Mkapa vows security, stability

2005-09-01 13:10

Dar Es Salaam - Outgoing Tanzanian President Benjamin Mkapa has vowed to maintain security and stability for October elections amid ongoing fears of violence on the politically volatile island of Zanzibar.

"Electoral campaigns should not be a platform of propagating rivalry, hatred or lawlessness, the government will be watching closely," Mkapa said in his monthly televised address to the nation broadcast on Wednesday.

"I ask those who have taken oaths to promote and safeguard the security of this country and its people to quell any chaos and commotion," he said.

Mkapa, who is barred from a third term and will be retiring after the October 30 general elections, spoke as the campaign for the polls heated up, particularly on semi-autonomous Zanzibar which will elect its own president and parliament.

Deadly clashes

Unlike the mainland, where previous votes have been generally peaceful, Zanzibar, where the main opposition party commands its greatest support, has been rocked by deadly election-related clashes.

After Tanzania's 2000 elections - the second multi-party polls since political pluralism was restored in 1992 - some 40 people were killed in violence between opposition and ruling party supporters on Zanzibar.

Tensions are now running high on the island as the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM - Revolutionary Party) and opposition Civic United Front (CUF) vie for control with accusations of pre-balloting malfeasance flying.

Mkapa warned politicians throughout the ethnically diverse country against divisive campaigns that could foment tribal or religious animosity, saying: "Ours is a secular state."

The majority of the mainland's 70 million people are Christians while about 98% of the one million people living in Zanzibar are Muslims.

In his address, Mkapa also reiterated his stand on foreign election observers who he said were welcome as long as they did not attempt to meddle in Tanzania's internal politics.

- AFP