COMORO ISLANDS: OAU Warns of the Consequences Of Secession

By Moyiga Nduru Reprint | | Print |

Moyiga Nduru

NAIROBI, Aug 21 1997 (IPS) - The secessionist movement in Anjouan and Moheli, part of the Comoro Islands, represents a dangerous precedent for the Indian Ocean archipelago’s neighbours, according to Africa’s top civil servant.

“Anjouan and Moheli are not far from Mozambique, Tanzania and Kenya,” said Salim Ahmed Salim, secretary-general of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU). “The consequences of their moves will be felt beyond their borders.”

Salim is from Pemba, a tiny, strife-torn, clove-growing isle and part of the Indian Ocean archipelago of Zanzibar, along with Unguja and a number of islets.

Pemba, the richest of the Zanzibari islands, has been paralysed by unrest since controversial elections held in 1995 which, legislators from the isle claim, were rigged by the ruling party in Tanzania.

Born out of marriage between Zanzibar and the mainland Tanganyika in 1964, the union of Tanzania is now said to be under threat by secessionists from Pemba. As a result, the events in the Comoros could have some effect there.

Salim told journalists this week that the OAU would seek a peaceful solution to the crisis dogging Anjouan and Moheli, both of which have declared unilateral independence from the Federal Islamic Republic of the Comoros.

Salim said the OAU would help the government in Moroni — the capital of the federation and located on the main island of the Grande Comore — to address the thorny issues raised by the separatist elements in Anjouan and Moheli.

Three of the four Comoro islands, with a combined population of some 540,000, won independence from France in 1975. The fourth, Mayotte, had opted in a 1974 referendum to remain under French administration.

Twenty-two years on, some of the residents of Anjouan and Moheni, which account for half the federation’s population, are now changing their minds about that independence which, they say, has brought only poverty, civil strife and numerous coups. They want to return to French rule.

The rebels appear to be attracted by the higher standard of living, elaborate social security system and the regular payment of civil servants enjoyed by the people of Mayotte.

France has, however, ruled out bringing the islands once more under French administration. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Yves Doutriaux said this week that Paris would only back efforts by the OAU to find a peaceful solution to the crisis in the Comoros.

OAU envoy Pierre Yere has held a series of talks with leaders in Moroni and in Mutsamudu, the capital of Anjouan, soon after the separatists there announced their unilateral independence on Aug. 3. He also met with leaders on Moheli, who declared their independence after Anjouan’s.

Following his shuttle diplomacy, Yere, who is Ivory Coast’s ambassador to Ethiopia, said this week that the Comoran government and the separatists from the two islands had agreed to talks sponsored by the OAU.

In a statement made available to IPS this week, the pan-African body said it welcomed the agreement “of the government and all the parties concerned” to hold talks under the OAU’s auspices.

The date and the venue of the conference have not been set, but it is expected to take place within the next three weeks in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, where the OAU is headquartered.

The OAU statement followed a parley of the organisation’s crisis resolution committee, which met at ambassadorial level on Monday in Addis Ababa. During the meeting, the committee reiterated “the unequivocal support of the OAU for the unity, territorial integrity and cohesion” of the Comoran archipelago.

It, however, remains to be seen whether the OAU will be able to reverse the secessionist feelings sweeping across Anjouan and Moheli. “One interesting thing on the two islands is that you don’t see the Comoran flag flying. It has been replaced by the French flag,” said a foreign journalist just back from the archipelago.

He told IPS on Thursday that everybody he had talked to did not want to return to the federation of the Comoros. “Even Anjouan’s new leader, the 71-year old Abdallah Ibrahim, thinks that they have already won independence,” he said.

Ibrahim replaced 75-year old Koranic teacher Foundi Abdalla, who was elected “president” soon after the secessionists declared independence. Foundi resigned last week.

The Comoro islands had been rocked for weeks by a series of labour disputes over non-payment of salaries. On Sunday, the governor of Grande Comore, Aboubacar Boina, banned all demonstrations by political groups and trade unions until the secessionist trouble in Anjouan and Moheli are resolved.

Wage arrears are reported to be standing at 11 months, but President Abdoulkarim said he would address the issue only after resolving the crisis on the two rebel islands.