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Bomb rocks Zanzibar police boss residence ahead of re-run polls

Xinhua, March 16, 2016 Adjust font size:

A huge blast rocked the house of Zanzibar police boss, Hamdan Omar Makame on Monday night, raising security concerns on the east African archipelago as it goes for re-run polls on March 20.

Hamdan, who escaped unhurt, told a news conference on Tuesday at his Kilimani offices that police were inspecting surroundings of his residence to establish what kind of a bomb it was.

"We can't rule anything at this point. It happened on Monday night at around 11:00 p.m., and the investigations are underway," he said.

He said no one was killed or seriously injured by the blast, which destroyed the roof and ceiling board of the house.

On Monday, Zanzibar leading opposition party, the Civic United Front (CUF), claimed that people on Pemba Island were fleeing to Kenyan coastal city of Mombasa to seek asylum ahead of Sunday's re-run polls.

Hamad Masoud Hamad, CUF's Acting Director of Communications and Publicity, said people were fleeing from the island after the government deployed armed soldiers, creating fear among residents.

He also accused security forces of beating people, mainly CUF supporters, leaving them with no other choice except fleeing to neighbouring Mombasa or seeking refuge deep in the bushes.

According to him, 30 CUF members and other 72 people have been arrested without apparent reasons and they have been denied bail.

However, Zanzibar Minister of State in the Second Vice-President's Office, Mohammed Aboud, refuted claims by CUF as baseless, saying that they have no official information indicating that Pemba residents were fleeing to Mombasa or were hiding in the bush.

But the minister admitted that the government has deployed security officials to Pemba only to maintain order after receiving intelligence reports that there were some people threatening to behead anyone who will go out to vote on Sunday.

Zanzibar has been thrown into a political turmoil since the results of the October 25, 2015 polls were annulled by the Chairman of the Zanzibar Electoral Commission (ZEC), Jecha Salim Jecha, citing massive irregularities especially in Pemba.

He later announced re-run polls scheduled for March 20.

The opposition CUF maintains that its Zanzibar presidential candidate Seif Shariff Hamad won the nullified polls, and have announced that they are not going to participate in Sunday's re-run elections. Enditem