t i o n a l e l e c t i o n s i n 1 96 1 and 1963had g r e a t l y e x ac e rb a te d t e n s i o n s a r i s i n g f ro m deep e t h n i cd i v i s i o n s , t h e l i m i ta t ons of a poorly endowed economy,and t h e i n t r i g u e s of emerging Communis t - tra ined p o l i t i -a i a n s . Th e B r i t i s h had done l i t t l e t o e a s e these t e n -s io n s . Th e y had n o t c o n t r i b u t e d m u c h t o Z a n z i b a r ' s p o l i -t i c a l s t a b i l i t y ( e . g . , by t r a i n i n g l e a d e r s ) and t h e y hadh e lp e d t o keep i n power a c o a l i t i o n Arab government t h a thad l e s s t h a n m a j o r i t y suppor t f rom the overwhelminglyAfr ican popu la t ion . They had done l i t t l e more t o pre-par e Zanz iba r eoonomica l ly fo r independence , e i t h e r i nt h e way of d i v e r s i f y i n g t h e economy, co r r ec t i ng t h e extreme- i n e q u a l i t i e s of w e a l th , o r i n c r e a s i n g p r o d uc t i o n. Fin-a l l y , t h e y had n o t c l o s e l y c o n t r o l l e d t h e s u b v e r s iv ea c t i v i t i e s of t h e B l o c , w h i c h became a c t i v e i n Z an zi ba raround 1960-61.

I t now seems c l e a r t h a t sometime around 1959-60t h e Communists d e c i d e d t h a t Zanzibar of f e r ed them ap a r t i c u l a r l y f a v or a b l e o p po r tu ni t y- f o r expanding t h e i ri n f l u e n c e i n Africa . Because of i t s smal l s ize ands t r a t e g i c l o c a t i o n , t h e i s l a n d was a m a n a g e a b l e e n t e r p r i s et h a t c o u ld b e de ve lo pe d a p a r t from mainland Afr ica , i nr e l a t i v e i s o l a t i o n and s e c r ec y ; y e t , i t was c lose enought o t h e m ai nl an d t o s e r v e as a s p r in g b o a r d for Communisto p e r a t i o n s t h e r e . The p o l i t i c a l i n s t a b i l i t y t h a t wase ndem ic t o t h e area created an i d e a l s i t u a t i o n for Communist

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p e n e t r a t i o n . Mor eo ve r, t h e B lo c ha d a s s e t s on t h e i s l a n d .By 1959 or 1960, i t had made contact w i t h a s m a l l numberof Z a n z i b a r i s , some of whom were well-placed, who werea l r e a d y p r ov i n g u s e f u l i n pr om ot in g B lo c i n t e r e s t s i nt h e i r homeland. Fo r a l l t h e s e r e a s o n s , Z a n zi b ar a p p e ar st o have become a p r i m e t a r g e t of t h e Communists i n Africa;some of t h e BiI.ocPs e a r l i e s t e f f o r t s i n A f ri ca were focusedt h e r e .

The f i r s t Bloc c o n t a c t s w i t h Z a n z i b a r i s h ad beenmade i n England, where some 200 Z a n z i b a r i s were e n r o l l e di n v a r i o u s c o ur s es of s t ud y each yea r . The So v i e t s , work-in g th roug h t he Communist P a r ty of Great Britain (CPGB),had be en t h e f i r s t t o make c o n t a c t w i th t h e overseas Zan-z i ba r s t u d e n t s in t h e mid -1950gs . The Ch inese en te r edt h e p i c t u r e i n t h e l a t e 1 95 0 s , i n i t i a l l y , a t l e a s t , sup-po r t in g In d iv id ua l s a l re ady chosen by t h e CPGB and t h eCPSU. The f u t u r e Arab r a d i c a l l e a d e r Babu was one of the Io v e r s e a s Za n z ib a r s t u d e n t s who was c o n t a c t e d b y t h e C h i -nese i n London ; he ha d had e a r l i e r a s so c ia t io n s w i t h t h eS o v i e t s , b u t h e s w i tc h ed h i s a l l e g i a n c e t o C h i n a a f t e rt h e C h i n e s e o f f e r e d h i m a l a r g e s u bs id y f o r h i s j o u r n a l-istic and o t h e r p o l i t i c a l a c t i v i t i e s i n Z a n z i b a r .

As l a t e as 1959-60, Communism was v i r t u a l l y u n -known in Zanz iba r , There cou ld have been no more thana dozen or so ind iv iduals - -who had re tu rne d t o Zanzibarfrom England--who were a t a l l f a mi l i a r w i t h t h e t e a c h i ng s*ofMarx, E n g el s , L e ni n, S t a l i n , or Mao. In t h e foury e a r s b e f o r e t h e r e v o l u t i o n , how ever, t h e gr ow th i n Com-m u n i s t inf l u en c e and a c t i v i t y was remarkable . Beginningaround 1959, l a r g e q u a n t i t i e s of Communist ideologicalmater ia l were Impor ted i n t o Zanz iba r ; book s t a l l s open lys o l d o r gave away free-of-charge a w i d e v a r i e t y of books,pap e rs , and pamphle t s pub l i sh ed i n t h e USSR or China.The f i r s t r e g u l a r A f r i c a n l a n gu a g e p ro gr am b r o a d c a s t byt h e Bloc t o A f r i c a was one i n S w a h i l i, t r a n s m i t t e d byMoscow t o Zanz iba r i n Februa ry 1960 . A year and a h a l fl a t e r , Pek ing inaugura ted a Swahili program. of i t s own.D u r i n g t h e n ex t t h r e e y e a r s , t h e r a d i o b a r r ag e br o ad c as tt o Zanzibar gr ew s t e a d i l y more i n t e n s e .

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I n a s h o r t p e r i o d o f t i m e (1960-1963), Blo c con-t a c t s w i t h Z a nz i ba r n a t i o n a l s m u l t i p l i e d r a p i d l y beyondt h e f e w l eader s f i r s t co nt ac te d ab roa d, Around 1959-60,t h e Communist s began fo rma l t r a i n i n g of A f r i c a n s a ts c h o o l s and u n i v e r s i t i e s i n t h e v a r i o u s B l o c c o u n t r i e s .With l i t t l e r e g a r d t o t h e a c a d e m i c q u a l i f i c a t i o n of thes t u d e n t s a n d w i t h minimal admi n i s t r a t i ve d e l a y , t h e y tooki n c r e a s in g ly l a r g e nu mber s of Zanzibar is- -with or w i th o u tp a s s p o r t s , Whereas in October 1959, o n ly two Za nz i ba r i swere r epor t ed t o be s t u d y in g i n t h e B l o c , i n November 1962t h e r e were 141 and i n September 1963 about 110. Thereis no doubt t h a t a l a r g e p a r t of t h e t r a i n i n g i n Blocc o u n t r i e s c o n s i s t e d of Communis t indoctr ina t ion; and ,a t l e a s t . in Cuba and China , Zan zib ar i s are known t o havebe en t r a i n e d i n m i l i t a r y t a c t i c s and i n t h e a r t of revolu-t i o n .t o t a1these

I t i s i mp os si bl e t o g i ve r e l i a b l e f i g u r e s f o r t h ecos t of t h e Communist e f f o r t i n Za nz ib ar d u r i n gy e a r s , The p r i n c i p a l items were t h e t r a v e l a n ds t u d y g r a n t s , f o r which t h e f a r e s a l o n e were est imateda t $70,000 i n 1962. The t o t a l inves tme nt may have beensomewhere i n t h e neighborhood of $100,000 y e a r l y .I t was n o t a coordinated inves tment , however , andn o t a u n it e d e f f o r t on t h e p a r t of the Communist world .Not only were t h e Sov ie t s and Ch inese apparen t ly work ingw it ho ut r e f e r e n c e t o one a n o th e r 's e f f o r t s , b u t t h e y

were a c t u a l l y i n c om pe ti t i on w i t h o ne a n o the r - - i n t h a tt h e y were s u p p o r t i n g d i f f e r e n t i n d i v i d u a l s and o r g a ni z a -t i o n s which were in a c t i v e o p p o s i t i o n t o on e a n o t he r ont h e l o c a l s c e n e . S in c e there was no organized Communistpa r t y i n Zanzi bar , Moscow and Pekin g bo t h worked t h roughZ a nz i ba r 's l e a di n g p o l i t i c a l p a r t i e s and o t h e r e s t a b l i s h e do r g a n i z a t i o n s s u ch a s t h e t r ade unions and t h e youthf e d e r a t i o n s . What was no t gen e r a l ly recogn ized a t t h et i m e was t h e degree t o w h i c h t h e Russ ians were concen-t r a t i n g t h e i r e f f o r t s on t h e A fr o- S hi ra zi P a r t y (ASP) an di t s a f f i l i a t e d o r g a n i z a t i o n s ( i . e . , t h e A f r i c a n s ) and t h eChinese on t h e Z a n z i b a r N a t i o n a l i s t P a r t y (ZNP) and i t sa f f i l i a t e s ( i e . , t h e Arabs) .

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There was n o t a c o m p le t e s e p a r a t i o n of efforts;t h a t i s , the S o v i e t s d i d not work only w i t h t h e l e f t i s te l e m e n t s i n t h e ASP, and the Ch inese d i d n o t work o n l yw i t h t h e r a d i c a l s i n t h e ZW. E s p e c i a l l y i n t h e e a r l i e ry e a r s , t h e S o v i e t s a vo id ed e x c l u s i v e a s s o c i a t i o n w i t hor commitment t o any one p a r t y , no d o u b t because no onehad emerged w i t h p r o s p e c t s of d e c i s i v e success i n t h en e a r f u t u r e . T h e i r i n c r e a s i n g c o n c en t r a ti o n o n t h e ASPi n t h e , y e a r s j u s t before t h e r e v o l u t i o n p r o b a b l y i n d i c a t e de i t h e r a g ro wi ng r e c o g n i t i o n o n t h e i r p a r t of t h e long-r u n d i s a dv a n t ag e i n b e i n g a s s o c i a t e d w i t h an Arab m i n o r i t y 7which was as unpopu la r on the E a s t Afr ican ma in land asit was on Zanz iba r , or a r e - e v a l u a t i o n of t h e more i m -mediate p r o s p e c t s OS t h e AS P i n Zanzibar. The only Zan-z i b a r i s known t o have rece ived f u n d s from t h e S o v i e t sa f t e r 1959 o r 1960 up t o t h e r e v o l u t i o n were Africans--men l i k e Hanga and Moyo, who were l e a d e r s i n t he ASP-suppor ted Zanzibar and Pemba Federa t ion of Labor (ZPFL) .Only t h e ASP had an o f f i c e i n Moscow, and i t s a f f i l i a t eo r g a n i z a t i o n s n o rm a l ly r e p r e s e n t e d Z a nz ib a r a t meetingsof t h e S o v i e t- c o n tr o l l e d i n t e r n a t i o n a l f r o n t o r g a n i z a t i o n s .To g e t a s c h o l a r s h i p f o r s t u d y i n the USSR i t w a s v i r t u a l l ya requ i remen t t h a t t h e s t u d e n t be an ASP s u p p o r t e r .

