Zanzibar – President Hussein Ali Mwinyi has launched a joint CCM and ACT Wazalendo committee to coordinate the next stage of Zanzibar’s reconciliation process, two months after the parties signed an agreement following a prolonged post-election impasse.

The 10-member Joint Dialogue Committee was launched at Zanzibar State House on September 14. President Mwinyi presented its terms of reference to its co-chairs, Omar Ali Sheikh of ACT Wazalendo and Abdi Mahmoud Abdi of CCM Zanzibar, according to the State House announcement.

Mwinyi described the committee as part of implementing commitments reached by the two parties and asked its members to act with integrity, respect one another and place the broader interests of Zanzibar and its people first. He said the process required continuing cooperation from political leaders and other stakeholders to promote peace, political stability and development.

ACT Wazalendo national chairperson Othman Masoud Othman said his party was ready to continue working with other stakeholders to build Zanzibar. He also commended Mwinyi for the steps taken to oversee the reconciliation process, the State House said.

The committee is the first publicly announced body created to take forward CCM and ACT’s Joint Statement, known in Swahili as Tamko la Pamoja, signed on July 9. That agreement committed the parties to continuous dialogue, trust-building and reforms intended to strengthen democracy, good governance, accountability, the rule of law, credible elections and justice.

What the committee will do

The official announcement did not publish the terms of reference or set out the committee’s detailed agenda. It confirmed that the document had been handed to the two co-chairs, but did not identify a schedule for meetings, the issues to be considered first or the process through which citizens and civic organisations would participate.

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The committee has been given three months to complete its work, with the possibility of a limited extension. Its reported responsibilities include determining meeting procedures, preparing a work schedule and submitting implementation reports to President Mwinyi.

Other committee members included Dr Khalid Salum Mohamed, Najma Murtaza Giga, Mgeni Hassan Juma, Mohamed Nur Mohamed, Masoud Ali Mohamed, Omar Said Shaaban, Fatma Abdulhabib Fereji and Said Ali Mbarouk. The terms of reference have not been publicly disclosed.

The July accord envisaged the committee undertaking a detailed analysis of an agreed agenda and advising on the framework, procedures and scope of implementation. It also contemplated a later mechanism established under law to coordinate and oversee the process, meaning the committee itself is not the final implementation body envisaged by the parties.

The original agreement referred to possible reviews of the constitution, electoral-management arrangements, the civil service, justice delivery and local-government structures. Whether those matters will be addressed during the committee’s three-month assignment, and in what sequence, remains unclear from the information released so far.

From an agreement to implementation

The July agreement followed eight months of discussions facilitated by retired Zanzibar presidents Amani Abeid Karume and Ali Mohamed Shein. 

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It was signed after the October 2025 election, which returned Mwinyi to office but was disputed by ACT Wazalendo, and after the party initially declined to participate in the Government of National Unity provided for in Zanzibar’s constitutional arrangements. President Samia Suluhu Hassan, President Mwinyi, Othman and the two former presidents attended the signing ceremony.

The committee is considered a part of a route towards restoring or shaping a Government of National Unity. The official September 14 statement, however, described it more narrowly as a Joint Dialogue Committee implementing the parties’ agreement; it did not announce a new GNU, a division of government positions or any appointment to one.

Zanzibar has a longer history of agreements intended to reduce recurring political conflict. Muafaka I in 1999 and Muafaka II in 2001 followed disputed elections, while the 2009 to 2010 Maridhiano process led to a referendum and the constitutional establishment of the GNU.

The GNU was in operation between 2010 and 2015, but the arrangement fractured after the annulment of the 2015 election and the opposition’s boycott of the 2016 rerun. These precedents make implementation, rather than the signing of a document alone, central to assessments of the current process, analysts believe.

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In a July commentary, political researcher Nicodemus Minde argued that earlier settlements had often concentrated on elite positions rather than durable changes to electoral and governance institutions. He said a formal mechanism could improve follow-through, but that its effect would depend on the political commitment of the parties.

The committee’s launch gives CCM and ACT Wazalendo a defined body through which to turn the July commitments into proposals and reports. Its initial work, the publication of its terms of reference and its first implementation report, will indicate how the parties intend to move from the agreement’s broad commitments to specific reforms.