The Zanzibar Revolution and its Aftermath 0208019251, 9780208019257

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THE ZANZIBAR REVOLUTION * *.' -

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AND ITS AFTERMATH ANTHONY CLAYTON

Zanzibar belongs to two worlds, the world of the African continent and the Muslim polities of the Indian Ocean. Ideas from the latter cross to the mainland from the islands. In the colonial period Arab sub¬ imperialism was protected by the British; after formal independence in December 1963, a violent revolution destroyed the Arab-dominated political order and installed an African revolutionary regime. This regime however was dominated either by indigenous Zanzibaris who were pro¬ ducts of the fusion of the two cultures, or mainland Africans who had adopted the fused culture. And although for reasons of its own preservation in a world over¬ shadowed by great powers, the new regime sought a political union with the mainland, this union has remained a loose consociational one, so that Zanzibar’s distinc¬ tive local culture can be preserved. This work begins with a new analysis of pre-Revolution Zanzibar, in particular noting the growth of the mainlander popu¬ lation and their appearance on the political stage, and the effect of the rivalries between the mainlanders and the indi¬ genes, themselves divided, in raising politi¬ cal tension. It then describes the events of the Revolution, the initial seizure of power by John Okello, the significance of the return of Abeid Karume, the rivalries between the different factions within the Revolutionary Council, and the events leading to the Union. The importance of Zanzibar’s Revolution for both the Commonwealth and international rela¬ tions generally is also examined. The final section of the book covers the politics of Zanzibar, its economic affairs and its rela¬ tionships with the rest of the Union from April 1964 to the assassination of Karume in 1972. Much fresh material on the Invo¬ lution is provided, and the section dealing with Karume’s Zanzibar from 1964 to 1972 breaks entirely new ground.

continued on back flap

137

San Francisco Public Library

African American Center REFERENCE BOOK Not to be taken from the Library

GENERAL COLLECTIONS

THE ZANZIBAR REVOLUTION AND ITS AFTERMATH

THE

ZANZIBAR REVOLUTION AND ITS AFTERMATH by

ANTHONY CLAYTON

ARCHON BOOKS HAMDEN, CONNECTICUT

First published in 1981 in England by C. Hurst & Co. (Publishers) Ltd, London and in the USA as an Archon Book an imprint of The Shoe String Press Inc. 995 Sherman Avenue Hamden, Connecticut 06514 © Anthony Clayton 1981 ISBN 0-208-01925-1

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Clayton, Anthony, 1928Zanzibar, revolution and aftermath. Includes bibliographical references and index. 1. Zanzibar—History—Revolution, 1964. 2. Zanzibar— —History. 3. Karume, Abeid Amani, 1905-1971. I. Title. DT435.75.C58 1981 967.8'104 81-3486 ISBN 0-208-01925-1 AACR2

967.8,C579z Clayton, Anthony Zanzibar revolution and its af

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3 1223 00803 7575 Printed in Great Britain

