Businesses get slow start after elections

Dar es Salaam. Business activities fully resumed in Dar es Salaam yesterday, four days after the General Election, which involved eight presidential candidates and tens of thousands of contenders for other races.

Millions of Tanzanians had suspended all their normal activities since voters cast ballots on Sunday and anxiously awaited the results of the country’s tightest ever elections.

On Sunday, residents went to the polls as they sought to exercise their constitutional right to vote for leaders of their choice in the tripartite election. Unsure of what would happen during the result announcement process, residents decided to stay in their homes.

But yesterday, traders started opening their shops though some remained closed in what they predict to be an uncertain environment until the National Electoral Commission announces the winner in the presidential election.

A section of operators who spoke to this paper revealed that peace and security is what they are unsure of until after the President is announced.

Chairman of the Kariakoo business community Philimin Chonde told The Citizen that a majority of businesses were closed on Sunday, but so far the pace has been picking up slowly since Monday.

“While a majority of the traders closed their business in order to participate in the voting process, we expected business to have resumed to normal yesterday (Tuesday) but still a lot of traders are yet to open shop,” he said.

He explained that not only are a majority of the businesses closed but their biggest customers from neighboring countries and the regions have not been coming to do business since Sunday.

According to him, despite the fact that there have been no threats to peace and security apart from a few minor incidents in the city, traders are reluctant to open their businesses until after the whole election process including announcing of presidential results is completed.

He stressed while a majority of the shops remained closed on Sunday and Monday, a few traders showed up yesterday but turn out of customers has remained very low.