CAUSES OF THE ZANZIBAR REVOLUTION
The colonial legacy contributed to the Zanzibar revolution. The British had used the minority Arabs to dominate Africans through their policy of divide and rule. These Arabs had tortured and mal-administered the Africans. On granting independence in the hands of the Arabs in 1963, Africans could not allow it which situation was exploited by Okello to stage a successful revolution. The economic crisis of 1960, the cloves which were a major cash crop in Zanzibar and Pemba drastically lost market and the prices lowered considerably, the Africans in turn blamed the Asians of Indo-Pakistan origin and the Arab produce buyers. This caused alarming situation as the cost of living increased. Under such conditions the only alternative was to stage a revolution such that the Africans control their own economies. The sky rocketing unemployment that hit the island as a result of the government layingoff many policemen and other Africans from positions of responsibility, these discontented mas...