For Judith and the Children

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

If no one had attempted to write an account of the Russian or Chinese Revolutions until all the documents were available and fieldwork on the ground permitted, the world would have had to wait a long time — perhaps it would still be waiting. I am only too well aware of the lacunae yet to be filled in the history of Zanzibar’s Revolution. But this awareness leads me also to a sharpened sense of gratitude to the many people who have helped me, occasionally at interviews but more often by sitting down to write useful letters in answer to troublesome requests. Space makes it impossible to list the very large number of such helpers, but almost all of them are named in the footnotes. Many letters contained apologies for failing memory followed by two or three sentences of detail concerning some event which were invalu¬ able and for which I am very grateful. I feel, however, a particular debt of gratitude to those people who offered me expertise, sent me long and full accounts of events, or let me read their family or other correspondence of the times. These included Mr J. de V. Allen, Mrs Janet Adams, Mr W.R. Belcher, Colonel A.N. Bell, Mr. R.H.V. Biles, Mrs E. Brittain, Mrs Joyce Dickson, Brigadier P.S. Douglas, Mr B. Eccles, Ms S. Field, Professor T.M. Franck, Mr A.H. Hawker, Mr Justice G.J. Horsfall, Mr C. Knight, Mr A.C. Ledger, Dr E.B. Martin, Major-General R.S.N. Mans, Mr D. McQueen, Mr P.H. Piggott, Vice-Admiral Sir Arthur Power, Mr W.D. Scott, Mr M. Smithyman, Mr P.A. Trace, Mr G.E. Tidbury, Mr T. Waring, Captain F.H. Woolias and Professor F. Wilson. I also owe a great debt to a number of Zanzibaris, all of whom asked to remain anony¬ mous, and to Dr Kamoo Patel who now lives in India. It is a pleasure also to thank the Librarians, and their staffs, of the Royal Commonwealth Society, the School of Oriental and African Studies, the University of California at Los Angeles, and the Royal Military Aca ^my Sandhurst for their help, and to record my debt to the Archives Section of the Trade Union Congress, the Common¬ wealth Parliamentary Association, the Freedom of Information Staff of the United States State Department, the International Division of the British Red Cross Society and the Economist Intel¬ ligence Unit. Nearer home, two of my colleagues and one of my students were deprived of some academic calm while this book was being written. Dr W. Bowring assisted me with his greatly superior knowledge of vn

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A ckn o w ledge men ts

Swahili and Mr A.R. Ward filled gaps in my understanding of popu¬ lism, while Mr R. Darnley showed me some useful material on Zanzibari refugees in Oman. I am also grateful for the comments on the manuscript made by Dr Robert Buijtenhuijs of the Afrika-Studiecentrum, Leiden, and to Dr T.C. Niblock of the University of Exeter for permitting me to draw on material in his doctoral thesis. Many kind people, then, helped me, but none of them should be blamed for the conclusions I have drawn from the material they provided. In 1975 I completed a study of the Zanzibar General Strike of August-September 1948, and this was published by the Scandinvaian Institute of African Studies, Uppsala, as a Research Report; a shor¬ tened version appeared as an article in the Journal of African History. I am grateful to the Institute and the Journal’s editors for permission to use this material again here. Although they were not in any specific way concerned with this work, I would like also to express my gratitude to Professors Roland Oliver and Richard Gray and the staff of African historians at the School of Oriental and African Studies. They always welcome me at seminars at which I have learnt so much in terms of general under¬ standing of African history. I also owe an especial debt to Miss G.M. Alexander, who with her customary skill, speed and accuracy deciphered and typed my manuscript. The dedication of this work reflects my last, and most lasting debt.

CONTENTS Acknowledgements

vii

Introduction I.

II.

Colonial Zanzibar

xi ,

1

The pre-colonial legacy and the abolition of slavery The Colonial Order Depression and the Birth of Nationalism

1 6 16

The Final Colonial Years

21

The Post- War Scene The General Strike of 1948 Kiembe Samaki, July 1951 Communal Politics and Communal Hatred, 1952-1963

21 23 35 37

III. Profile of a Revolution

50

John Okello Formal Independence The Revolution and its First Days The Struggle for Power Foreign Reaction to the Revolution Union to Preserve Autonomy IV. The Zanzibar of Abeid Karume

50 58 69 82 102 109 116

A Populist A utocrat The Zanzibar Revolutionary Council Zanzibar and the Union A utarky and Nationalisation Social Services Foreign Relations The Assassination of A beid Karume Conclusion

116 127 129 134 143 147 150 153

Appendix: Broadcasts by John Okello

156

Bibliographical Note

158

Index

160

IX

PLATES The Revolutionaries of Zanzibar I: John Okello, with associates and members of the Committee of Fourteen

56

The Revolutionaries of Zanzibar II: the Political Leaders (Abeid Karume and others)

96

MAPS Unguja

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Pemba

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Zanzibar City

xiii

x

UNGUJA

PEMBA

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1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9.

Wharf (and African Wharfage Company) Customs, Malindi Police Station Sultan’s Palace Beit-el-Ajaib (Secretariat) Messrs Smith Mackenzie’s British Residency, later State House Raha Leo Community Centre Ziwani Police Lines •• Cooper’s Institute

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ZANZIBAR CITY

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600 Yards