Sheikh Abeid Amani Karume
By Mwinyi Sadallah, The Citizen Correspondent
In Summary
Zanzibar. As the country commemorates the 43th
death anniversary of the architect of the Zanzibar Revolution Sheikh
Abeid Amani Karume, residents of the clove islands used the eve of the
special day occasion to applaud his achievements.
Most of those who spoke with The Citizen said in
the eight years of his leadership, a lot of development was attained; a
record they said was yet to be broken by any of his successors.
They echoed each other in commending the Founding Father of free Zanzibar, saying he was a most dedicated leader.
The cited his policies on industrial development
and improvement in housing for ordinary people, free education, health
and water supply services as the most notable achievements he had made.
Mr Said Ali Mohamed, a resident of Michenzani,
said Sheikh Karume successfully established centres for taking care of
disadvantaged groups including elderly people and orphans in efforts to
implement his policy of “quality life for all”.
His other achievements include the construction of
double-lane roads that made Zanzibar a pioneer of such infrastructure
in the East African region as well as establishing the first colour
television station in sub-Saharan Africa.
Another resident of Mkunazini, Mr Suleimani Ali,
faulted the post-Sheikh Karume administrations, alleging that they
failed to embrace the good policies initiated by the Founding Father of
their state.
“Just look now; the successors of Sheikh Karume
have allowed all the industries to die due to their myopic views on
economic development,” he said, adding:
“We previously had so many factories manufacturing
things such as shoes, mattresses, cooking oil, soft drinks, cigarettes,
cooking pots, clothes and milk but that is all history now and it is no
wonder we have all these unemployed youth.”
They also remembered Sheikh Karume for his effort
to fight corruption as well as uniting all the country after the 1964
Revolution.
Ms Mwajuma Juma Suleiman, a resident of Jang’ombe,
attributed the successes attained by Sheikh Karume to his genuine
commitment to help people as opposed to many leaders of today whom she
said were only bent on enriching themselves.
“Sheikh Karume was a patriotic leader who was
always mindful of his people in all his endeavours, but things have
changed nowadays…for instance, the people who were allocated land by
Karume are now being dispossessed by some leaders,” remarked the woman.
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