AM ONE IN CHARGE IN ZANZIBAR, PRESIDENT SHEIN SAID

Zanzibar President,Dr Ali Mohamed SheinZanzibar President Dr Ali Mohamed Shein mid this week addressed reporters at State House in the Isles, insisting that he is the only person allowed to make statements on national matters.However, he said any other public leader in Zanzibar could make statement reflecting the position of his government over a particular matter only upon being asked by him to and not otherwise.The Isles president issued the remarks on Tuesday when responding to reporters’ questions during a special press conference he convened to speak about the achievements recorded by his three-year leadership.Dr Shein, who rarely gives sharp utterances, indeed proved he was Head of State of Zanzibar.  The reporters had  asked him over a growing tendency of some politicians of issuing statements that end up confusing Zanzibaris and the entire public.According to Dr Shein, whoever issued statements or remarks over certain pertinent matters did so as an individual in line with the right to freedom of speech granted to the citizens by both, the Isles and the United Republic constitutions.It turned out during the press conference that the subject that triggered the question had to do with various statements made by either former or current Zanzibar politicians with regard to the type of union that Tanzanians should come up with in the new constitution.First Vice-President Seif Sharif Hamad, Kiembesamaki Member of Representative(CCM) Mansour Yusuf Himid and Former Zanzibar Cabinet Minister Nassoro Hassan  Moyo have at different times issued statements calling for restructuring of the current union structure.While some Zanzibaris want to secede from the Union others want a three-tier government structure to be adopted. There is also a group of politicians that is in favour of what it terms as contractual union. The fact that First Vice-President Hamad and Himid, also former cabinet minister, were issuing statements on the union structure in public domains, the trend made the public to believe that whatever they said was the official position of Zanzibar government.During the press conference Dr Shein put the rumours to rest when he told reporters that whatever was said by the leaders in question had nothing to do with the position of the Zanzibar government.He said in addition to leading the government of the National Unity involving CCM and CUF, he is still the one in charge to speak about the government, and no one else. “When someone who is in the government speaks about a particular subject, it does not mean that he/she gives the position of my government. They may do so to show the position of their political party or just excise their right to freedom of speech,” he said.However, he underscored that even when it comes to issuing statements reflecting the position of a political party he was still the one to do so as far as CCM was concerned.