To a much greater e x t e n t t h a n was t r u e for t h eS o v i e t s , t h e C h i ne s e p o s i t i o n i n Z a n zi ba r w a s d e p e n d e n t .on one man--Babu, t h e g e n e r a l s e c r e t a r y of t h e ZNP ande d i t o r of t h e newssheet Zanews. With Babu as t h e i r open-ing wedge, t h e Chinese c-rated t h e i r e f f o r t s on de-veloping g o o d r e l a t i o n s w i t h t h e ZNP. By mid-1962, vir-t u a l l y e ve ry ZNP government minis ter ha d bee n i n v i t e d t oC h in a, i f h e h ad n o t a l r e a d y g on e, or h a d r e c e i v e d g i f t sf rom Peking . I t was always t h e Z N P or i t s a f f i l i a t ef r o n t o r g a n i z a t i o n s s u c h as the World Conference AgainstN u c l e a r and Hydrogen B o m b s , h e l d a n n u a ll y i n J a p a n, I nt h e i r almost t o t a l commitment t o t h e ZNP, t h e Chineseh a d a p p a r e n t l y a c c e p t e d t h e a d v an t a ge of s e c u r i n g anE a s t A f r i c a n base a t t h e c o s t of a l i e n a t i n g Pa n - A f r i c a ngoodwil l . I n Za n z ib a r , t h e f i r s t A f r i c a n c o u n t r y i n which*hey had at tempted t o p l ay a r e a l l y a c t i ve r o l e i n A f r i c a na f f a i r s , t h e y had a c t u a l l y succeeded i n a t t a i n i n g a com-p e t i t v e p o s i t i o n w i th t h e B u s s i a n s ; each had i n f i l t r a t e done m aj or p o l i t i c a l p a r t y a nd r i v a l t rade union and youth

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.. .f e d e r a t i o n . I n d e c i di n g t o g i ve t h e i r s u p po r t t o t h e ZNP,however , t h e Chinese had s e r i o u s l y m is ju dg ed t h e powerb a l a n ce i n Z a nz i ba r .

T h e e l e c t i o n s of June 1963 had r e t u r n e d t o poweran Arab c o a l i t i o n g o v e r n m e n t (a c o a l i t i o n of t h e ZNPand the Zanzibar and Pemba Pe op le 's P a rt y LZPPP7) whichhad managed t o win a n a j o r i t y of t h e s e a ts - in The Legis-l a t i v e C o un c il , a l th o u gh it had not won a m a j o r i t y oft h e p o p u l a r v o t e s . For some months before the revolu-t i o n , Zanzibar ' s A f r i c a n s h a d b e e n s e e t h i n g w i t h d i scon-t e n t o v er t h e f a c t t h a t a p a r t y w i t h a n o v e r - a l l m a j o r i t y( t h e ASP) c o u l d be s e n t i n t o o pp o si t io n because of whatwas o b v i o u s l y a n u n f a i r b ou nd ar y d e l i m i t a t i o n s y s t e m .W hi le m od e ra t e l e a d e r s i n t h e p a r t y s u c h as Othman S h a r i f fand ICarume t r i e d t o per suade t h e i r f o l lo w e r s t h a t . a n ar-rangement cou ld be made t h a t w ould g i v e " t h e m a j o r it y "a s h a r e i n t h e government, Hanga and other r ad i ca l Afro-S h i r a z i l a b o r a nd yo ut h l eader s were a r g u i n g t ha t t h em a j o r i t y wo ul d, i n t h e l a s t r e s o r t , h a v e t o r e l y onv i o l e n c e ; t h e y c o n s i s t e n t l y p r e s s e d Karume t o adopt amore m i l i t a n t s t a n d .I t was a t t h l s p o i n t t h a t Hanga and h i s group ofr a d i c a l t r a d e union leaders i n t h e ASP began t o make p l a n st o o v e r t h ro w t h e g o ve rn me nt , a l t h o u gh t h i s f a c t was n o tr epor t ed u n t i l a f t e r t h e re vo lu ti on , Sometime i n mid-1963,p r o b a b l y soon a f t e r t h e Ju n e e l e c t i o n s , a g ro u p of ASPl e ade r s , in cl ud in g Ranga, went t o Tnnganyika t o ask f o rmoney and arms i n sup po rt of t h e i r r e v o lu t i o na r y p l an .Tangany ikan compl ic i ty w i t h t h e ASP h a s been w e l l es tab-l i s h e d .aware of t h e e x t e nt t o which Tanganyikan Defense Minis terKambona was i nvo lved in su p p l y i n g arms and money t o t h eZ a n z i b a r r e v o l u t i o n a r i e s , he ob vi ou sl y knew and approvedof t h e g e n e r a l p l a n for t h e r e v o l u t i o n . . A p p a r e n t l y , t h ecoup was planned f o r March o r A p r i l 1964. The most i m -p o r ta n t f i g u r e i n t h e p l o t was Hanga; Karulne p e r s o n a l l ywas n e v e r i n v o l v e d ; i t is d o u b t f u l t h a t 0. S h a r i f f knewof t h e p l a n .

Although President Nyerere may not have been

While moderate l eader s of t h e Arab-dominated ZNP,l i k e t h e i r m od er at e c o u n t e r p a r t s i n t h e ASP, were working

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w i t h t h e B r i t i s h t owards pea cef u l independence , a m i n o r i t yof e x t r e mi s t s i n t h e ZNP was a l s o i n s i s t i n g o n t h e needfor " v i o l e nt r e v o l u ti o n . " I n t h e s p r i n g of 1963, t h ea g i t a t i o n of ZNP r a d i c a l s l i k e A l i S u l t a n I s s a and Q u a l -l a t e i n was b o o s te d c o n s i d e r a b l y by t h e r e a pp e a ra n c e ofBabu, who had b e e n i n jail s i n c e J u ne 1962 on a chargeof s e d i t i o n , F i n di ng h i s p o s i t i o n i n t h e p a r t y c o n s i d - 'e r a b l y weakened by h i s l o n g a bs e n c e i n j a i l , B a b u r e s i g n e dh i s p o s i t i o n as g e n er a l s e c r e t a r y of t h e ZNP and announcedhis i n t e n t i o n of f o r mi n g a new p o l i t i c a l p a r t y c a l l e d t h eUmma P a r t y . With t h e f o r m a t i o n of t h e Umma P a r t y i n J un e1963, Babu and h i s Arab extremist f o l l o w i n g of some 300. p e r s o n s were no longer under the r e s t r a i n t of t h e moremoderate l e a d e r s h i p of t h e ZNP. A t p r i v a t e m e e t i n g s oft h e p a r t y d u r i n g t h e f a l l of 1963, i t s members (mainlyCommunist- trained youths) are known t o have advocatedt h e v i o l e n t o v e r t h r o w o f the government and t h e n a t i o n a l -i z a t i o n of a l l l a n d an d i n d u s t r y ,p a r a t io n s t h a t t h e Umma P a r t y w a s making for a r e v o l u t i o n ,In mid-December 1963, j u s t one month b efo re t h e revolu-t i o n , Babu r e t u r n e d t o La n z i b a r a f t e r more t h a n t h r e emonths in Peking, Dur ing t h a t t i m e he is s u s p e c t e d ofh av in g p a r t i c i p a t e d i n a course i n m i l i t a r y t a c t i c s ; whenhis Umma P a r t y h e a d q u a r t e r s were searched i n e a r l y J a nu ar y,t h e po l i ce seized l a rge q u a n t i t i e s of documents includ-ing a diary w r i t t e n i n P ek in g t h a t c o n t a i n e d et f u l l de-s c r i p t i o n of t h e methods f o r t h e over th row of a govern-ment by v i o l en ce . Dur ing t h e t h r ee-month per iod f romOctober t o December, t h e Umma P a r t y is r e p o r te d t o h aveb r o u g h t a su p p l y of arm and ammunition t o Zanzibar whichwere concealed i n d i f f e r e n t s p o t s on t h e i s l a n d. *l u t i o n t h e r e were some i n d i c a t i o n s t h a t t h e Umma P a r t ya n d t h e r a d i c a l AS P p a r t y members were b e g in n i ng t o workt o g e t h e r f o r t h e f i r q t t i m e on maCters of common concern,su c h as , h e t r a d e u ni o n s , a nd t h o u gh each group is knownt o have had i t s own p l a ns f o r a r e v o l u t i o n , t h e r e is noe v i d e n c e t h a t t h e r e was e v e r a ny c o n s u l t a t i o n b et we en t h etwo p a r t i e s i n t h e i r r e v o l u t i o n a r y p l a n n i n g . Press re -p o r t s which lumped to ge th er Rarurne, Babu, and Hanga i n a

W may s t i l l not know t h e f u l l e x t e n t of t h e pre-

Al though dur ing t h e l a s t s i x months before t h e r evo-

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p l o t t o over th row the government were complete ly unfounded.I t is, of cour se , poss ib le - - and i t s e e m s t o h av e be en t h ec a se - - t h a t t h e r e v o l u t i o n a r i e s i n t h e Umma P a r t y a nd i nt h e ASP knew tjf t h e ' . a c t i o n s - e nv i sa g ed by t h e ' o t h e r g r o u p .

Two t h i n g s h a p p e n e d during t h e l a s t month beforet h e r e v o l u t i o n t h a t h a d a d i rec t e f f e c t on t h e t i m i n gof t h e r e v o l u t i o n . A l i Muhsin, the leader of t h e ZNP anda m i n i s t e r i n t h e government, made t w o h i g h l y p u b l i c i z e dt r i p s t o C ai ro , one j u s t before and one j u s t a f t e r Zan-z i b a r ' s a c c e s s i o n t o independence on 12 December 1963--a v e ry i n d i s c r e e t t h i n g for him t o h a ve d on e a t t h a tp a r t i c u l a r t i m e . The t r i p s were l i n k e d w i t h a r u m o r t h a tt h e government was impor t ing arms f rom Egypt f o r a p lannedmass a r re s t of ASP l e a d e r s on 13 Ja n u a r y . Th i s o n l ys e r ve d t o r e i n f o r c e A f ri ca n s u s p i c i o n s of t he p ro -Arabi n t e n t i o n s of a government which seemed, t o them, t o bea c c e l e r a t i n g i t s program of A r a b i z a t i o n of t h e p o l i c e ,c i v i l s e rv i c e , and other i n s t i t u t i o n s . A n t i - g o v e r n m e n tf e e l i n g was f u r t h e r h e ig h t e n e d by a p o l i c e r a i d on t h eh e a d q u a r t e r s of Babu's Umma P a r t y , s h o r t l y a f t e r the p a r t yhad been dec la red unlawful on 4 January . The r a d i c a l si n bo t h t h e Umnla and ASP p a r t < i e s a w t h i s as a n i n d i c a -t i o n t h a t t h e h i t h e r t o complacent government was prepar -i n g t o c ra ck down on t h e e x t e n s i v e g r o w t h of r e v o l u t i o n -a ry a c t i v i t y on t h e i s l a n d . I t l e n t c r e d e n c e t o t h e r u m o rt h a t t h e government was p r e p a r i n g a s i m i l a r r a i d o n t h eASP, a f t e r r e c e i p t of t h e E g y p t i a n arms.The n o t i o n t h a t t h e b a nn i ng of t h e Umma P a r t y l e dBabu and his f o l l o w er s i n t o armed r e v o l t is p r o b a b l y t h emain misconcep t ion about t h e Za n z i ba r r e v o l u t i o n . A lm os tw i t h o u t e x c e p t i o n , a r t i c l e s i n t h e press an d a l s o t h er e p o r t s of t h e Weste rn in t e l l ig en ce community (which wereprepared on t h e basis of e a r l y r e p o r t in g a f t e r t h e coupand d i d no t have th e advan tage of the many f a c t s w3ichhave come t o l i g h t s i n c e t h e n ) emphasized t h e c e n t r a l r o l eof B a b u i n t h e c ou p, As t h e l e a d i n g Z an zi ba r n a t i o n a l i s t ,who had s e r v e d t i m e i n jail f o r " s e d i t i o us a c t i v i t e s , " 'and t h e most ou t spoken c r i t i c of t h e West, who was knownt o have Chinese Communist contacts , B a b u was t h e o b v i o u ss u s p e c t i n a p l o t t o over th row t h e government. However,

the re is no c o n v i n c i n g e v i d e n c e t h a t he p l ay e d an y s i g n i f i c a n t

