 Police were investigating Sunday whether the killing of the ruling party's representative in charge of monitoring voter registration was politically motivated after his body was found on his farm in the violent run-up to Zanzibar's general elections. The partially decomposed body of Chande Rashid Saleh was discovered Saturday, regional police chief George Kizuguto said. He had been missing for four days. "There were machete wounds on the face, mouth and cheek of the dead man... We concluded that he died an unnatural death. He was killed," Kizuguto said.
| Brilliant, inspector! How do you do it? |
Police are investigating several suspects in the killing that could possibly be politically motivated, Kizuguto said. Zanzibar, which united with the mainland to form the United Republic of Tanzania in 1964, elects its own president and legislature. General elections are set for Oct. 30 in the semiautonomous archipelago. The ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi, or Revolutionary Party, is expected to face a stiff challenge in the vote in predominantly Muslim Zanzibar. The party labels opposition supporters Muslim secessionists, while opposition leader Seif Shariff Hamad's Civic United Front says the ruling party represents only the interests of the mainland, which is largely Christian and animist. |