Zanzibari President Hussein Ali Mwinyi has appointed Othman Masoud Othman as the new First Vice President of the semi-autonomous Tanzanian archipelago.

Mr Othman replaces Seif Sharif Hamad who died on February 17, 2021. Veteran politician Hamad was the Zanzibar chairman and presidential contender of the island's main opposition the Alliance for Change and Transparency (ACT-Wazalendo).

The party accepted the ruling Chama cha Mapinduzi invitation to join the government in December last year.

According to Zanzibar Constitution, a party that gets at least 10 per cent of the presidential votes will take the position of the First Vice President and form the government with the winning party.

Speaking earlier on Monday to journalists, President Mwinyi had intimated that he had an important announcement to make.