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p a r t i n t h e r e v o lu t i o n . A l th o u g h he may have known ofASP planning fo r a r e v o l u t i o n , he a p p a r e n t l y had no ad-vance knowledge of t h e c o u p t h a t m a t e r i a l i z e d o n 1 2January . He was i n Dar 8s Salaam a t t h e t i m e and, bya l l a c c o u n t s , was c o m p l e t e l y s u r p r i s e d by even t s i n Zan-zibar. During the course of the f i g h t i n g , some of hisf o l l o w e r s j o i n e d t h e r a n k s of t h e rebe ls , wear ing s p e c i a lr i b b o n s s o t h e y c o u ld b e d i s t i n g u i s h e d f r o m othe r Arabson t h e i s l a n d , b u t t h e y do n o t seem t o h av e p l a y ed a nyp a r t i n t h e i n i t i a l a t t a c k s i n t h e e a r l y m or ning h o u r s .r e v o l u t i o n of 1 2 J a n u a r y , b u t t h e r e is some q u e s t i o n ast o whether he would have approved t h e t i m i n g of t h e re-v o l t , A ft er h i s r e t u r n from China in December, i t wasn o t i c e a b l e t h a t speeches a t t h e various p r i v a t e m e e t i n g sof hhe Umma Pa r t y no l o n g e r a d vo c at e d t h e overthrow: oft h e government, Babu himsel f is repor ted t o h ave t o l d hisf o l l o w e r s t o g i v e up t h e i r t a l k o f v io lence (p resumab ly ,j u s t f o r t h e s h o r t term); he u r g e d t h e f o r m a t io n of au n i t e d f r o n t w i t h a l l o p p os i t i o n p a r t i e s , i n c l u di n g t h eASP--a un i te d f r on t i n wh ich t h e Umma P ar ty would havet h e predominant in f l uenc e . These is a supposi t i ion t h a tt h e Chi nes e may have en cou rag ed him. al on g these l i n e s ,I t i s q u i t e p o s s ib l e t h a t t h e y became n e r v ou s a t t h ep r o s p e c t of BabuOs staging a r e v o l u t i o n t h a t would havebeen p r i m a r i l y t h e work of an Arab m in o r i t y . Thus t h e ymay have been anxious to e n s u r e A f r i c a n s u p p o r t f o r aBabu-led re vo lu ti on , and may have adv ised B a b u t o forma u n i t e d f r o n t with t h e othe r o p p os i t i o n p a r t i e s and t op os tp on e t h e r e v o l u t i o n u n t i l h e c ou ld be assured ofbroader p o p u la r s u p p o r t .

The great m a jo r iC y of t h e r e p o r t & on t h e revo lu -t i o n t race t h e e v e n t s of t h e r e v o l u t i o n f ro m t h e sames t a r t i n g p o i n t : t h e ASP f e t e t h a t was h e l d a t ASP p a r t yh e a d q u a r t e r s o n $he n i g h t of Sa tu rday , 11 January 1964.A p pa r en t ly , t h e r e v o l u t i o n s t a r t e d a s t h e spon taneousa c t i o n of t h e A f ri c an s a t th e f e t e . It was t r i g g e r e d b ya rumor t h a t t h e governinent planned mass arrests of ASPl eade rs t h e f o l l o w i n g Monday, A number of d i s g r u n t l e dex-members of t h e Zanzibar pol ice force , who were a t t h ef e t e , p r o b a b ly p l a y e d t h e major ro le i n i n c i t i n g t h e

N o t o n l y was- Bnbu n o t d i r e c t l y i nv o lv e d i n t h e

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I I

crowd t o t h e p o i nt of a c t i o n a g a i n s t t h o g ov er nm en t. Asf o r m e r p o l i c e o f f i c e r s , they knew where t h e p o l i c e armswere s to red and how b e s t t o g a in a cc es s t o the a r m o r i e s .( Th ei r f a m i l i a r i t y w i t h t h e s e c u r i t y p ro c ed u re s of t h ep o l i c e a r m or i es c o n t r i b u t e d i n l a r g e measure t o t h e suc-cess of t h e c o u p , ) They a p p e a r t o have got t h e crowd tof o l l o w t h em - -r i gh t t h e n- - in a n a t t a c k on t h e government ' 6s t r o n g h o l d sknown ind iv idua l who was t o e me rg e f ro m o b sc u r i t y t o ap o s i t i o n of power i n the government on t h e s t r e n g t h ofh i s m i l i t a r y prowess i n th e f i g h t i n g , was a t t h e f e t e andsoinellow c o n t r i b u t e d ' t o t h e ' . t i m i n g of t h e r e v o l u t i o n w i t hh i s w i l d talk of r e v o l u t i o n . This p o s s i b i l i t y is suggestedby t h o s e v e r a l r e p o r t s t h a t s t a t e t h a t a t t h e t i m e OP t h e .r e v o l u t i o n O k e l l o had a fo l l ow in g of some 200 t o 600 per-s o n s (which could refer t o t h e A f ri c a ns a t t h e f e t e )whom he was p r ep a r ed t o l ead i n an a t t a c k on t h e govern-ment. I t may a l so e x p l a i n O k e l l o ' s a p p a r e n t claim t o ap o s i t i o n i n t h e government as one 01 , the m a i n i n s t i g a t o r sof t h e re vo lu t i on . However, not one. ,- re po r t of t h e f e t em e n ti o n s h i s h a v i n g be e n t h e r e ; he does: :not appear on t h es c e n e o n t h e n i g h t of t h e r e v o lu t i o n u n t i l l a t e r , andt h e n only as the l eader of t h e f i r s t s u c c e s s f u l r a i d (ont h e Z iw an i p o l i c e armory), n o t as a c e n t r a l f i g u r e . Inview of t h e Z a n z i b ar i s ' n a t u r a l a v e rs i o n t o f i g h t i n g fiab31it i s as a s t r e e t fl nzer wo,ulci naiura iky havewoi? 1 i i i n . t h e > a d u l a t i o n 09 t h e p b o p l o and cou ld e a s i l y .have plummotbd hiin i n t o a p o s i t i o n of power .af terwards.I t seems clear t h a t Okel lo hac1 no p l a n s %or a r e v o l u t i o nand d i d no t even p l a y an i mp or ta nt p a r t i n g e t t i n g t h ecrowd t o f o l l o w hiin i n an a t t a c k on t h e government. Hed i d , however, c o nt r ib u te s i g n i f i c a n t l y t o t h e success oft h e coup in m i l i t a r y terms. Without h i s example ofb r a v e r y , the ASP rebe l s might w e l l have h e l d back f romactual combat w i t h t h e government fo rces .

I t is p o s s ib l e t h a t John O k e l l o , t h e h i t h e r t o un-

I - - -9 . . I 1 2 - - - - Olcollo '6.

Apparen t ly , Hanga and Karume and other ASP l eade rsl e a r n e d of t h e exci ted s ta te of t h e A f r i c a n s a t t h e f e t eand went down t o ASP he ad qu ar te rs t o see what was happen-i n g . I t seems f a i r l y w e l l e s t a b l i s h e d t h a t t h e y d i d address

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t h e crowd t h a t eve ni ng . Thus, Karume was i n vo l ve d t o somee x t e n t i n t h e a c t u a l e v e n t s of t h e r e v o l u t i o n , a l th o ug hhe had n o t b e en p a r t y t o t p e prev ious coup p lann ing ofHanga and t h e r a d i c a l element in t h e ASP.fo r a r e v o l u t i o n i n Z an zi ba r, t h e r e v ol u t i on t h a t a c t u a l l ym a t e r i a l i z e d on t h e mo rn in g of 1 2 J a n u a ry was n o t t h a tp lanned by e i t h e r Babu and h i s Umma P a r t y or Hanga andh i s ASP group. I t was more of a s p o n t a n e o u s a c t i o n ,B a s i c a l l y , i t was an African r e v o l u t i o n t o p u t A fr ic an si n c o n t ro l of a c o u n t r y which t h e y P e l t was in t h e handsof a r a c i a l m i n o r i t y o n l y because of a n u n f a i r c o n s t i t u -ency syste m. Whereas the government might have avertedi t i f i t h a d t a k e n t h e ASP i n t o a government coal i t ion--as many Minis ters on both s i d e s wanted - - the po l icy of t h egovernment provoked an exp los i on . Al though th ey had notp lanned th e r e v o l u t i o n for t h a t t i m e n o r e x a c t l y t h a tway, Hanga and t h e o ther ASP l eaders seized t h e o p p o r t u n i t ywhen i t p r e s e n t e d i t s e l f , B a b u and his f o l l o w e r s jumpedon t h e bandwagon; and t h e uneducated a n d i d e o l o g i c a l l yuns oph is t i c a te d Oke l lo s imp ly emerged by h i s t o r i c a l ac-c i d e n t , t h e m i l i t a r y h e ro of t h e day.known. The f i g h t i n g l a s t e d l ess t h a n 1 2 .hours A f t e r

I n summary, al th ou gh t h e r e was m u l t i p l e p la n n in g

T h e m i l i t a r y a c t i o n s of t h e r e v ol u t i on are w e l l -t h e y had g a in e d access to t h e f i r s t pol ice armory, wheremost of Che government arms were s t o r e d , t h e r ebe l se a s i l y took c o n t r o l of t h e cable o f f i c e , t h e a i r s t r i p ,and the r a d i o ' s t a t i o n , in t h a t o r d e r . By l a t e a f t e r n o o n ,t h e government machinery was v i r t u a l l y p a r a l y z e d Inr e t r o s p e c t , it can be s e e n t h a t the Arab regime i n Zan-zibar was r e a d y t o f a l l a t .a push. The p o l i c e , t h e gov-ernmentOs o nl y s e c u r i t y force, was l a r g e l y d i s a f f e c t e dand d i d n ot f i g h t w e l l i n t h e governmen tqs de fense .Though it p r o b a b ly c o u ld n o t have b e e n f o r e s e e n t h a ti t would be qui te s o e a s y t o t o p p le t h e government, theZa n z iba r r e v o lu t i o n s u g g e s t s how l i t t l e i t may t ake t os tage a coup i n many of t h e A f r ic a n c o u n t r i e s t o d a y . I nt h i s regard, t h e Chinese have u s e d t h e Zanz iba r revo lu -t i o n as a model f o r t h e A f r ic a n r e v o l u t i o n ; on s e v e r a lo c c a s io n s t h e y h av e s u g g e s t e d t o othe r A f r i c a n s t h a tt h e y f o l l o w the Zanzibar p a t t e r n of 8 "do- i t -yourse l f

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r e v o l u t i o n " ( i . e . f i r s t r a i d t h e i r own p o l i c e b a r r a c k sfor arms, then s ta$e an up r i s i ng , and immediate ly app lyto t h e Chinese f o r h e l p ) . S i n c e t h e Zanz iba r revo lu io i ii n no way corresponded t o t h e Chinese model for a r e v o lu -t i o n e x ce p t i n t h e v er y g e n er a l s e ns e of a r e so r t t oarmed force , the Chinese have emphaslzed t h i s one f e a t u ret h a t t h e two r e v o l u t i o n s had i n coinmon, and t h e y havef u r t h e r h e l d up t h e way i n which t h e Z a nz ib ar r e v o l u t i o n -a r i e s o b t a i n e d t h e i r a r m s as a worthy example t o o t h e r 'A f ri c an r e v o l u t i o n a r i e s . 'Th e Za n z ib a r r e v o lu t i o n was a lm os t c e r t a i n l y t h em a i n i n s p i r a t i o n f o r t h e ' army mutinies t h a t broke ou t .i n t h e n e ig h b o r in g E a s t A f r i c a n s t a t e s of Tanganyika,

