EXPELLING HASSAN NASSORO MOYO FROM CCM IS WRONG

PEOPLE IN THE NEWS: Expelling Moyo from CCM is wrong

Mzee Hassan Nassor Moyo: “They can take me out of the CCM. But they cannot take out my love for my motherland, Zanzibar.” PHOTO  | FILE 

By Salim Said Salim; barasteki@gmail.com

Posted  Sunday, April 26  2015 at  11:25

IN SUMMARY

·         Recently, Chama Cha Mapinduzi in Zanzibar expelled one of its founding members, Mr Hassan Nassor Moyo. This was a tough measure, but what does it mean to some Zanzibaris?

Zanzibar. The recent expulsion from CCM of a veteran Zanzibar politician, Mr Hassan Nasssor Moyo, who served in different ministerial portfolios for nearly four decades both in the Isles and Union governments is another testimony that the line which differentiate criticism and treason in the ruling party is very thin.

Perhaps one will be absolutely right when he says even a modern laboratory device which detects bacteria or virus can’t see the difference between the two within CCM.

His is because once you have an opinion which is different from the extremists who  seem to have a stronger voice within the party you are reduced to a 17th century plantation labourer who was then ordered to pick his sack which had his farming tools (meaning that was a declaration that he was sacked from the farm).

The expulsions of those considered “party rebels” has a long history, both on the Mainland and in Zanzibar. On the Mainland those who questioned the party supremacy over the laws of the land were considered as rebels.

The long list of those expelled include the seven MPs who questioned the subordination of  Parliament to Tanu’s National Executive Committee in 1968 and  fomer External Affairs Minister Oscar Kambona.

In Zanzibar, even those who were in the short list of less than a dozen people who formed the Afro Shrazi Party (ASP), like Mdungi Ussi was expelled from the party and disappeared . Others were Othman Sharif who was the right hand man of the ASP leader and Isles first President, Abeid Karume, Isles Vice President Abdullah Kassim Hanga and several ministers of the first and second cabinets of the Karume regime (1964-72).

Others expelled by CCM in 1984 and without seeking the mandate of the people of Zanzibar for being “ rebels” was the Isles Second President, Aboud Jumbe Mwinyi, his Chief Minister, Ramadhan Haji Faki and others.

In 1987 it was the turn of Seif  Sharif Hamad, then  Chief Minister (now Zanzibar’s First Vice President), some ministers and others senior top CCM officials to be directed to pick their sacks and go.

Only few months back, Mansour Yusuf Himid, the brother-in-law of Isles retired Predent Amani Karume and whose father was on the frontline in the groups which attacked the police barracks to overthrow the sultan and his coalition government on the eve of Januray 12, 1964 was shown the door for being a “rebel and a reactionary” because he advocated more autonomy for Zanzibar within the union.

Now it has come for Moyo who worked tirelessly to end the political animosity that has cost Zanzibar hundreds of lives and limbs since the introduction of multi-party politics two decades which rsulted with the formation of a government of national unity in Zanzibar to be told “go away”.

Some political analysts feel that the trend of expelling those considered rebels simply because they differ with extremists who enjoy taking CCM for a ride is what haunts the ruling party. But Moyo who has repeatedly campaigned for more autonomy for Zanzibar with union looks at the move to expel him from CCM was “vengeful and fruitless” and vowed that he will not apply a reverse gear to his campaign for Zanzibar to get a fair deal in the union and would continue to fight racist, homophobic and discriminatory links that some CCM conservatives in the Isles propagate.

“They can take me out of the CCM. But they cannot take out my love for my motherland, Zanzibar,” he said.

Those who look at Moyo’s case as the expulsion of an individual are making a big mistake. He has hundreds of followers, sympathisers and admirers, especially among the youths, for his appeal to Zanzibaris to put interests of the islands before those of their political parties or football clubs. Last year when he spoke in Zanzibar to appeal to Zanzibaris not go back to politics of hatred and animosity, Moyo looked like a shadow of people like Mahatma Gandhi of India, Martin Luther King Jr of Uted States or Nelson Mandela of South Africa.

He told the audience: “Those in the government of national unity and outside must work together in the interests of Zanzibar and not their political parties. At ech stage of development it may be necessary for us to pass through brief and sometimes a long curse of apprenticeship before we able to go to the next one.

“We may have two, three or a dozen different views, but as far as unity of Zanzibar and its prosperity is concerned, we have to speak with one voice. There is no scope for difference of opinion on this matter. We can argue about the approaches and methods. When we were fighting for independence and later forced us to revolt we stumbled and failed as we faced heart breaking reverses. But we rose and marched again. In the same way today we have to face the challenges ahead of us as one, no matter to which political party we belong to”.

Now Moyo is out of CCM, but not out of Zanzibar or Tanzania for that matter. His words of wisdom and appeal for political reconciliation should not be ignored. Whether we like it or not he is a force to reckon with. The conservatives should not think being expelled from CCM is just like the expulsion from the Garden of Eden. Those who think they have won in their desire to put aside those who frustrate their selfish political motives are making a big mstake. They will one day in the not far distant future  realise what they did is nothing more than writing a bad bank cheque that will bounce and leave them disappointed for not realising their dream of trying once again to divide the people of Zanzibar like heaps of tomatoes on sale at the market. But all in all, the sacking of the Isles veteran politician and peace make should serve as a lesson to Tanzanians not to agree to be haunted by the rotten legacy of refusing to tolerate views to which one does not agree with.

We must agree to differ in opinions, but move forward as one for the betterment of our country. We can only this we allow the voices of rebels with a cause to heard and respected.