Mr. Seif Sharif Hamad, popular known as Maalim Seif, was the Presidential candidate in the October 2005 Zanzibar elections and Secretary General of the Civic United Front (CUF) which is the principal opposition party in Zanzibar and Tanzania, and was born at Nyali, Mtambwe in Wete, Pemba (Zanzibar’s sister island) on October 22, 1943. After completing his primary education in 1957 in Pemba he joined King George VI Memorial Secondary School where he attained his Ordinary and Advanced Level Secondary Education in 1961 and 1963 respectively.
Following the January 1964 Revolution, which saw many foreigners and other civil servants leaving the islands, Mr. Hamad was asked by the new government to join the teaching profession to fill the gaps. He taught for eight years at Lumumba College and Fidel Castro Secondary School located in Unguja and Pemba islands respectively.
In 1972 he was part of the first group of Zanzibari students to be sponsored by the Revolutionary Government of Zanzibar to join the University of Dar es Salaam. He graduated in 1975 with a first class Bachelor of Arts degree (Honors) in Political Science, Public Administration and International Relations.
Mr. Hamad served briefly as a Personal Assistant to the President of Zanzibar, then Mr. Aboud Jumbe (1975 – 1977) before he was appointed Minister of Education, a position he served for three years (1977 – 1980). From 1977 – 1987, he was a member of the National Executive Committee and the Central Committee of the ruling party, Chama Cha Mapinduzi . He became the head of the ruling party’s Economic and Planning Department for five years (1982 – 1987). CCM was then the only political party allowed in Tanzania.
In February 1984, Mr. Hamad was appointed the Chief Minister of Zanzibar by Mr. Ali Hassan Mwinyi who was installed as the new president following Jumbe’s resignation. He retained the same position during the first half of Mr. Idris Abdul Wakil’s presidency before he was dropped in a cabinet reshuffle in January 1988.
Mr. Hamad was finally expelled from the ruling CCM, together with six other colleagues, in May 1988 on allegations that they were rebels within the party. He was imprisoned for 30 months (May 1989 – November 1991) on trumped up charges of organizing an unlawful assembly, which were later changed to that of being found with government classified documents. The case was finally dismissed by the Tanzanian Court of Appeal in January 1993 due to lack of sufficient evidence.
In 1992, when Tanzania amended its constitution to allow multi-party system, Mr. Hamad, together with colleagues, formed a new party, the Civic United Front (CUF) and was elected its first National Vice Chairman. 1n 1999, the CUF National Congress meeting in Dar es Salaam, elected him as the Secretary General of the party, a position he still retains.
In both 1995 and 2000 general elections, Mr. Hamad represented CUF as its presidential candidate for Zanzibar. He was robbed of his clear victory during the 1995 presidential elections through manipulation of results by the ruling CCM and the state organs in full collaboration with the Zanzibar Electoral Commission (ZEC). The fiasco repeated itself in 2000 elections that were termed as a shambles by the international observers including the Commonwealth Observer Group, as well as local observers. He then led CUF into dialogue with CCM which culminated with the signing of the popular Accord, the Muafaka, on October 10, 2001.
In international arena, from 1997 to 2001 Mr. Seif Sharif Hamad served as the Chairman of the General Assembly of the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO) based in The Hague. UNPO is an organization that comprises of over 50 nations and peoples who are not members of the United Nations Organization including Taiwan, Tibet and Zanzibar. It is has observer status in the United Nations.