Uganda, and Kenya w i t h i n t h e f o l l o w in g w e e k . However,i f t h e r e v o l u t i o n p r o v i d e d t h e i n s p i r a t io n f o r t h em u t i n i e s , this would seem t o have been t h e o n ly c o n n e c t i o nbetween them. Th e s u p p o s i t i o n t h a t t h e Za n z ib a r r e v o l ta n d ' t h e u p r i s i n g s i n East Africa were somehow closelyi n t e r r e l a t e d a n d t h e s p e c u l a t i o n t h a t t h i s gave r i s e t o- - t h a t t h e y might a l l be p a r t of a coordinated Communistp l o t t o t a k e over t h e area--appear c o m p l e t e l y unfounded. .Moreover, there is no evidence t o s u p p o r t t h e b e l i e f t h a tt h e Za n z iba r r e v o lu t i on -- a s i t a c t u a l l y occurred--wasplanned o r orga niz ed by any of t h e B l oc c o u n t r i e s o r t h a tt h e y had any advance warning of e v e n t s i n t h e o f f i n g .I t is n e c e s s a r y in p a r t i c u l a r t o d i s p e l t h e n o t i o n t h a tof t h e r e b e l s a f t e r the u p r i s i n g w a s w e l l underway hadbeen t r a i n e d i n Cuba (and Okel lo was not one of them),t h e r e was no Cuban connection w i t h t h e e v o l u t i o n . Con-t r a r y t o t h e many p u b l i s h e d reports , no Cuban nat ionalsp a r t i c i p a t e d in t h e f i g h t i n g . For t h e A f r i c a n r e v o lu t i o n -a r i e s , t h e r e a l l y i m p o r t a n t f e a t u re of t h e coup was t h a tit was done by Africans a lone , wi thou t any o u t s i d e h e l pwhatsoever. They have made a spec ia l p o i n t of t h i s f a c t ,and they would seem t o be q u i t e r i g h t i n making t h e claim.not r e a l l y i n a p o s i t i o n t o c o n t ro l t h e c o u r s e of e v e n t si n Z a nz i ba r , it managed to d e r i v e c o n s id e r a b l e a d va n ta g efrom t h e r e v o l u t i o n , W hile t h e West s t a l l e d on r e c o g n i t i o n

t h e Cubans were somehow involved . Except for t h e f a c tt h a t some of t h e Umma P a r t y members who j o i n e d t h e ranks

While t h e Bloc had no t eng inee red t h e coup .and w a s

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and f u r t h e r a l i e n a t e d K a r u m e and t he o t he r p ro-Wes ternZ a n z i b a r i s by i n t e r p r e t i n g t h e r e v o l u t i o n as Communist,t h e S o v i e t s a n d Chinese moved quickly t o win Zanz iba r ' sf a v o r ; t h e y a pp l au de d t h e r e v o l u t i o n , h as t en ed t o e x te n dr e c o g n i t i o n t o t h e new government , and of fe re d t o s u p p o r ti t w i t h arms and economic a ss i s tance . A t t h e same t ime,t h e y a c t e d q u i c k l y t o s t r e n g t h e n the radical, pro-Corn-munis t e l e m e n t s i n the goverumqnt, Whether Babu andHanga qnd those o t h e r government o f f i c i a l s whom t h e Blocw a s s u p p o r t i n g w i t h money, propaganda, a n d d i s p l a y s off r i e n d s h i p wore d e d i c a t e d and d isc ip l ined Communis t s o rn o t d i d n ot r e a l l y matter much; they were c l e a r l y work-i n g i n t h e f o r e i g n Communist i n t e r e s t .t o c o n s o l i d a t e h i s p o s i t i o n w i t h i n t h e gov er nm ent . Hewas r e p or t e d t o be t h e harde st-wo rking member of t h eRevo lu t iona ry Counc i l ; as M i n i s t e r of Fore ign Affai rs ,he was i n a good p o s i t i o n t o promote Bloc i n f l u e n c e , andhe used h i s p o s i t i o n t o good ad van ta ge . Wore t h an any-one e l s e , he was r e s p o n s i b l e for open ing Zanz iba r t o Com-m u n i s t p e n e t r a t i o n v i a economic and m i l i t a r y a i d agree-ments. The GO2 d e c i s i o n t o r e c o g n i z e E a s t Germany (which

S h o r t of t h e use of force , Babu made e v e r y e f f o r t

no other non-Communist s t a t e had done) was comple te ly hisd o in g ; i n t h i s case, h e e n g in e e r e d a r e v e r s a l of an e a r l i e rd e c i s i o n by Karume.of North Vietnam and North Korea--in kh i c h Babu w a s in -vol ved i n even more de ce pt iv e maneuve+ings--was pro bab lyh i s grea t e s t achievement on behal f of$ $he Communists.There was oons ide rab le Wes te rn '&oncern expresseda t t h e t i me - -s h or t ly a f t e r t h e revolu t ion-- tha t Karumewas e i t h e r p o o r l y i nf or me d o r i n d i f f e r e n t t o Babu's i n-dependent course. A c t u a l l y , t h e r e is good e v i d e n c e t h a tt h e P r e s i d e n t had besn f u l l y a l e r t e d t o B ab u* s pro-Corn-

Z a n a i b a r * s s u b s e u e n t r e c o g n i t i o n

* I:d c

munist maneuvers and w a s veEy m uch p e r t u r b e d b y - h i s dis-regard of p r e s id e n t i a l d e c i s i o n s , A ltho ug h K e ng a t ta ,Obote, and Nye rer e had a l l warned K a r u m e n o t t o a s s o c i a t ew i t h Babu and h i s pro-Communist Arab "comrades," t h eP re s i de nt i n i t i a l l y t oo k t h e r a t h e r n d i v e p o s i t i o n t h a te v e r y Zanzibari shou ld have t h e o p p o r t u n i t y t o demons t ra teh i s l o y a l t y t o th e Z a n z i b a r r e v o l u t i o n , By March, howeverKarume's susp ic ions had been aroused t o th e p o i n t t h a t

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one of Hanga's men was r e g u l a r l y a t t a c h e d t o Babu on a l lt h e l a t t e r ' s t r i p s away Prom Zanz ibar ; abou t t h i s t ime,Karume is r e p o r t e d t o . h av e t o l a a c l o s e c o n f i d a n t t h a th e h a d l o s t a l l conf idence in Babu. Apparen t ly , hes t i l l t h o u g h t t h a t h e cou ld c o n t r o l him, however.I t i s d o u b t f u l t h a t ho could have done so for long,U n t i l t h e i n t e rn a l p o l i t i c a l s t r u g g l e was r e s o l v e d , a tl e a s t for t h e t i m e b e i ng , I n Karhne's favor- -by t h e suddent r a n s f e r of Babu to Dar es Salaam w i t h t h e formation oft h e u n i t e d republ ic of Tangany.ika and Zanz ibar , i n Apr i l1964--Babu was w e l l on h i s way t o d e v e l o p in g h i s OWDpower ap pa ra tu s , (Although h i s greates t s t r e n g t h w a s i nt h e army, B a b u had s u p p o r t e r s i n c e r t a i n g ov ern me nt of-

f i c e s s u c h as t he Immigra t ion O f f i c e an d t h e P r Q t o c o lO f f i c e ; so m e of these men s t i l l h o l d i m p o r t a n t p o s i t i o n sa n d f u r n i s h the b a s i s of t h e s t r e n g t h t h a t Babu h a s r e l a i r l e don t h e i s l a n d . ) T he o ne f a c t o r t h a t had kept Karuine on 't o p i n t h e s t r u g g l e f o r power had been thc Tanganyikanp o l i c e f o r c e c o n t i n ge n t , which N y o r e r e h a d o r i g i n a l l ys e n t to t h e i s l a n d as a measure of p r o t e c t i o n for Karumea g a i n s t O k e l l o a n d h i s armed fo l lowers . A f t e r O k e l l o ' sr emoval f rom Zanz ibar , Ka ru me kept t h e p o l i c e as protec-t i o n a g a i n s t Babu a nd h i s c l i q u e .Al though Zan z ib ar ' s un ion wi t h Tangany ika was i nh i s i n t e r e s t s - i n a sm u c h a s i t got Babu off t h e i s l a n d - -K a r u m e a p p a r e n t l y w q s not i n i t i a l l y e n t h u s i a s t i c abou tt h e idea ; c e r t a i n l y , he was n o t as s t r o n g l y i n f a v o r oft h e union a s Hanga, who c la ims $h at he and Kambona agreedwhen they were s t u d e n t s t o g e t h e r i n London t h a t T a ng an yi kaand Zanzibar sh o u l d b e u n i t e d one d a y , The i d e a of aunion was n o t a new one. Nyerere pro bab ly had i t i n t h eback of h i s mind when he f i r s t became i nvo lved in Za n z i b a rp o l i t i c s , beg inn ing a round 1956. For g e a r s , he had loolrsdf o rw a rd t o t h e t i m e when an Afr ican government would.oomat o power i n Zanz ibar , a t w h i c h time he p lanned t o merget h e two c o u n t r i e s . H i s f ee l i n g of urgency about theunion i n March and Ap r i l 1964 was p r o b a b l y a r e f l e c t i o nof h i s c o n c e r n t h a t B a b u was well on h i s way t o c o n s o l l -d a t i n g h i s p o s i t i o n i n Z an zib ar and his b e l i e f t h a t o n l y

d e c i s i v e a c t i o n t a k e n i n t i m e could s a v e Z a n z i b a r ' s Afrt-c a n r e v o l u t i o n from Arab c o n t r o l , T h e r e is e v i d e n c e t h a t

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Nyerere was concerned about t h e e x c e s s i v e d e g r e e of Com-m u n i s t i n f l u e n c e i n Z a n zi b ar , b u t p r e s s and other commenti n t h e - West wasprobably wrong in emphasiz ing t h i s asNyerere 8 c h i e f - c m c e r n . I t seems t h a t the Tangany ikanP r e s i d e n t d e l i b e r a t e l y e x a gg er at ed h i s f ea r s t h a t Z a n z i b a rwas f a l l i n g u n de r C ommunist c o n t r o l ; i t was an argumentt h a t he c o u ld u s e m os t c o n v in c in g ly i n t h e West t o wins u p p o r t f o r h i s move t o abso rb Zanz iba r i n t o Tangany ika .Whe re as i n p r i v a t e c o n v e r s a t i o n s w i th We s t e r n er s , N y er e rehas- always emphasized t h e anti -Communis t l i n e a s them a i n r a t i o n a l e f o r t h e uniohn, i n p u b l i c h e h a s t a k e n t h ep o s i t i o n t h a t t h e u n i o n w a s s im p ly a n a t u r a l s t e p towardA f r i c a n u n i t y .and Zanz iba r was a Tan ga ny ik an i n i t i a t i v e , A ltho ug h t h eidea had occurred t o Western o f f i c i a l s as t h e obv iouss o l u t i o n t o t h e Zanz iba r p roblem, the sub jec t was never of-f i c a l l y d r s c u s s e d w i t h t h e T an ga ny ik an s T hu s, i ta p p e a r s t h a t t h e move t o f o r m th e u n io n was s t r i c t l y A f r i -c a n i n o r i g i n , w i th ou t B r i t i s h or A m e r i c a n i n s p i r a t i o n ;t h e news of t h e e v e n t caught a l l of t h e major wor ld powersb y. s u r p r i s e .

