Someni hii:
The Zanzibar Revolution
On the night of January 12, 1964 a band of some 300 people violently seized the Island of Unguja.
They were led by a little known man named John Okello, who had lived on Pemba, having come to
the Islands some years earlier from Uganda. In Zanzibar he developed a popular following among
a core of young, tough men, many of whom were the Stevedores and Porters who worked the ships coming
in and out of Zanzibar Harbor. His group met in secret. He promised changes to these men, fellows
long used to working together, in sometimes dangerous settings, and ready to follow orders of any
"captain" who could pay their fee. Theirs became a rebellion looking for a home.
Pemba since the death of Sultan Khalifa in 1960. He had reigned in Zanzibar for almost 50 years,
since 1911. After much jockeying for constituencies and coalitions the main political parties had
narrowly split the two general elections of 1961 to the satisfaction of none. The British were
leaving, their troops, including a contingent of Irish Guards,stationed near the golf course at
the edge of Stone Town, pulled out in early 1963. When the new Sultan, Jamshid, hoisted The flag of the independent
nation of Zanzibar, on December 12,1963, he marked the departure of the last British Resident,
(Governor)of Zanzibar and the end of the Colonial period.Another election in late 1963 had given
a slim majority to a coalition of two political parties, the ZNP (the Zanzibar Nationalist Party)
and the ZPPP ( the Zanzibar and Pemba Peoples Party). The ASP (the Afro-Shirazi Party) was to be
in the minority in a British style parliamentary system with the Sultan serving as the reigning but not ruling "monarch".
This Nation, a full member of the British Commonwealth and a newly enrolled sovereign member
of the United Nations was destined to last only 33 days.Political debates raged and street
demonstrations were not uncommon in those days. I remember bicycling to school through crowds
chanting the names of political leaders and traveling in the country past road- blocks manned
by British soldiers.The various factions debated everything; rights versus privileges, new-comers
versus old established families, Capitalism vs Socialism, merchants vslandowners, Zanzibari's vs
Pemban's, Asians vs Arabs, Swahili's vs Mainlanders, and all this against the backdrop of the Cold
War and the other nationalistic and de-colonial movements abounding in Africa at that time.
John Okello didn't have answers to these thorny issues, but he did have the insight to realize
that all of these competing interests presented an opportunity for a man of action like
himself. After all,a few hundred determined men might be able to seize the few local centers of
communication and the three police barracks. Once he had those under his control and possessed
the weapons stored there, who on the islands could throw him out? Would the politicians join
together to denounce and oppose his illegal actions? Or as he hoped,would they continue to distrust
each other, to suspect that one or another of themselves must have put him up to it? Would not
they want to make a deal with him, quick, before someone else did?
On that January night he rolled the dice.The ASP Party leaders, though surprised by Okellos' actions, (many were not even on the Island at the time) moved quickly to embrace the rebels. Hundreds of party followers were wiped into a frenzy by those eager to seize this
opportunity to cut the Gordian knot of democratic debate and go straight to the prize of Ruling.
They sought to gain the chance to remake society in accordance with their own ideals.Ideals were
a dime a dozen in those days. Humanity was to become a much more costly item.
Having seen just how vulnerable a government could be, and not trusting their own mixed
record in open elections,it was clear to some ASP leaders that drastic measures were warranted
to secure the survival of what was now being called "The Revolution". The mobs were unleashed.
Law and order disappeared from the streets of Zanzibar.Landowners and merchants were dragged
from their houses and shops,looting and killing spread throughout Stone Town.The City literally
Sacked itself.Arabs and Asians, who had supported the other Parties in large numbers, were killed
indiscriminately. In a single night uncounted lives were lost and over the next few days thousands
more fled the Islands with only what they could carry.
John Okello established for himself the rank of "Field Marshall" and,with his mob-battalions,
established a reign of terror on the Islands. He broadcast bizarre threats and promises of death
to all who might oppose him.He believed he was touched by God and demonstrated an eccentric
attachment to symbolic numbers. For example on January 13, 1964, he broadcast the following
messages: "The government is now run by us....should you be stubborn and disobey orders I will
take measures 88 times stronger than at present." and, "If anyone fails to comply... and locks
himself in a house, as others have done...I have no alternative but to use heavy weapons. We,
the army have the strength of 99,099,000."His threats and his ability to act on them, panicked
citizens,especially minority groups of all types.
Source:
ugandanet
Poleni kwa kusoma andiko refu!
Huyu mtu alikuwa nani?
Kibaya zaidi kwenye historia amefunikwa kabisa.Hutamsikia akitajwa hata pahala pamoja.
Mimi nilikuja kuelewa kuhusu Okelo baada ya kusoma Kitabu chake - Field Marshal Okelllo - Revolution in Zanzibar.Nilishangaa maana hatukuwahi kufundishwa kwenye historia kuhusu mchango wa huyu mtu kwenye mapinduzi ya Zanzibar.
Wale magwiji na wachambuzi wa maswala ya siasa na historia naomba busara na hekima zenu, mtumegee elimu.
