The character of Okello as a man with courage and influence. It was Okello who organised others to acquire firearms from the police stations. He incited other Africans to realize that a revolution was the solution to their suffering.

The coup was secretly planned that it took the government forces by surprise. It was executed at an incredible speed. It took only nine hours for the revolutionaries to take over power.

The Revolution occurred during the special Ramadhan festival of 11th January. During this period, Moslems are not supposed to fight.

They were involved in merry making and lavish expenditure. They left their vehicles outside the main hall and revolutionaries used them for easy transport to attack and carry firearms. This occasion gave the fighters cover to infiltrate the town and the strategic sites.

Arabs had a weak intelligence network. Okello himself said he had attended several meetings without being noticed. The Arabs also believed that Africans were disorganized and incapable of leading a rebellion.

The presence of retrenched policemen in Zanzibar added to the success of the revolution. The Arabs wanted to train Arab policemen.

These policemen had enough experience and organizational ability to take over a government.

The new policemen who replaced black retrenched policemen were weak and lacked the ability to resist a serious force.

The flight sultan of Zanzibar to Britain ensured success of the revolution. This move left power vacuum that Africans had to fill with minimum delay.

The Arabs were minority numbering only 50,000 compared to the Africans who were about 270,000.

The revolutionaries got firearms when they overran Ziwani armoury and later Mutoni Police Station.

"The weaknesses of the Arab government were primarily responsible for the outbreak of the Zanzibar revolution of 1964" Discuss.

Approach: Identification of the Zanzibar revolution. Explain how the weaknesses of the Arab regime vis-avis other factors led to the outbreak of the revolution. Standpoint

The Zanzibar revolution involved the overthrow of the Arab government regime by the Zanzibaris led by self-styled Field Marshall John Okello, a Ugandan from the Northern region. It took place on the 11th and 12th of January 1964. To a large degree, the weaknesses of the Arab government led to the outbreak of Zanzibar revolution of 1964.

Despotism of the Arab regime needed to be challenged by the affected Africans in Zanzibar. The Arab government monopolized power; it never allowed Africans to participate in politics.

The weakness of the army motivated the Zanzibaris to attack the Arab government in 1964.

Institutional weakness within the Arab regime contributed to the outbreak of the Zanzibar revolution of 1964. The Arab government failed to establish an effective resolution body to reconcile differences between Arabs and blacks.

The government was a neo-colonial regime and there was need to dismantle this kind of setting.

Monopolization of clove production provided another cause. Cloves were introduced in Zanzibar in 1918.

Failure of the Arab government to evenly distribute land was a source of resentment by the zanzibaris.

The Africans in Zanzibar could not tolerate poor working conditions and terms of service. The Arab government designed no policies to uplift the conditions of workers.

The invitation of Indians by the Arab Sultan also led to outbreak of the revolution. The influx of Indians on the island created income inequality;

Indians were being favoured by the Arabs, they dominated investment while the poor Africans became poorer.

Racism was another cause of the revolution. The Arab government and Arabs generally were too proud; they underlooked Africans as products of slavery.

The poor Arab education system angered the blacks.

Rumours about the Arab plans to brutalize Africans were another cause.

  Other Factors

Long period of foreign rule should not go unmentioned.

The revolution was attributed to the role of Britain. The British mismanaged the handling-over period and seemed to have favoured the Arab minorities.

The arrival of John Okello was an instrumental factor in the outbreak of Zanzibar revolution.

The influence of African nationalism in Ghana, Egypt etc also caused chaos In Ghana, Nkrumah was calling for the destruction of colonialism in all it manifestations.

The role of Abdul Rahman Mohamed Babu, too, led to the revolution.

Account for the nationalistic success in the Zanzibar revolution

Okello’s physical coverage and mental ability- trans national figure who had the ability to plan, organize and lead the revolution.

Okello incited the Zanzibaris to rebel against the imperialists.

He captured Ziwani and Mtoni police stations which the revolutionaries modern weapons.

The revolutionaries enjoyed massive support in both Pemba and Zanzibar islands.

The Arab dominated government was isolated.

Africans were the majority.

The coup was carried out with a high level of secrecy.

Foreign military assistance, examples from Uganda, Tanganyika, Mozambique etc.

Efficient means of transport on the island

Arabs never received any assistance from the British advisers.

Arabs had weak intelligence network.

Over confidence of the Arabs that Africans were very disorganized.

Choice of the date of Ramadhan.