I don’t understand what all the fuss is about since Works minister John Magufuli announced last weekend that the ferry fare across the Magogoni Kigamboni) Creek in Dar es Salaam had increased from Sh100 to Sh200.

Dar es Salaam MPs have lately ganged up on the minister, demanding that the fare reverts to Sh100.  This is nothing more than a carefully calculated populist agenda driven by privileged clique with an eye on the 2015 elections.

The rise in fare is wholly justified, especially when one takes into consideration the fact that people using the Kigamboni ferries have been paying Sh100 since 1996.  Surely, those opposed to the new fee had not expected the fare to remain Sh100 forever, what with the skyrocketing cost of operating the ferries.

In comparison, daladala fares have tripled since that time while the price of a litre of diesel – the fuel used to power the ferries – has increased about four times from Sh500 to Sh2,000 a litre.

I would have had a lot of respect for Dar es Salaam MP had they mobilised their constituents to protest against the skyrocketing cost of living.  When the Kigamboni ferry fare was increased to Sh100, the price of a kilo of maize floor was Sh100, but now it is Sh1,000. 

We used to buy a kilo of rice at Sh300, but now we folk out Sh2,000 for the same.  A kilo of sugar used to cost only Sh200, but now it sell for well over Sh2,000.

This is what Dar es Salaam MPs should address instead of pretending to show that they represent the interests of ordinary people by opposing the inevitable.

People using the ferries should be thankful that the fare has only risen to Sh200, meaning that they are still using a service that is heavily subsidised by the government.  If the government were to privatise ferry services across the Magogoni Creek, I doubt if the fare would be less than Sh1000.
H.M. Hussein,
Dar es Salaam.

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