SFCG Honors Ali Mzee Ali for Role in Zanzibar’s Government of National Unity

John Marks And Susan Collin Marks present a Certificate of Appreciation from SFCG to The Honorable Ali Mzee Ali, former Chair of the House of Representatives in Zanzibar & of the bipartisan Committee of Six. Susan holds his four month old son, Amani, whose name means "peace" in Swahili.

ZANZIBAR– SFCG President and Vice President John and Susan Collin Marks recently presented a certificate of appreciation for extraordinary service to SFCG to The Honorable Ali Mzee Ali, former Chair of the House of Representatives in Zanzibar, and of the Committee of Six, the bipartisan House Committee appointed by then President Karume to oversee the Referendum for a Government of National Unity (GNU) in July 2010. The referendum voted YES with a landslide 66%, setting in motion the formation of the visionary and courageous GNU.

Mr. Ali has been a strong and committed champion of Search’s work in Zanzibar since the outset, and on February 10, John and Susan presented him with a  certificate of appreciation for his extraordinary service to Search.  They pre-empted, in some ways, the prestigious award that Mr. Ali and the Committee of Six received today, when the US Embassy honored the full Committee with its highest honor, the Martin Luther King Drum Major for Justice Award.  The six former members traveled from Zanzibar to Dar es Salaam to receive the award at a celebration that will include distinguished guests from both Zanzibar and the mainland.

The US Ambassador to Tanzania, Mr Alfonso Lenhardt said the award was due to the recognition of the committee’s job towards bringing political stability in Zanzibar. He said the committee, throughout arduous and often stressful moments managed to demonstrate wisdom, vision and leadership by helping craft the structure for free, fair and peaceful elections that reflects the will of Zanzibar people. “With no budget and roadmap to follow, the committee headed out at full speed, educating the population and overseeing Zanzibar electoral commission’s conduct of referendum, in the end , almost 72 percent of Zanzibaris tuned out for 66.4 percent yes vote,” said Mr Lenhardt.

Mr. Ali said the three fundamentals of equality, reconciliation and unity were instrumental in the Committee’s success.