The father of independence

                                                   Ahmed Abdallah Abderemane, the father of independence

This year, we commemorate the 30^th anniversary of the death of the father of the Comorian independence. Ahmed Abdallah Abderemane was born on June 12, 1919 in Domoni, on the island of Anjouan. He was the son of a vanilla and cloves merchant. After his primary and middle school studies, he began participating in the government in the 1940s, while the archipelagos of Comoros and Madagascar were still part of France. He was the President of the General Council from 1949 until 1953 and represented Comoros in France. After the independence of Madagascar on June 26, 1960, the Comoros earned its internal autonomy under the presidency of Said Mohamed Cheikh. After the death of Said Mohamed Cheikh on 16 March 1970, Abdallah became the chairman of the local Assembly during the 1970s when prince Said Ibrahim was dismissed by his political opponents.   

First presidency

Abdallah founded in 1972 his political party, the Comoros Democratic Union (UDC). He became president of the Comorian local government under the French administration. He served in that position until 6 July 1975, when the four islands became independent from France after a vote in the local Parliament. Nevertheless, the members who represented the island of Mayotte in the local Assembly decided to vote against the independence. And the French authorities in Paris seized the opportunity offered by the representatives of Mayotte to consider the island as part of France. Abdallah became the first president of the independent islands, but was overthrown by a young political socialist leader named Ali Soilih in a coup d’Etat on August 3, 1975.

Second presidency

Abdallah had been living in exile in Paris, during the revolutionary period of President Ali Soilih. He staged a coup against Soilih on 13 May, 1978 with the help of the French mercenary Bob Denard. “The government of Ali Soilih has fallen” said on a radio broadcast, Said Athoumani who had served as "Chairman of the Politico-Military Directorate" for ten days.  Abdallah and Mohamed Ahmed, both from Anjouan assumed the titles of "Co-Chairmen of the Politico-Military Directorate." After the assassination of Soilih on 29 May 1978, their titles were changed to "Co-Chairmen of the Directorate". After the new constitution of 1^st October 1978 that created the Islamic and Federal Republic of Comoros, Abdallah became the lone chair.  

On 25 October, Abdallah was elected president and remained in office for two terms, despite three separate coup attempts against him. In 1982, Abdallah had the UDC and all other parties abolished, and a new party, the Comorian Union for Progress (UCP) known as UDZIMA in Comorian language, was set up. The country became a one-party state, with the UDZIMA being the only legal party.   

Political achievements

Abdallah has founded the Fishing Technical School in Anjouan, the Agricultural School in Moheli and the National School of Higher Education and the Medical School in Grande Comore to train the cadres the country and its administration needed for its development. He also sent many students abroad to study in the best schools and universities of Africa, Europe, America and the Middle East. All the Comorian students were granted and had got scholarships. Abdallah has never ceased to reclaim the island of Mayotte as part of Comoros. 

Abdallah was re-elected unopposed in 1984. On 26 November 1989, he was shot dead in his Itsandra office during a coup led by Bob Denard who took control of the country the next day until December 15^th, 1989. The French mercenaries were obliged to leave the country after a student’s demonstration in Moroni followed by the military intervention of France.  

Chami Mouzawar 

Contributing writer

The CNDRS 40th anniversary

From left to right: UNESCO advisor, ministers of education and culture, and CNDRS director

To celebrate its 40^th anniversary, the national center for documentation and scientific research known as CNDRS in French, organized an international colloquium from 19 to 21 November 2019 at the conference hall of Retaj hotel in Moroni. The opening ceremony was honored by Azali Assoumani, the president of the Union of Comoros. Cultural heritage and scientific research as a fine vehicle for the economic emergence in Comoros was the topic to be discussed and enriched during two days by international, regional and national scholars.

