Background
Abeid Amani Karume was born on August 4, 1905 in Mwera, Zanzibar. He was apparently the son of a slave woman from Ruanda-Urundi who moved to Zanzibar when the boy was young.
Abeid Amani Karume was born on August 4, 1905 in Mwera, Zanzibar. He was apparently the son of a slave woman from Ruanda-Urundi who moved to Zanzibar when the boy was young.
He had little formal education, in 1920 becoming a seaman working cargo boats out of the island. He ultimately rose to quartermaster.
A member of the British Seamen's Union, after 1938 he operated a syndicate of motorboats carrying passengers to and from harbor ships. Karume first entered politics in 1954 when he was appointed town councilor. Later he became president of a social organization for black migrant workers called the Zanzibar African Association. In 1957 this group united with the Shirazi Association to form the pro-British AfroShirazi Party (ASP) with Karume as president. In July 1957, by appealing directly to the African community making up four-fifths of the population, the ASP won four of five seats in the colonial Legislative Council. In the years before the 1964 revolution, Karume led the ASP in opposition to the ruling Arab coalition which was seemingly intent on maintaining the political economic dominance of the Arab community. ZanzibarPemba, an area the size of Rhode Island, became independent on December 10, 1963. On January 12, 1964, young ASP militants overthrew the Sultan and established African rule. Karume was leader of the Revolutionary Council and subsequently became president of the new Zanzibar People's Republic. He was described as a big, slow, even phlegmatic, man who was honest, dependable, and strong-minded to the point of stubbornness. An eloquent Swahili orator, Karume spoke only halting English. He was a devout Moslem and the father of two sons. His role in the revolution was disputed; claims were made that he was a figurehead, even a prisoner of the real leadership which was said to center on Abdulrahma Babu, Kassim Hanga, and Hassan Moyo. The revolutionary goal was to establish a wholly egalitarian society and, to this end, President Karume proclaimed the Zanzibar Manifesto on March 8. This nationalized and redistributed the land, 80 percent of which was held by the Arab 13 percent of the population. In April 1964 Karume negotiated a union with mainland Tanganyika under which Zanzibar retained considerable authority in domestic affairs. He became first vice president of the United Republic, renamed Tanzania in October. Speculation was rampant whether Zanzibar was saved from becoming a Communist state or whether Tanganyika would go Communist along with the island. After the union, despite extensive aid largely from East-bloc countries, Zanzibar's economy stagnated as each partner went its own way domestically. Karume both hailed the union as an example for other African states and raised objection to any further integration. On April 7, 1972, Karume was assassinated by four gunmen in Dar es Salaam. Two members of the Revolutionary Council were wounded in the attack.
He obtained this title as a result of a revolution which led to the deposing of the last Sultan of Zanzibar Sultan Jamshid bin Abdullah in January 1964. Three months later, the United Republic of Tanzania was founded, and Karume became the first Vice President of the United Republic with Julius Nyerere of Tanganyika as president of the new country.
Quotations: "It is rather shocking to note that opposition leaders, who are representatives of the wananchi (citizens), are themselves rejecting the participation of the wananchi in this major public issue. "
