Confusion at Tanzania-Kenya border as agency imposes new charges
What you need to know:
Freight forwarders appeal to Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa to end the confusion which has led to long queues of cargo trucks plying both sides of the Tanzania/Kenya border.
Arusha. Freight forwarders at the busy Namanga border town are up in arms against new charges on cargo recently imposed by the Weights and Measures Agency (WMA).
They have appealed for the quick intervention of Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa to end the confusion which has led to long queues of cargo trucks plying both sides of the Tanzania/Kenya border.
The freight forwarders said the new charges for each export or import item was "a huge burden" to their business and want the agency to revert to the old system where the entire cargo is charged at once.
They made their appeal at Namanga early this week during a meeting convened by the freight forwarders under their umbrella body, the Tanzania Freight Forwarders Association (Taffa).
"We are not ready to work under the new system until we are shown the new legislation for the new charges", insisted the chairman of the association Ismail Lukas during the meeting.
He told journalists that they were ready for dialogue with the government authorities but would not agree with the new order until WMA produces a new legislation on the same.
According to Mr. Lukas, they would still stick to the old legislation enforced in 2016 under which the freight forwarders would pay only 0.2 per cent of the value of the import/export cargo the lowest being Sh. 100,000.
He said under the new system, they are charged Sh. 1000,000 per item on the cargo instead of single charge for the whole cargo as specified in the old legislation.
"The prime minister should intervene to end the crisis", he stressed, noting that they would incur heavy losses and forced out of business if the new charging system is enforced.
Wilson Mkanza, the manager of a freight forwarding firm called EDPAC they were on the verge of suspending cross border transport business unless they got official communication from above.
However, when contacted an official of WMA for Arusha region Dismas Maturine told The Citizen that the freight forwarders were briefed on the new charges in a communication sent to them on May 15th.
His counterpart, Ms Stella Kahwa, the technical director of WMA said they would take on board the complaints raised by Taffa members but implored on them to be patient.
