Aftermath of the Zanzibar Revolution | Field Marshal John Okello | January 1964

Thursday, January 16th 1964. Footage of the aftermath of the Zanzibar Revolution, an uprising by Black African revolutionaries against the Arab rulers which led to the overthrow of the Sultan of Zanzibar and the end of 200 years of Arab domination of the island. Arabs and South Asians were targeted but not Europeans. The Arabs were rounded up and put into special camps. The uprising was instigated by an election which was rigged in favour of the Arab dominated ruling political party. It was also a reaction to festering resentments based on race. Zanzibar was for centuries a thriving slave port from which Africans were taken to the Middle East. The man who became the public face of the revolution, the self-proclaimed Field Marshal John Okello (1937-1971) is filmed at a press conference. Okello, a Ugandan bricklayer who moved from Pemba to the island in February 1963, and who played an important role in the insurgency said that the island would stay within the Commonwealth and added that Zanzibar wanted “dem