Speaking at the start of the week in the capital, Zanzibar Deputy Secretary General for UDP Juma Khamis Fakhi who is also a CA member said it is not the right time for the members to debate legality of the Union but rather on how to best improve it for the benefit of all.
“There is no need for CA members to raise debate on the authenticity of the Articles of the Union…they should focus on how to improve the Union so as to benefit wananchi,” he said.
Fakhi maintained the stand that, despite evident contradictions over the legitimacy of the Union Charter and Act as passed by the Revolutionary Council in its approval of the Union, he insisted, ‘it is not the right time to debate on such issues.’
“We should address challenges facing Zanzibaris and folks on the Mainland as well instead of complaining and questioning the legitimacy of the articles of the Union,” he insisted.
Commenting on the signatures been questioned by the CA, he said the signatures on the Copies of the Union Agreement should be verified by experts who can compare them with signatures in other documents.
“These leaders signed various contracts, issued written directives and inaugurated a number of projects thus their signatures can be verified from all these areas,” he said.
Last week the Constituent Assembly members started working on the draft constitution, Former speaker of the National Assembly Pius Msekwa and Zanzibar Attorney General, Othman Masoud Othman were called to provide clarifications on the Union.
Chairman of Committee Number 2, Shamsi Vuai Nahodha said they called in the two officials after CA members demanded to be provided with the original Union Charter and Act verifying that the Revolutionary Council did in fact approve the Union agreement.
They also wanted to know the whereabouts of the original Union agreement between the late Mwalimu Julius Nyerere who represented Tanganyika and Sheikh Abeid Amani Karume for Zanzibar.
SOURCE:
THE GUARDIAN
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