From reports coming from a source on Zanzibar’s main island of Unguja it appears that the bodies of a French couple, who intended to settle on the Spice Island and retire there, were found yesterday concealed in a water well on the property they had rented.
The two were reported missing two months ago and the search intensified when apparently friends and relatives of the two, through the French mission in Dar es Salaam, increased the pressure on local authorities to get results.
While the circumstances of their death are entirely unclear at this stage, it has been suggested that robbery may have been a motive which led to their murder and police investigations, according to the source, are now focusing on individuals who were in contact with the couple to sell or rent them properties.
Zanzibar, also known as the Spice Island, has had some negative publicity last year when two British girls were subjected to an acid attack, while churches were burned by a small section of radicals seeking to fan religious divisions and hatred.
Fortunately for the tourism industry, on which Zanzibar depends for the 75 percent of overall foreign exchange earnings the island records annually and being a key pillar of economic activity, has not yet taken a downturn as a result of bad publicity over such cases, largely because they are still seen as isolated and not specifically targeting tourists, though not everyone would agree with this conclusion of course.