For more t h a n a month, Nyerere and h i s r e p r e s e n t a -t i v e s had been conduc t ing secret n e g o t i a t i o n s w i t h K a ru m ea n d o th e r Zanzibar i l e a d e r s . Although they had suoceededi n c on vi nc in g s e v e r a l of them --in cludi ng Hanga and mala--t h a t i t was i n t h e i r best i n t e r e s t s t o 9 0 1 1 0 ~ h e Tan-gany ikan gu idance , K a r u m e was not immedia te ly persuaded.F i n a l l y , N y e r e r e s t h r e a t t o reca l l t h e Tanganyikan pol icec o n t i n g e n t had t h e f o r c e of an u ltdmatum. Faced .wi th t h e *p r o s p e c t of b e i n g d e p r i v ed of t h e s u p p o r t he needed aga ins tBabu, Karume agreed t o t h e u n i o n ,

The important: po i nt is t h a t the union of Tanganyika

As an independen t na t ion , , Zanz iba r had l a s t e d j u s tone hundred days . In i t s br i e f a n d t u r b u l e n t career asa s o v e r e i g n s t a t e , i t had faced a b i t t e r i n t e rn a l s t r u g g l ef o r power , ne ar economic co l l ap se , and a n i n t e n s i v e Corn- m u n i s t o f f e n s iv e . I t is n o t s u f p r i s i n g t h a t i t s new A f r i -c a n leaders shou l d have found it imposs ib le t o p r e s e r v et h e i r independence aga ins t these odds , Zanzibar was n o tr e a l l y e q u i p p e d f o r independence. To p r e s e r v e t h e i n t e g r i t y

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of the Afr ican revo lut ion t h e y had j u s t won, i ts leadershad t o s ac r i f ic e the independence they had j u s t beeng i v e n ,run t o l i e with Tanganyika. I t was only surp r is i ng t h a t. t h i s s ho ul d have been r e a l i z e d s o quiclrly.Zanz ibar's futu re had always seemed i n t h e long

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Abeid Aniani Karume Abdulla Kassim Hanga

Abdulrahman Mohamed Babu52616 11 .65 CI A

John Okello


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P r e f a c e

I n Z a n z ib a r , t h e r e i s t h e se c o n d l a r g e s t n o n -AYrican minor i ty in a l l t h e c o u n t r i e s s o u t h o f t h eSahara , an Arab communi ty which cons t i tu t es a lmos t 20p e r c e n t of t h e t o t a l p o pu l at i on . T he m a j o r i t y of Zan-x i b a r is-- h e so-ca l led S h i r a z s - - t ra c e t h e i r d e sc e ntfrom t h e i n t e r - m a r r i a g e of Arabs wi th ind igenous A f r i -c a n s . Another 20 p e r c e n t of t h e p o p u l a t i o n a r e descend-a n t s of s l a v e s i m p o r t e d f r o m t h e mainland o r more recentA f r ic a n i in mi gr an ts . F i n a l l y , t h e r e are some 20,000As f a n s , m a i n l y I n d i a n s .

Th r o u g h t h e y e a r s , social d i f f e r e n c e s b e t w e e nthese f o u r inajor g ro u ps h a ve b ee n r e i n f o r c e d i n t h ee co no mi c s p h e r e . E ve r s i n c e t h e s l a v e - t r a d i n g d a y s ,A fr ic a ns h ave f e l t h o s t i l i t y t ow ar ds t h e Arabs, who havebeen the l a n d e d a r i s t o c r a c y f o r whom t h e Afr icans haveworked as i n d e n t u r e d s e r v a n t s M ea nw hi le , t h e commerciala c t i v i t i e s of the Ind ians have made t he m d i s l i k e d a ndenv ied as a se c o n d p r i v i l e g e d g r o u p .I n t h e m i d- 1 95 0 s , t h e e le m en t of race, which hada lw a ys be e n p r e se n t i n t h e soc ia l and economic s p h e r e s ,moved i n t o p o l i t i c s . The so c i a l l y - p r o m i n e n t Arab and thee c o n o m i c a l l y - p r a v i l e g e d I n d i a n were sudden ly and s ign i -f i c a n t l y c h al le n ge d i n t h e p o l i t i c a l f i e l d .t h e i r f e a r - - n o t u n l i k e t h a t of t h e wh ite s i n Kenya--hasbeen of being swamped by the i l l i t e r a t e A fr i c an massesa t t h e b a l l o t box. I t i s a f e a r r o o te d i n a c o n c e r n f o rArab c u l t u r e and economic advantage, not for r a c i a lp u r i t y ; there i s s c a r e l y an Arab or I n d i a n i n Z a n zi b arwho does not have some Afr ican b lood.

S i n c e t h e n ,


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I. Zanz ibar s P o l i t c a l Awakening: 1955-62_.-_ --__ -.___,_____.__IA . I n t e r n a l P o l i t i c s_ -Zanz ibar y s f i r s t p o l i t i c a l p a r t i e s grew ou t o f ,or were c l o s e l y l i n k e d w i t h, t h e Arab, Afr ican, andS h i r a z a i a s s o c i a t i o n s which, as s e m i -p o l i t i c a l , s o c i a l ,and n iu tua l -he lp s o c i e t i e s , had been i n e x i s t e n c e i n t h ec o u n t r y for many ye ar s, The B r i t i s h h a d e s t a b l i s h e d thef i r s t , p o l i t i c a l i n s t i t u t i o n s i n Zan zib ar on t h e same com-munal bas i s ; members o f th e Leg i s l a t i ve Counc i l were ap-p o i n t e d as r e p r e s e n t a t i v e s of t h e s e p a r a t e g r ou p s r e p r e -s e n t i n g t h e Arab communi ty , t h e Af ro -Sh i r az i s , t h e Ind i -ans , and th e Europeans. One of t h e Arabs on t h e c o u n c i l - -A l i M u h s in - -f i rs t v o i ce d o p p o s i t i o n t o t h e i d e a of com-munal o r g a n i z a t i o n i n 1955, on t h e g ro un ds t h a t s u c h ano r g a n i z a t i o n ga ve t h e B r i t i s h a c ha nc e t o p e r p e t u a t et h e i r r u l e by a d iv ide-and-conquer po l i cy . H e and h i sf o l l o w e r s b o y c ot t ed t h e L e g i s l a t i v e C o un ci l, r e f u s i n g toa t t e n d i t s meet ings u n t i l t h e communal Organ iza t io n w a send ed. In December 1955 t h e y fo un de d Z a n e i b a s D s i r s tp o l i t i c a l p a r t y , t h e Za n zi b ar N a t i on a l P a r t y (ZNP) . A l -t ho ug h p r o f e s s i n g t o be n o n - r a c i a l i n composi t ion , i twas an Arab-led p a r t y and its members were dnawn fromt h e Arab Assoc ia t ion *Toward t h e end of 1956, J u l i u s N y e r e r e , Ta n g a n y i k a p sf or em os t; A f r i c a n n a t i o n a l i s t a nd t h e f o u n de r of t h e Tan-gany ika Af r i can Nat iona l Union (TANU), is r e p o r t e d t ohave come t o Z a n zi b a r t o u rg e A f r i c a n s a nd S h i r a z i s t os t a n d a g a i n s t t h e Arabs and to form a p o l i t i c a l p a r ty

-- .-~ W ~ ~ ~ ~ u g T - A ~ l - - M ~ ~ s ~ ~ame from a w e a lt h y f a m i l y , h i sp o l i t i c a l views were c o n s i d e r e d " r a d i c a l " by t h e o l d e r"Arab es t ab l i shment .,I1 T he p o l i t i c a l p a r t y which h eEormed--the ZNP--at tracted the more l i b e r a l A ra bs , whor e p r e s e n t e d a t h r e a t t o t h e v e r y c o n s e r v a t i ve Arab e l em e nt .

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based on pan-Africanism. On h i s i n i t i a t i v e , t h e Afro-S h i r a e i P a r t y (ASP) was formed in 1957. The e s s e n t i a ld i f f e r e n c e s b e tw e e n t h e ZNP and t h e ASP l a y no t so muchi n t h e i r o f f i c i a l p r o g r a m s as i n t h e c o n t r a s t i n g n a t u r eof t h e i r a p p e a l s t o t h e e l e c t o r a t e . Th e y d i f f e r e d o n lys l i g h t l y on the q u e s t i o n of pace of c o n s t i t u t i o n a l d e v e l o p -m e n t . B u t whereas t h e Z N P made i t s appea l t o " n a t i o n a lu n i t y " of a l l Zanz iba r i s an d t o ind igenous f e a r s o f main-land Af r ican in f lu enc e , t h e ASP emphas ized t h e u n i t y of" A f r i c an s " and a pp e a l e d s t r o n g ly t o common f e a r s of Arabdomina t ion , Engaging i n a h a t e campa ign aga ins t t h eArabs, ASP propaganda recounted t a l e s of t h e A r a b s l a v eh o ld e r s l o n g a g o a n d t h e i r descendents who s t i l l owneda lm o st a l l of t h e l a n d a nd s t i l l e x p l o i t e d A f r i c a n l a b o r .C a p i t a l i z i n g i n t h i s way on Pa n- A fr i ca ni s m and a n t i -Arabism, the new party won a l l six of t h e e lec ted con-s t i t u e n c i e s i n t h e f i r s t e l ec t i o n s h e l d i n Za n zib a r i n1957. With t h e t o t a l d e f e a t of t h e Z N P , t h e t r a d i t i o n a lascendancy of Z anzibar 's Arab m i n o r i t y w a s t h r e a t e n e df o r t h e f i r s t t i m e

The r a c i a l a n d p o l i t i c a l a n t a g o n i s m s aroused byt h e e l e c t i o n m a n i f es t e d t h em s e lv e s i n a v a r i e t y of f or msth roughou t 1957-58 . Re la t io ns de te r i o r a t ed betweenp l a n t a t i o n o wn er s ( g e n e r a l l y Arab s u p p o r t e r s of t h e ZNP)and sq u a t t e r f a r m e r s ( A S P s u p p o r t e r s ) ; p r o t e c t o r a t e - w i d eb o y c o t t s s p r a n g up; and a c h a i n o f c o n s u m e r c o o p e r a t i v es to r e s , o p e n e d u n d e r t h e a u s p i c e s of t h e ASP, f o r c e dhundreds of Arab shopkeepers o u t 01 b u s i n e s s . By t h eend of 1 95 8, t h e p o l i t i c a l t e n s i o n b etween t h e e t h n i ccommunit ies had reached such a p o i n t a s Lo t h r e a t e n s o c i a ls t a b i l i t y w i t h t h e l i k e l i h o o d of r a c i a l v i o l e n c e .

The major c r e d i t f o r a v e r t i n g o pen c i a s h e s be tw eent h e ZNP and ASP i n l a t e 1 95 8 l a y w i th t h e Pa n- A fr i ca nFreedom Movement of East and Central Africa (PAFMECA).N y e r e r e and o t h e r o f i t s l e a d e r s e m ph as iz ed t h a t t h e mosti m p o r t a n t o b j e c t i v e m u s t be t h e s t r u g g l e a g a i n s t c o l on i a l -i s m an d t h a t r a c i a l c o n f l i c t s were an o b s t a cl e t o t h eachievement of na t ional f reedom. I n a se r i e s of p u b l i cmeet in gs and p r i v a t e d i sc us s i on s PAFMECA re pr es en ta t i ve sc h id e d Z a n zi b a r i s f o r a l l o wi n g r a c i a l a n i m os i t i es t o s t andi n t h e way of independence. Immediate ly a f te rw ar ds , j th e

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p r i n c i p a l l e a d e r s of b o t h p a r t i e s u n i t e d t o g e t h e r t o formt h e "Zanz ibar F reedom Committee," t h e r e s u l t b e i n g av i s i b l e l e s s e n i n g o f p o l i t i c a l t e n s i o n s T hroughout 1959,p a r t y l e a d e r s t o u r e d t h e c o u nt ry t o g e t h e r . So i m p r e s s i v ewas t h e d i s p la y of i n t e r - p a r t y u n i t y t h a t t h e B r i t i s hA d m i n i s t r a t i o n a g r e e d t o Freedom Committee demands fo ra c c e l e r a t i o n of t h e p a c e of c o n s t i t u t i o n a l c ha ng e.

