Houses of Zanzibar ruling party set ablaze as re-run polls near

As the countdown to Zanzibar' March 20 re-run elections has begun, unknown arsonists on Saturday set fire on facilities belonging to members of the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) on Pemba Island.

Mohamed Shakani, South Pemba regional police commissioner, said a group of unidentified people set ablaze houses of CCM members, 11 meeting places and a health centre, adding that nobody was injured.

Shakani said one suspect, he identified as Mohamed Ramadhan Seif, had been arrested in connection with the grisly incident.

"Preliminary investigations have revealed that the arsonists sprinkled some petrol to the houses along Kibirizi Street in Chake Chake Pemba together with two meeting centres at Kiwani and Mwambe villages in South Pemba before they set them on fire," Shakani said, adding that hunting for the arsonists was underway.

Zanzibar's Minister of State in the Second-Vice President's Office, Mohamed Aboud Mohamed, visited the scenes of fire, and requested the villagers to help expose the suspects.

"The government will make sure that the election will be held under peaceful atmosphere, and anyone intending to disrupt peace will face the strong arm of the government," Aboud said.

Zanzibar' March 20 re-run elections came after the nullification of the October 25 election results by the Chairman of the Zanzibar Electoral Commission (ZEC), Salim Jecha Salim, on grounds of irregularities.

The main opposition party, the Civic United Front (CUF), which claimed victory in the October 25 polls, and a few other opposition parties, have said they would not participate in the repeat polls, leaving alone the CCM. Endit