Zanzibar

Trip Start Jul 19, 2008
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Trip End Aug 08, 2008


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Flag of Tanzania  ,
Friday, July 25, 2008

Set off early to Stone Town, the capital of Zanzibar (another pub quiz answer) to meet the vice President of Zanzibar. President was away. Zanzibar had riots in the elections of 2005 and people were killed. This has led to some difficult discussions with the Union government and the Zanzibar Parliament who enjoy a level of autonomy like Scotland.

Some difficult discussions on why the government of the islands was rather pre-occupied with constitutional issues rather than tackling the problems of poverty jobs and service delivery. Had a tour of the old slave centre. Zanzibar was a centre for the slave as well as the spice trade. Portugese were here first, then driven off by the Arabs, who were in turn driven out by the British in the shortest war in history when six warships appeared and demanded the Sultan's surrender after David Livingstone made an appeal to the British Government to end the Slave Trade.

Later met the speaker and MP's from the Zanzibar Parliament and had a quick look around the historic Stone Town. Found the formal offical Ford Zodiac of the President in the aptly named House of Wonders, the former residence of the Sultan designed by the British.
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