However, d isa greem ent wi th in t h e ASP ove r thel a t t e r s s p a r t i c i p a t i o n i n t h e F reedom Committee u l t i m a t e l yl e d to a s p l i t i n t h e p a r t y and t h e f o r m a ti o n of a t h i r dp o l i t i c a l p a r t y i n Z a nz i ba r I n November 1959 Ameri Tajo ,Mohamed Shamte and A l i Shar i f Musa r es igned from t h e ASPand founded th e Zanz ibar and Pemba Peop les ' Pa r t y (ZPPP),which was open t o members of a l l races b u t was s p e c i f i c a l l yd e s i g n e d f o r t h o s e S h i r a z i s who w ishe d t o a v o i d i n v o l v e -ment i n t h e h e a v i l y A r a b - i n f l u e n c e d ZNP or t he p redomin-a t e l y ma inl and -Af ric an ASP. (The ZPPP had i t s g r e a t e s ts t r e n g t h on Pemba I s l a n d . ) A lt ho ug h t h e s p e c i f i c i n c i d e n twhich brought about t h e b r e a k i n t h e ASP w a s t h e o p e nde nu nc ia t i on by some ASP p a r t y members of T a j o f o r sup -p o r t i n g t h e y o u t h g ro u p o f t h e m e ed om C om mi tt ee , t h es p l i t b etween t h e S h i r a z i and t h e A f ri c an s i n f a c t r e p r e -s e n t e d a g r o w i n g i n a b i l i t y of t h e s e two groups t o workt o g e t h e r . I n l a r g e measure, t h i s was due t o t h e d ee pp e r s o n a l h o s t i l i t y b et we en Karume, a l e a d e r o f t h e ASP,an d Mohamed Sham te. F or several m o n t h s p r i o r to t h ef i n a l b re ak -u p, r e l a t i o n s between K a r u m e and t h e l e a d e r sof t h e S h i s a z i A s s o c i a t i o n had b ee n c h a r a c t e r i z e d byt h r e a t s , i n t i m i d a t i o n s , and op en ly h o s t i l e a c t s .the Freedom Committee had ended, The announcement ofZ an zi ba rO s s e c on d g e n e r a l e l e c t i o n s t o b e h e ld i n J a n ua r y1961 l e d bo th t he ASP and t h e Z N P t o d i s a f f i l i a t e fromt h e o r g a n iz a t i o n .h i s p o l i t i c a l s i t u a t i o n as t h e l e a d e r of an Arab minor i ty ,a p p a r e n t l y ha d d ec i de d s oo n a f t e r h i s d e f e a t i n 1 95 7 t h a tt h e b e s t w a y t o win p o l i t i c a l c o n t r o l i n Z a nz ib ar w a st h r o u g h p r o f e s s i o n a l , w e l l - o r g a n i z e d , m fd -t we nt i e t h cen-t u r y p o l i t i c a l m ethods. As a f i r s t s t e p , he had r e c a l l e d

By t h e time t h e ZPPP was forme d, t h e honeymoon of

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from London h i s deputy and genera l secre tary--MohamedBabu--to a i d i n t h e r e o r g a n i z a t i o n of t h e p a r t y . Onh i s r e t u r n t o Za n z ib a r , Babu c o n c e n t r a t e d on t h e o r g a n i -z a t i o n of yo ut h, women, and worker g ro up s as e f f e c t i v ep o l i t i c a l i ns tr um en ts f o r t h e ZNP. A l i Muhsin himselft r a v e l l e d e x t en s i v e l y i n A fr i ca s o l i c i t i n g su pp or t forh i s o b J e c t i v e s o f s el f - go v er n m en t a nd i nd e pe n de nc e f o rZanz iba r He w a s p a r t i c u l a r l y w e l l - r e c e iv e d by Nkrumaho f G h an a, * a nd l i n k s w i t h Cairo, which had e x i s t e d s i n c e1956, were r e v i t a1 z e d Nasser s i n t e r e s t i n promot i n$pan-Arabism, w i t h C a i r o as t h e f o c a l p o i n t , l e d h i m t omake promises of s u p p o r t and f i n a n c i a l a i d t o t h e ZNP f o rt h e f o r t h c om in g e l e c t i o n s . , Thr ou gh Babu, t h e ZNP wasa l s o r e c e i v i n g Chines e Communist money f o r i t s e l e c t i o ncampaign against t h e ASP.

L a r g e l y d u e t o A l i Muhsin's and Babu ' s e f f o r t s ,t h e ZNP e n t e re d t h e 1 96 1 e l e c t i o n s as a h i g h l y - d i s c i p l i n e d ,w e l l - f in a n c e d, an d o r g a n i z a t i o n a l l y i n t e g r a t e d bo dy . Thetwo l e a d e r s h a d , d u r in g t h r e e y e a r s of i n t e n s e o rg a n i a a-t i o n a l a nd r e c r u i t i n g a c t i v i t y , a t t r a c t e d many of t h ee d u c a t e d e l i t e w i t h t h e i r a p p e a l f o r m u l t i - r a c i a l u n i t yi n t h e f i g h t f o r immediate inde pende nce. The ASP re sp on set o t h i s g o - g e t t i n g p ro gr am o f t h e ZNP h ad n o t b e en l i v e l y .h ad s t r i p p e d t h e A SP of many of i t s o u t s t a n d i n g l eaders

z a t i o n , it was unab le to command t h e f i n a n c i a l and tec h-wide e l e c t i o n . Once a g a i n , as i n 1957, i t s approach wasmainly Lo c r i t i c i z e i t s opponents f o r be i ng Arab-dominated .In 1961, however, app ea ls to r a c i a l p r e j u d i c e were n o t

The 1 95 9 s p l i t i n t h e p a r t y a nd t h e e me rg en ce of t h e ZPPPand much of i t s o r g a n i z a t i o n a l s 3 r e n gt h ; w i t h a d i v i d e dle ad e r sq ip and a sp raw l i ng and unmanageab le pa r ty o rg an i -n o l o g i c a l resources n e c e s s a r y t o conduct a modern, nation-

t o s u b s t i t u t e f o r good p a r t y o r g a n i z a t i o n a nd a soundp o l i t c a l p o l i c y

* In s p i t e of t h e m e a t s u f f e r e d by t h e Z N P a t t h ep o l l s i n 1 95 7 , Nkrumah in v i t e d A L i Muhsin and not Karumet o a t t e n d G ha na 's a n n i v e r s a r y c e l e b r a t i o n in March 1958;by 1961, however, Nkrumah ha d t hr o wn h i s s u p p o r t t o t h eASP

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I t was g e n e r a l l y p r e d i c t e d t h a t t h e e l e c t i o n s wouldbe c l o s e , and s o i t t u r n e d o u t . The ASP won t e n s e a t s( o n e s e a t b y a m a j o r i t y of o ne v o t e ) , t h e ZNP nine , andt h e ZPPP t h r e e . S i n c e n e i t h e r of t h e m aj or p a r t i e s hada c l e a r m a j o r i t y t o form a government , l ea de rs of eachapproached Shamte, the l e a d e r of t h e ZPPP, w i t h the ob -j e c t i v e of fo rming a c o a l i t i o n government .* When t w o ofthe ZPPP pa r ty members s u p p o r t e d t h e Z N P and one the ASP(which made i t 11 t o ll), h e B r i t i s h a p p oi n te d a care-t ak e r governmen t pend ing new e l e c t i on s i n June.t h e ZNP of havSng won votes by impersonation, double-vot-i n g , a nd i n t i m i d a t i o n i n t h e J a nu a ry e l e c t i o n s . T he rei s n o . e v i d e n c e t o s u p p o r t t h i s t h i n k i n g which a p p e ar s t ohave been in sp i r ed by a r e l u c t a n c e t o b e l i e v e t h a t A f r i-cans and S h i r a z i s would v o l u n t a r i l y v o t e f o r a n Arab-ledp a r t y . N e v e rt h e l es s , t h e s e f e a r s l e d t h e A f r o - Sh i r a z i st o a tt em pt to a s se r t t h e i r own a u t h o r i t y a t t h e J u n ee l e c t i o n s by c h a l le n g in g t h e r i g h t t o v o t e of c e r t a i n i n-d i v i d u a l s a n d by r e f u s i n g Z N P e l e c t i o n a g e n t s access t osome p o l l i n g s t a t i o n s , T hese a c t i o n s s oo n l e d t o g e n e r a ld i s o r d e r s . The b i t t e r n e s s of t h e p r e - e l e c t i o n ca mpa ig ne r u p t e d i n t o b l o o d y r a c i a l r i o t i n g i n w hich 67 people ( 65b e in g Arabs) were k i l l ed and some 300 (mainly Arab) wounded.A s t a t e of emergency w a s declared , and B r i t i s h t r o o p sfrom Keyna, Tanga nyika and t h e Middle E a s t had t o be c a l l e di n

Apparently many ASP s u p p o r t e r s e r r o n e o u s l y s us p e c t ed

The ASP had r e a s o n t o be annoyed a t t h e J u n e elec-t i o n r e s u l t s . Although i t c o u ld claim 45,000 v o t e s t o3 2, 00 0 f o r t h e Z N P and 12,000 for t h e ZPPP, i t won only10 s e a t s i n t h e Le g i s l a t i v e C o u n c il , compared t o 10 f o rt h e ZNP and 3 for t h e ZPPP; a c o a l i t i o n a g re em en t b etwe ent h e B N P and t h e ZPPP brought t ho se t w o p a r t i e s t o power,

- -RGFiiThe Su l t an o f le re d t o pay off h i s p e r s o n a l d e b t s ,Shamte t h r e w i n h i s l o t w i t h t h e Z N P . However, h e wasn o t able t o conv ince bo th of t h e o t h e r t w o elec ted . .ZPPPr e p r e s e n t a t i v e s t o do th e same; one of them switched overt o t he ASP.

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For 18 months af terward, ASP l eade rs complained about theu n f a i r n e s s of a boundary de l i mi ta t i on which cou ld senda p a r t y w i t h an o v e r - a l l m a j o r i t y o f 1 , 0 0 0 i n t o o p p o s i t i o n . *As for t h e e l e c t i o n r i o t s , B abu made a s t a t e m e n t

t o the British press i n London i n mid-summer i n which hel a i d t h e e n t i r e blame f o r t he m o n t h e ASP. A l i Mufisin,i n a p r i v a t e i n t e r v i e w about t h e same t i m e , made a s i mi l a rcla im. And i t would seem t h a t t h e t r u t h was g e n e r a l l yon t h e i r s i d e Although ASP leaders i n s i s t e d p u b l ic l yt h a t m a n y more A f r i c a n s t h a n Arabs had be e n k i l l e d b u tt h a t t h e b o d ie s had been hidden, t h e i r case w a s not con-vincing. However , t h e B r i t i s h Commission of In qu iry i n t ot h e d i s t u r b a n c e s i n June was c l e a r l y r e l u c ta n t t o p la c et h e blame on one s i d e or t h e o t h e r , I t s o f f i c i a l r e po r ts t a t e d t h a t the "blame w a s f a i r l y e ve nl y d i s t r i b u t e dbe tween the ASP an d t h e ZNP." I t a t t r i b u t e d t h e s a v a g e r yof t h e d i s t u r b a n c e s and t h e l a r g e number of d e a t h s l a r g e $ yt o t h e " v io l en t a t t i t u d e of t h e p o l i t i c a l y ou th wings"o f b o t h p a r t i e s a nd " to t h e p a y i n g o f f of o l d s c o r e s . "I n a n o b v i o u s e f f o r t t o avoid a g g r a v a ti n g a n e x p l o s i v es i t u a t i o n , i t c o n c l u d e d t h a t " t h e d i s t u r b a n c e s were n o to ve rw he lm in gl y r a c i a l i n c h a r a c t e r R a t h e r , t h e majorcause was th e bombardment of words, b o th w r i t t e n andsp o k e n " d u r i n g t h e e l e c t i o n c a m p a i g n . A s a f i n a l n o t e ,it added " tha t w e do not think Communism played any parti n t h e d i s t u r b a n c es ll

