The story so far in Zanzibar is a story of very quiet polling
stations. In a ward in Stone Town, only a tiny handful of people arrive
to vote every half hour. That’s because it is the opposition stronghold,
and they are boycotting this election. It seems their voters have
followed the order not to show up.
They believe they won the original election in October and refuse to
take part in the rerun. The ruling party CCM, say this re-run is free
and fair and actually their voters are turning out as expected.
On the streets, it remains quiet though – shops are closed, and the
army are out and about. There is peace at the moment, but people say
they will be staying.