Hawkers banned from major roads

What you need to know:

  • Arusha District Commissioner Gabriel Daqqaro said it was unacceptable for the city’s roads to be turned into chaotic open-air markets.

Arusha. Hawkers and small-scale traders will no longer be allowed to operate along major roads in Arusha.

Arusha District Commissioner Gabriel Daqqaro said it was unacceptable for the city’s roads to be turned into chaotic open-air markets.

“The government has never allowed you to lay your merchandise on the roads,” he said when addressing representatives of hawkers and small-scale traders.

Mr Daqqaro added that the government supported the informal sector, but that did not mean that hawkers were free to conduct their businesses haphazardly and block key roads in the city.

However, he did not say when the directive would come into effect and decongest the city’s roads, especially in the evenings.

Mr Daqqaro cited roads linking the Friends Corner junction in the heart of the city and Levolosi as among the most notorious for uncontrolled hawker activities, adding that this compromised security and inconvenienced road users.

Other areas where hawkers and small-scale traders jam the roadsides are Kilombero market, Pangani, Murriet, Bondeni, Mianzini, Ngarenaro and Mbauda.

Mr Daqqaro said city authorities and other stakeholders were in the process of identifying alternative areas for small-scale traders.

He added that hawkers and small-scale traders must be registered and issued with IDs before they are allowed to operate in the city.

“Those without IDs will not be allowed to conduct business anywhere in the city,” the DC declared.

The IDs are issued by Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA), whose deputy commissioner for domestic revenue, Mr Abdul Zuberi, said all registered small-scale traders would be given tax identification numbers (TIN).

“This is a nationwide exercise, and we have begun in Arusha, where we expect to register at least 125 business groups,” he said.

Twenty-five groups with a total of 3,606 members had been registered by the end of last week.

Mr Zuberi said each ID cost Sh10,000 and was valid for three years.

A representative of the hawkers association, whose members operate mainly in the city’s central business district, Mr Feliston Athumani, said the body currently had a total of 7,583 members, of whom 283 were brokers.