Q u i t e c l e a r l y , i t was t h e r a c i a l c o n t e n t of t h e"bombardment of words11 t h a t had b ee n l a r g e l y r e s p o n s i b l efor r a i s i n g t e ns i on s t o t h e b r e a k i ng po3.int. Though theyh ad n e ve r b e f o r e e r u p t e d i n t o v i o l e n c e on a mass s c a l e ,t h e s e t e n s i o n s had e x i s t e d for a good many years, A f t e rt h e Ju ne r i o t s , t he r e were i n d i c a t i o n s o f a new p a t t e r nof s e r i o u s crime i n Za nz ib ar , i n which c r i m i n a l a c t i v i t i e si n s t e a d of b e i n g c o n fi n e d t o i n d i v i d u a l s t en d ed t o bec a r r i e d o u t by g an gs and i n which v i o l e n c e f o r t h e f i r s t

*One of t h best examples of t h e way B r i t i s h p o l i c yi n Za n z ib a r f a v o r e d t h e Arabs w a s t h e i r g e r r y m a n d e r i n go f v o t i n g d i s t r i c t s i n f a vo r of t h e Z N P ,

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time became a u s u a l f e a t u r e . I t is worth examining t h ec h a rg e t h a t t h i s new el e me n t of v i o l e n c e was i n someway t i e d t o t h e in t ro du c t io n o f Communism in t o Zanz iba r ,

B . E x t e r n a l I n f l u e n c e s

' T h e r e . i s n e do ub t t h a t t h e r e was i n t e r e s t and en -couragement froin o u t s i d e Zanz ibar for bo th o f t h e majorp a r t i e s i n t h e 1 96 1 e l e c t i o n s ,1. Free World Contacts

A s n ote d e a r l i e r , t h e A f r o - S h i ra z i " a l l i a n c e , w hi chwas f o r m e d i n .F e b su a r y 1957 and l a t e r co n ve r te d i n t o t h e .ASP, was brought about p a r t l y by t h e i n t e r v e n t i o n ofN y e re r e , whose p o l i t i c a l a d v i c e had been sought by theAf ri ca n ASSoCiat io n During 1958-60 Kasume co nt in ue d t omake f r e q u e n t v i s i t s t o D a r e s Salaam f o r t a l k s w i t hNyerere. Although N y e r e r e h imse l f has been normal lyc i r c u m sp e c t i n h i s d a b b l i n g i n Zanzibar a f f t a i r s , o t h e rof h i s su p p o r t e r s h a v e b e e n much more open. The Tangan-y ikan Af r i can Nat iona l Union ('PANU) t oo k an a c t i v e i n t e r e s ti n t h e 1961 e l e c t i o n s , B i b i T i t i , a l e a d i n g TANU sup-p o r t e r , t ou red Zanz ibar immedia tely be f o re t h e e l e c t i o n e ;an d h e r campaign on be hal f of t h e ASP unquest iqnaXly, , d idmuch t o e n fl a me a n ti -A r ab f e e l i n g s o n t h e i s l a n d . I n ap r i v a te in t e rv iew i n November 1961 , A l i Muhsin, t h e l e a d e rof t h e ZNP, spo ke of h e r r o l e i n t h e c amp aig n:There is no q u e s t i o n t h a t TANU h a s i n -t e r v e n e d i n Za nz i b ar p o l it i c s , s e n d i n ga g e nt s h e r e , a l l o c a t i n g money, and a i d -i n g i n t h e p r op ag an da of t h e ASP. Themost out rag eou s example was t h e TANUWomen I)s R e p r e se n t a t ve , B i b i T i t i , whocame h e r e on b e h a l f of t h e ASP and madean appea l t o r ac i a l i sm that was as badas Fascism. Even t h e government w a smoved to i n v e s t i g a t e and c o n s i d e r

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I . .

i n d i c t m e n t , b u t of c o u r s e , b e f o r e a c% o ncou ld be t a k e n s h e was back i n Tanganyika.

Othe r TANU l e a d e r s re po r t ed ly gave money and advice t ot h e ASP for t h e e l e c t i o n s . C an oe -l oa ds of men were s e n tfrom Tanganyika t o Lake p a r t i n t h e e l e c t i o n d i st u rb a nc e s.Fo l lowing t h e a r r e s t of many ASP s up po r% e rs f o r t h e i ra l l e g e d p a r t i n t h e r i o t i n g , TANU was f i r s t t o o f f e r h e l pw i t h t h e i r d e f e n s e .A f t e r t h e e l e c t o r a l r e v e r s e of t h e A S P i n 1961and t h e a l l i a n c e of t h e Z N P and the ZPPP, Tanganyikanand Pan-AfPican su pp or t was g iv e n u n r e s e rv e d ly t o t h eASP,, The 1 a t t e r " s p ~ l i c y t a t e m e n t s were o f t e n i s s u e d

u nd er t h e s u b s c r i p t i o n " w i t h t h e ad vi ce of TANU." InMarch 1961, an ASP o f f i c e was opened i n D a r e s Salaam,a nd a l l d u r i n g 1961-62 t h e ASP Execut ive Commit tee sentd e l e g a t i o n s t o v i s i t TANU l eader s , i n most i n s t a n c e s i na n a t t e m p t t o o b t a i n f i n a n c i a l a s s i s t a n c e . TANU r e p o r t -e d ly h a d a I 1 s e c ur i t y f un d" c o n t r o l l e d s o l e l y by t h e twoTANU l e a d e r s Nyerere and Kambona, which was used p r i m a r i l yt o a s s i s t f r i e n d l y p o l i t i c i a n s i n o t h e r c o un t r i e s. TheASP l eader Othman Sh ar i f f le ar ne d of t h e fund when her e c e iv e d a b o u t I , 000 s h i l l i n g s ( a b o u t $150) from Nyererep r i o r t o t h e J a nu a ry 1 9 61 e l e c t i o n s ; a p p a re n t l y he wasg ive n much l a r g e r s u m s over th e next two yea rs . Hangaand K a r u m e , and o the r ASP l eade rs are a l s o known t o haver e c e i v e d money f ro m TANU and PAFMECA s o u r c e s .The c o n t i n u i n g l i a i s o n b et we en t h e ASP and TANUc a u se d m u c h resent ment i n ZNP c i r c l e s , I n p a r t i c u l a r ,t h e Z N P was i r r i t a t e d b y t h e p r e s e n ce of the lead er ofth e O p p o s i t i o n , Othman Sh a r i f f , a t t h e g a t h e r i n g of E a s ta n d C e n t r a l A f r i c a n l e a d e r s which took p la ce i n D a r esSal aam from 14-15 Oc to be r 1961 . The ZNP d i d n o t r e c e i v ean i n v i t a t i o n t o t h e m e e ti n g p and t h i s c o n s i d e r a b l yworsened the a l r e a d y s t r a i n e d r e l a t i o n s between TANU andt h e Z N P and between the Zanzibar and Tanganyikan govern-ments . On occ as i on , Government of Tanganyika o f f i c i a l sa re known Lo have taken d i r e c t anti-ZNP i n i t i a t i v e s . I np a r t i c u l a r , T a n g a n y i k a n p r e s s u r e was e x e r t e d o n bo th t h eChinese Communis ts and th e Egypt ians t o cease t h e i r

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s u p po r t f o r t h e ZNP.* I n l a t e 1963 Mohammed Sha mte, t h el e a d e r 01 t h e ZPPP and the ChieP M i n i s t e r of Z a n z i b a r ' sc o a l i t i o n go ve rn me nt, s t a t e d p r i v a t e l y t h a t N ye re re a ndKambona were b a s i c a l l y u n f ri e nd l y t o t h e p r e s e n t g ov er n-ment of Za n z ib a r " i n c l u d i n g Za n z ib a r A f r i c a n s l i k e my sel f .'!H e e x p r e s se d b a f f l e m e n t , saying he could n o t f i g u r e outwhat !!I o r a ny Za n z i ba r S h i r a z i ha d ever done t o t h e Tan-ga ny ik an s. " TANU l e ade r s t hemse lves usua l ly advanced twob a s i c r ea s on s o r t h e i r s u p p o rt o f t h e ASP; f i r s t ) t h e i rc l o s e f e e l i n g 0f k i n s h i p w i th t h e Afr ican e l ement i n Zan-zibar and, second, their f e a r of Communisin o r proto-Com-munism i n t h e ZNP, e s p e c i a l l y i n p eo p l e l i k e Babu. A l -though t h e r e was no t a l k of a l l i a n c e o r a n n ex a t io n , i tno doub t was even th en t h e v iew of t h e Tanganyikan lead-e r s t h a t Z an zi ba r o ug ht t o be a s s o c i a t e d c l o s e l y w i t hTanganyika

Th re e o t h e r n on -b lo c c o u n t r i e s , b e s i d e s Tan g an y ik a ,are known t o have suppor ted the ASP before t h e r e v o l u t i o ni n 1964. Ghana was, p e r h a p s , r a t h e r slower than Tangan-y i k a i n coining out open ly i n fa vo r of t h e ASP, b ut by atl e a s t 1 96 1 t h e d i e was c a s t . I n t h a t y e a r , t h e GhanaBureau o f A f r i c a n A f f a i r s s e n t o v e r $ 15 ,0 00 t o a s s i s t t h eASP i n t h e e l e c t i o n ; l a t e r .&ha% ea r , Ghana ian l e g a l as-s i s t a n c e was a f f o r d e d t h e ASP i n d e f e n se of i n d i v i d u a lA f r i c a n s accused of of fenses commi t t ed dur ing t h e e l e c t i o nr i o t s ; a t t h e end of 1962 t h e ASP ope ned an o f f i c e i nAccra; and i n e a r l y 1963 t h e High Comniiss ioner of Ghanai n Uganda h e l d p r i v a t e d i s c u s s io n s w i t h ASP l eader s ont h e s u b j e c t of f i n a n c i a l a s s i s t a n c e for t h e ASP. P r i o rt o t h e i ndependence o f Zanz ibar , t h e Eth io p ian Govern-ment a l s o pr ov id ed f i n a n c i a l a s s i s t a n c e t o t h e ASP, ont h e grounds t h a t it r e p r e s e n t e d t h e m a j o r i t y and was t h e

- *In e a r l y 1963-Oscar Kambona, Tanganyika n M in is te r ofHome Af fa i r s , r e po r t ed ly made s t r o n g r e p r e s e n t a% o n s t ot h e C h i n e s e Communist Ambassador i n D a r es Salaam aboutC h i n a ' s aid to t h e ZNP, as kin g th e ambassador i n unambiguousterms t o t a k e s t e p s t o t e r m i n a t e h i s government s t suppor tf o r a pa r t y which r ep res en t ed an Arab mino r i ty .