Maalim Seif’s Curriculum Vitae
Secretary General, The Civic United Front (CUF) party since 1999
The Civic United Front (CUF), Party Headquarters, Mtendeni Street, P.O. Box 3637, Zanzibar, Tanzania
Bachelors of Arts (BA Honors) in Political Science, Public Administration and International Relations, University of Dar es Salaam
Born October 22, 1943 Pemba, Tanzania
Residence Zanzibar
Married to Ms. Aweina Sinani Masoud since 1977 with three children
EXPERIENCE AND ACTIVITIES:
- Teacher, Lumumba College, Zanzibar and Fidel Castro Secondary School, Pemba 1964-1972
- Personal Assistant to the President of Zanzibar 1975-1977
- Member of the National Executive Committee of Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) 1977-1988
Member of the Central Committee of Chama Cha Mapinduzi 1977-1987 - Director of Economy and Planning of Chama Cha Mapinduzi 1982-1987
- Member of the Revolutionary Council of Zanzibar 1977-1980 and 1984-1988
- Member of Parliament of the United Republic of Tanzania 1977-1982
- Chief Minister of Zanzibar February 1984 – January 1988 and Minister of Education, Zanzibar 1977 – 1980
- Member of the House of Representatives, Zanzibar 1977 – 1980 and 1984 – 1988
- Vice Chairman of The Civic United Front (CUF) party 1992-1999
- Member of the Defence and Security Committee of The Civic United Front (CUF) since 1999
- Zanzibar Presidential Candidate on CUF ticket 1995, 2000 and 2005
- Co-Chairman, CCM/CUF Joint Secretaries General Committee for Resolving Zanzibar Political Crisis 2001-2005
- Chairman of the General Assembly of Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organisation (UNPO) 1997-2002
- Vice Chairman of Liberal International (LI) 2002-2003
Countries Visited: Kenya, Mozambique, Senegal, South Africa, Sultanate of Oman, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, France, Germany, The Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Belgium, Italy, Canada, United States of America
Language proficiency: Swahili, English
Interests: Museums, literature, opera and ballet
Contact Information: maalimseif@hotmail.com
Tel. +255 (0)777 855 555
+255 (0)713 411 414
Fax +255 249 432 2700
THE CIVIC UNITED FRONT
PARTY HEADQUARTERS
P.O. BOX 3637
ZANZIBAR – TANZANIA
Private Secretary: Mr Mohamed Nur Mohamed
Tel: +255 (0)777 436 996
Wishing u all da best
maalim seif sisi hatunashaka na wewe kuhusu uongozi wako lakini tunashaka na hao walio nyuma yako kwani hivi kweli wataweza kuibadilisha zanzibar kwani kidole kimoja hakivunji chawa hebu tuhakikishie utafanyaje ili kuhakikisha nchi inapata maendeleo isije ikawa kama CCM mkajisahau mpaka siku ya kuomba kura ndio mkaanza kuomba radhi mfano sanya amechafua na sasa anawaomba watu radhi.
Maalim tunakuomba sisi wapiga kura wako,hiyo nafasi ya Umakamo uwe mwenyewe usije ukapeleka mtu mwengine tutakuwa “tumekwisha”nasema hivi kwa sababu hawa waandamizi wako si viongozi wa watu bali wanajiongoza wenyewe tu kwa maslahi yao,ukija ukiwaachia hao nafasi watakuwa ccm nambari moja kuliko mwinyi LAANATU LWAHI kukuhakikishia haya hali ikisha tulia pita majimboni uonane na wanachama wa chini upewe viroja vilivyopita ktk kura za maoni ktk chama.kwa taarifa yako kuna mgao wa wanachama kwa majina ya cuf “A”na “B”na kuendelea kwa mujibu wa misimamo yao yaliyokuwa ktk hizo kura za maoni,na hao viongozi wa wilaya,majimbo,mpaka matawi ndio waliolisimamia hilo,Maalim twakipenda sana chama chetu lakini una wachawi ndani.Je?wayajua hayo?kama jibu ni la basi pita matawini tukwambie.
Yapo mambo mengi, nimejifunza kutoka kwako. nasema Hongera sana
Asalamualeykum mm sina chochote isipokuwa na mshukuru sana mwenye enzi mungu{sw} na piya natakuwa mwizi wa fedhila kwamba sijakushukuru ww.ahsantum
Asalamu alaykum
Nashkuru Allah kutujaalia kiongozi muadilifu na mzalendo kama wewe katika nchi yetu, tunajifunza mengi kutoka kwako hasa hekma na uzalendo juu ya nchi yako. Allah akupe umri mrefu ili utuongoze katika kupata uhuru wa kweli kutoka katika ukoloni wa Tanganyika.