Sentiments cloud cars auction at Dar Port
What you need to know:
The auction follows directive by President Magufuli last November that all vehicles which have overstayed at Dar Port be cleared through auction or otherwise
Dar es Salaam. Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA), through Yono Auction Mart, has auctioned 50 out of 140 vehicles abandoned at the Tanzania Ports Authority (TPA) amidst complaints from bidders of irregularities pitting the auction.
Hundreds of Tanzanians turned up for the auction intending to buy the cars. But some of them were frustrated after the prices which the offered were rejected.
The Taxpayer Education director at Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA), Mr Richard Kayombo, said the tax agency wants to use the auction to recover money which would have been paid as tax from the imports.
“From the money we collect we will ensure we first recover our tax and the difference will be paid to the owners of the vehicles,” he clarified.
Meanwhile, Yono Auction Mart managing director, Ms Scholastika Kevela, said the auction provides Tanzanians with opportunity to purchase vehicles of their own choice.
“So far we have sold 50 vehicles out of the 140 cars targeted in this auction,” she said.
According to her, the auction was transparent and another date will be set in case some cars were not sold today.
Reacting to sentiments by some people that their prices were rejected, Ms Kevela said it was wrong notion to think that the cars would be sold at throw away price.
She said in addition to competition from various bidders, but the target is to ensure that the process enable TRA to recover its taxes.
She made the remarks following sentiments from some bidders, including a businessman from Bukoba, Pausian Simoni, who told reporters that he was not happy with the way the auction was conducted as some bidders had reached a price of up to Sh8 million but the sale was stopped on grounds that they had failed to reach the threshold price that was set.
“I once attended a UN auction and we had to pay an entry fee that was later returned to those who failed to purchase anything and those who did was put as a down payment, but the fee was also a security that ensured those who were not buyers did not invade the auction,” she said.
Businessman Charles Ezekiel said that he was not happy with the auction because the auctioneers were not transparent and did not make clear how much they hoped to raise from each car and therefore caused chaos when the price reached by bidders did not match their expectations.
Tabata wards councilor, Mr Patrick Asenga, said that the auction was not different from a showroom because the auctioneers had already put price tags on the vehicles.