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o n l y p re do m in at el y A f r i c an p o l i t i c a l p a r t y . HaileS e l a i s se , who was under con s i de r ab l e p re ssu re f rom Egyp t ,was p a r t i c u l a r l y s ym pa th et ic t o t h e ASP*s conce rn aboutArab i n f l u e n c e i n Z a n z i ba r . H e was r e p o r t e d l y d e l i g h t e dwhen t h e coup o u s t e d t h e Arab-dominated governme nt i nJanuary 1964, and the Ethopian Government was among t h ef i r s t t o r e c o g n i z e t h e n e w regime. I

While t h e ASP m a i n t a i n e d l i a i s o n w i t h t h e s e s e v e r a lr u l i n g A f r i c a n p a r t i e s a n d w i t h I s r a e l , t h e Z N P foundi t s major i n t e r n a t i o n a l a l l y i n E gy pt . B eg in ni ng i nabout 1956, Nasser began wooing Za nz ib ar rs Arabs f o ri n c l u s i o n i n h i s Greater Arab Union. Since it was in-e x p e d i e n t b l a t a n t l y t o p u rs u e t h e p u r e l y Arab cause i nZa n z ib a r , C a i r o a lw a ys p u b l i c ly r e p r e s e n t e d an d s u p p o r t e dt h e Z N P as t h e foremost n a t i o n a l i s t pa r t y , n o t a s ap a r ty d o m in a t e d b y Arabs , and h ai l ed A l i Muhsin as t h et r u l y r e p r e s en t a t i v e n a t i o n a l i s t l eade r A s e a r l y as1956, t h e Swahil i announcer on Radio Cai ro w a s a Zan-z i b a r i , who served as a u s e f u l c o n t a c t f o r t h e numerousZ a n z ib a r i s t u d e n t s who took advan tage of Eg y p t i a n edu-c a t i o n a l f a c i l i t i e s . Nasser w a s , a t t h i s t i m e , a v e r yp o p u l a r f i g u r e i n Z a n zi b ar ; h i s p ho t og ra ph a p p ea re d i nhomes and many g i r l s c a r r i e d h a n d k e r c h i e f s w i t h h i s p i c -t u r e impr in ted on them,

W i t h a keen eye t o t h e a d v a n t a g e t h a t s u c h a power-f u l f r i e n d cou ld be t o him a t home, A l i Muhsin was veryagreeable t o Nasser Os a t t e n t o n s . H i s a s s o c i a t i o n s w i thCairo had a lways been close, and he r e p r e s e n t e d h i m se l fa s a p e r s o n a l f r i e n d of Nasser . I n t h e l a t e 195OPs heopened t h e Z N P ' s f i r s t o ve rs ea s o f f i c e i n Cairo . Apartfrom moral suppor t and a cons ide rab le number of s t u d e n ts c h o l a r s h ip s , h o w e v e r , t h e ZN P is not known t o haveo b t a i n e d much m a t e r i a l a s s i s t a n c e from Egypt , a t l e a s tp r i o r t o 1963. I n e a r l y 1963, t h e UAR r e p o r t e d l y madea d o n a t i o n o f ca r s , motorcyc les , . b i cy le s , and o t he r goodswhich were s o l d t o augment ZNP p a r t y f u n d s, F o l lo w in gt h e London C o n s t i t u t i o n a l C o n f e r e n c e i n Se pt em be r 1 9 63 ,Z a m i b a r D sPr ime Min is te r and o t h e r ZN P m i n i s t e r s s t o p p e d

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i n C a i r o i n t h e hop e of r e c e iv i n g g r e a t e r f i n a n c i a l as-s i s t a n c e , b u t a p p a r e n t l y n o t h i n g more t h a n a n e x p r e s s i o nof sympathy f rom the Egyp t i ans was fo r thcoming .

2. The Sino-Sov ie t Of fens ive- I_Z a n z i b a r i s were f i r s t i nt ro du ce d t o Communism i nEngland, where some 200 Z a n e i b a r is were e n r o l l e d i n v a r i o usc o u r s e s of s t u d y each ye ar . The So v i e t s , work ing th roughth e Communist Pa r ty of Great B r i t i a n (CPGB) , were t h ef i r s t t o make contact w i t h th e se o v e r s e a s Z a n zi b ar s t u d e n t s *

- * B a K A I 1 ' S u l t a n f s s a , A l i Mahf udh , Sal im Rashid , andHanga a l l s t u d i e d i n t h e UK i n t h e mid and l a t e 1950:gs.I n e v e r y case , t h e i r s o j o u r n i n E ng la nd w a s more d i s t i n -gu i shed by t h e i r l e f t i s t s t u de n t and p o l i t i c a l a c t i v i t yt h a n b y t h e i r a c ad em ic p u r s u i t s , A lt ho ug h i t cannot beconf i rmed t h a t Babu was a m e m b e r o f t h e CPGB (he h a s pub-l i c l y d e ni ed it); he may have jo i ne d t h e Pa r t y somet imearound 1955 . Car d -c a r r i e r or n o t , h e was close enought o t h e P a r t y t o become chairman of t h e E a s t African Com-mit tee of t h e Communist-penetrated Movement fo r Co lo ni alFreedom (MCF), A3 . i S u l t a n l s s a is known t o h a v e j o i n e dt h e CPGB i n 1 95 4; w he the r his c la im t h a t h i s e d u c a t i o ni n B r i t a i n w a s p a i d f o r by t h e CPGE is t r u e or not, someof h i s c loses t a s so c i a t i o n s wh ic h h a ve had a l a s t i n g i n-f l u e n c e o n h i m were with Communists. A y ea r a f t e r hew e n t ' to England i n May 1958, w h i l e w or ki ng i n t h e P o r t s -m o u t h d o c k y a r d s , A l i Mahfudh a pp li ed f o r membership i nt h e CPGB ( t h e r e i s no i n f o r m a t i o n w h et he r h i s a p p l i c a t i o nw a s e v e r ac ted upon) , While a s t u d e n t a t t h e U n i v e r s i t yof Lond on, S a l i m R a shi d e s t a b l i sh e d c o n t a c t w i t h t h e Com-m u n i st - f r o n t I n t e r n a t i o n a l U nion of S t u d e n t s (IUS) ; i n1960 he appeared t o be f u n c t i o n i n g as a c o o r d i n a t o r f o rZ a nz i ba r s t u d e n t s i n t h e S o v i e t Bloc c o u n t r i e s . A f t e rh e dropped o u t of t h e London School of Economics, appar-e n t l y because he f a i l e d t o o b t a i n a d e g r e e , Hanga t r a v e l l e dt o t h e U S S R i n 1 96 0; a t t h e e n d of a y e a r ' s s t u d y , h e wasawarded a doctorate i n i n t e r n a t i o n a l l a w and economics.

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The C hi ne se e n t e r e d t h e p i c t u r e i n t h e l a t e 1 9 5 O g s , i n i -t i a l l y , a t l e a s t , s u p p o r t i n g i n d i v i d u a l s a l r e a d y c ho se nby t h e CPGB and th e S o v i e t s o *

A s l a t e a s 1959-60, Communism' was s t ill v i r t u a l l yunknown on the i s l a n d s of Zanzibar and Pemba. Th er e w e r eno more than a dozen o r s o ind iv iduals- -who had re tu rn edt o Zanzibar from England--who were a t a l l f a m i l i a r w i t ht h e t e a c h i n g s of Marx, Enge ls , Len in , S ta l i n , o r Mao.There were no o f f i c i a l c o n t a c t s between t h e p r o t e c t o r a t e ' sco lo ni a l government and any of t h e Bloc c o u n t r i e s , andt h e r e was no Communist program of c u l t u r a l o r p o l i t i c a le x c ha n ge s . I n t h e f o u r y e a r s b e f o r e t h e r e v o lu t i o n , how-e v e r , t h e g r ow th i n Communist i n f l u e n c e a nd a c t i v i t y w a s

- m a n E - e T v m E t appeared i n The Observer on 8March 1964, Babu gave th e fol lo wi ng acc ount of how he wasc o n t a c t e d by t h e C h ine s e :A t a p a r t y i n London once I m e t a manfrom t h e N e w China N e w s Agency who t o l dme he wanted a s t r i n g e r i n E a s t A f r i c a .So on my r e t u r n t o Zanz iba r , I s t a r t e dse nd in g him news from abou t 1959 on-wards . . e e I w a s a t t h e t i m e t h e u n s a l a r i e ds e c r e t a r y of t h e N a t i o n a l i s t P a r t y andt h e money came i n u s e f ul .

Babu arrang ed f o r A l i S u l t a n Issa t o m e e t t h e C h in e s e .Both t r a v e l l e d ( s e p a r a t e l y ) %pPek ing i n 1960, From t h a tt i m e they have bo th ma in ta ined a close a s s o c i a t i o n w i t ht he Ch inese . Al though h i s e a r l i e r c o n t a c t s were a l s o w i tht h e S o v i e t s (his work for t h e World Federa t ion of TradeU n io n s q u a l i f i e d h im f o r l abor uni on t r a i n i n g i n E a s tGermany), Ahmed A. Q u l l a t e i n is another example of a Zan-z i b a r i who s wi t ch ed h i s a l l e g i a n c e t o China. I n August1961, he t r a v e l l e d t o P e ki n g and s i n c e t h e n h e h a s c l e a r l ybeen more fa vor ab ly in c l in ed toward Ch ina than toward t heUSSR.

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r e m ar k a bl e . I n a sh o r t p e r i o d o f t i m e , Bloc c o n t a c t s w i t hZ a nz i ba r n a t i o n a l s m u l t i p l i e d r a p i d l y b eyond t h e fewl e a d e r s f i r s t c on ta ct ed abroad

Beginning akound 1959, l a r g e qu an t i t i e s o f Com-munist i d e o l o g i c a l m a t e r i a l were i mp o rt e d i n t o Za n z ib a r eThere was no p r oh ib i t io n by th e Government ag a i ns t suchmat e r i a l coming i n t o t h e c o u n t r y ; book s t a l l s open ly s o l do r gave away free-of-charge l a rge q u a n t i t i e s of books,p a p e r s , and p am p hl e ts p u b l i sh e d i n t h e USSR or China.A f r i c a were broadcas t by MQSCOW, In Engl i sh and F rench ,i n A p r i l 1958, Peking fo l lowed i n September 1959 withb r o a d c a s t s i n En g l i sh a nd C a nt on e se t o Zanzibar Madagas-c a r , M a u r i t i u s , and Sou th Af r i ca . In February 1960 Mos-cow i n a u g u r a t e d i t s f i r s t regular Afr ican- language programin S w a h i l i . In r e sp o n se , P e k i n g i n June 1960 quadrupledi t s d a i l y hal f -ho ur program beamed a t Zanz ibar and i nAugust 1961 began bro ad ca st i ng a Swahi l i program of i t sown t o Zanzibar , Dur ing t h e n e xt t h r e e y e a r s , t h e r a d i obarrage broadcast to Zanz ibar grew s t ea d i ly more in t e ns e .A l l of t h e p rograms were t a i l o r e d for Zanz ibar aud iences .A s t h e i r major propaganda theme, th ey championed th e a n t i -c o lo n ia l movement and po rtr ay ed t h e U.S. as t h e new co lon ia lpower i n Af r ic a . They a l s o condemned r a c i a l i s m i n t h eWest and o f f e r e d s u p p o r t f o r t h e r e v i v a l o f A f r i c an c u l -t u r e . Moscow, i n p a r t i c u la r s t r e s s e d i t s own successesi n e l i m i n a t i iig i l l i t e r a c y and i n a c h i e vi n g g r e a t t ec hn o-l o g i c a l p r og r es s . Both Moscow and Pe ki ng --bu t Moscow t oa g r e a t e r e x te n t- -e m ph a si z ed A f r i c a n e v e n t s i n t h e i r news-cas t s t o t h e a r e a , T h er e c a n be no doubt of t h e i m p a c tof t hese b l o c b r o a d c a s t s . A s of January 1960, t h e r e werean e s t inated $6 short -wave r e ce iv er s pe r thousand Zan-z i b a r i s ; only t h e Union of South Af r i ca and M a u r i t i u samong th e c o u n t r i e s s o u t h of t h e Sahara had more setsper thousand peop le . W i t h an average o f 5 l i s t e n e r s p e rs e t , Z a n z

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