THE Opposition ACT-Wazalendo Chairman in Zanzibar Othman Masoud Othman has emphasised on the need to make major leadership reforms in the Isles in order to build a stronger economy.

Othman who is also the Zanzibar’s First Vice President cited an example of Mauritius saying that the country got independence in 1968 and its economy has remained robust and continues to grow with its national budget reaching 13trn/- unlike Zanzibar which has 5trn/- budget.

He said that there is a need to make difficult decisions in order to make Zanzibar grow as it has all the opportunities for its economy to go higher while also improving people’s livelihoods.

“People’s lives here have continued to worsen due to the burden of multiple taxes and levies which they carry, access to basic needs is hard because prices of the services are also high, we need to make change and bring relief to Zanzibaris,” he added.

Ismail Jussa Ladhu, ACT-Wazalendo Vice Chairman (Zanzibar) said the Island has been grabbed by incidents of rampant corruption which are high in number and never witnessed since revolution and the culprits are left to continue living freely.

According to him, the Controller and Auditor General (CAG) reports have every year been identifying areas with the corruption loopholes but no measures are taken.

“There are cases where some people have been stealing public funds and hiding them in foreign accounts, we are making follow up on this and once found we will ensure that stern legal measures are taken once we enter into power in 2025,” he said.

Ladhu said that residents in Zanzibar Stone Town face a lot of challenges and that currently they are required to pay 30,000/- for vehicle parking apart from 1,000/- collected from those who park their vehicles when going for various daily activities.

Zitto Kabwe, the former ACT-Wazalendo national leader commended the party’s leaders and members for various efforts they take to heighten unity despite various challenges.

He said that the party will continue to take various measures to promote change as it was during the late Maalim Seif Sharif Hamad.

ACT-Wazalendo is conducting public rallies as part of its strategy to visit various constituencies in Unguja, spending much of its time talking about the incidents of corruption and its impacts.