The first day of the conference was focused on two themes: ‘‘how to cooperate in order to safeguard and enrich our national heritage’’ and ‘‘challenges and prospects in scientific research’’. Each researcher had to give a 10 minutes presentation. The first presentation about the social, cultural and historic links between Madagascar and the Comoros was given by professor RAFOLO Andrianaivoarivony from the State University of Antananarivo. He took the opportunity to correct people who think that Madagascar is an island. “Madagascar is an archipelago composed of many islands and isles,” he said.

ELHADJI Mohamed is a teacher researcher and former director at the Technical Institute from the University of Comoros.  His theme was focused on the Comorian diaspora of Madagascar who settled in Comoros after the massacre of Comorians in the city of Mahajanga in 1976. They were nicknamed ‘‘Sabena’’ because they took the Belgian aircraft Sabena airways to come back home after the sad event. Once in Comoros, they have set up their own businesses in order to survive.

Mohamed Othman works at CNDRS. He is the head of the Arabic and Islamic Civilization Department, but his speech was in Comorian language. He talked about the peaceful relationships between East Africa and the sultanate of Oman. “Anjouan Island was a business hub which exported many agricultural products to the East India,” he said.  He emphasizes on the marriage links between noble Comorians and Arabs. “The sweet cake called halwa, the Arabic coffee, the turban of the sultan with the djembe, to name but a few, are some examples of the Arabic influence and heritage in the Comorian society’’ he said. He also reminded the audience that Djumbe Fatima, the female sultan of Moheli, was married to an Arab of Oman called Said Muhammad Nasser Makadara and that the Frenches came in Comoros for the first time in the middle of the 19^th century to colonize the four islands.

Karalyn Monteil is the UNESCO Culture Unit advisor for East Africa. She focused on UNESCO culture conventions that may be tools for sustainable development. She also recalled the UNESCO conventions of 1954, 1964 and 1999 which prohibit the import and export of cultural property in the event of conflict.  She said that the Comoros have signed the 2003 convention on the safeguarding of the cultural and immaterial heritage, the 2005 convention on the protection and promotion of the diversity of cultural expressions, but did not sign the 2001 convention on underwater cultural protection. The last convention concerns wrecks at sea.

Dr. Ouled, former Dean, teacher and researcher at the University of Comoros, chaired the question/answers session and summarized the dozen interventions of the day.  

Cultural heritage, community and economic emergence were the topic discussed on Wednesday 20^th during the whole day.  Mohamed Mboreha Selemane is a national expert and heritage manager. His presentation was about conservation issues and prospects for enhancing military architecture in Ngazidja. He is a little bit disappointed that he has not had any questions.

Raafatil-KALBI is the chief of Archives at CNDRS in Anjouan. Her subject was about challenges and prospects of archives for development.  She was complaining of archiving problems in her department. However, she admits having the help of her colleagues of the museum of Mayotte. 

 Comorian craftsmanship exhibited at CNDRS

Chami presentation was about languages and development in Comoros. He said that the national language (shikomori) consists of four dialects and each island has its own dialect. In addition, Mayotte has a second dialect which is called shibushi close to the languages spoken in Madagascar.  “Many African scholars think that there is no real development without the development of our own African languages,” he said. He also gave the examples of the Arabic language under the reign of Muhammad Ali in Egypt in the 19^th century and the Turkish language under the presidency of Mustapha Kemal in the 20^th century. He concluded that Arabic and Turkish have become major languages thanks to their political leaders.

Rahamatou Goulam is the director of the National Center of Crafts in Comoros. Her contribution was focused on the role and place of Crafts for the emergence of the country.  Aboubacar Said Salim closed the 2-day session of the symposium on behalf of the CNDRS director and waited for everyone’s contributions and proposals to make the Comoros an emerging country by 2030. The closing ceremony of the 40 years of the CNDRS took place on Thursday, November 21 under the high patronage of the ministers of culture and education. It was followed by traditional dances, public speaking (shiduantsi) and a free visit of the CNDRS museum.  

Chami Mouzawar

Contributing writer