Magufuli’s ultimatum to fuel station owners

Biharamulo. President John Magufuli Wednesday gave fuel station operators two weeks to install automatic electronic fiscal petrol printer devices or have their licences revoked.

Dr Magufuli issued the ultimatum in Biharamulo District, Kagera Region, while commissioning the new 154km Kagoma-Biharamulo-Lusahunga road, which cost Sh190 billion.

“We’d rather go without fuel for a few days than entertain traders who evade tax. I’m giving them 14 days, whether they are in Chato, Biharamulo, Kagera or Dar es Salaam, to install the required devices or risk losing their licences,” he said.

The President also directed the Ministry of Finance and Planning, through Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA), to work closely with the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment to ensure that all filling stations that would not have installed the machines by August 2 had their licences revoked immediately.

TRA closed dozens of filling stations across the country that had not heeded the directive to install the machines by July 1, which was the beginning of the 2017/18 financial year. The directive was issued last October.

Last week, the Minister of Finance and Planning, Dr Philip Mpango, personally supervised the closure of a station in Kigamboni, Dar es Salaam, at the start of a nationwide crackdown.

TRA Commissioner General Charles Kichere also led his officers in inspecting filling stations in the city last week, and shut several outlets.

Checks by The Citizen established that most filling stations in Dar es Salaam were operating normally after installing the devices in the last fortnight.

However, the situation was different upcountry, where many filling stations had been shut.

In Igunga District, for instance, not a single filling station was open, and motorists had to travel to neighbouring Nzega District to buy petrol and diesel. However, there were long queues at the only filling station that was open in Nzega.

Fuel retailers have appealed to the government to give them more time to install the devices.

The Tanzania Petrol Stations Operators Association (Tapsoa) has also voiced its concern about the cost of the machines, saying they were sold at between $2,500 (Sh5.5 million) and $3,500 (Sh7.7 million) each. This means that a trader operating four pumps will have to shell out at least $10,000 (Sh22 million) for the machines.

In another development, President Magufuli ordered pastoralists who had entered Burigi reserve forest to leave the protected area immediately.

He directed Kagera Regional Salum Kijuu to maintain the operation to evict livestock keepers and their animals from protected areas.

Dr Magufuli said pastoralists should only retain herds they could properly take care of and sell the rest to avoid straying into forest reserves and other protected areas in search of pasture for their animals.

“Pastoralists should learn modern ways of livestock keeping. There is no point in owning huge herds if you can’t take care of them,” he said.

Earlier, President Magufuli visited his former school, Katoke Seminary, where he presided over an impromptu fundraiser at which, 1,000 bags of cement and 150 roofing sheets, among other items, were donated.

He also gave Sh1 million, which he said was compensation for a window he broke when he was in Form Two at the school in the 1970s.

As Dr Magufuli was heading to Ngara District, his motorcade was stopped by residents of Nyakahura Village, who demanded that he address them.

He told the villagers that the government would repair the Nyakahura-Rusumo-Ngara road, and promised to the dispatch the Minister of Water and Irrigation to assess the water problem in the area and take appropriate measures to alleviate it. Dr Magufuli also donated Sh10 million for the construction of school buildings.

The Head of State was on the latest leg of this six-day tour of Kagera, Kigoma, Tabora and Singida regions. He is expected to address a public rally in Ngara today.