Susan Mwombeki stood in
amazement as tears flowed down her chicks as she witnessed scores
of municipal militiamen in their active operation of evicting defiant petty traders along Kariakoo market complex saying
it is being conducted with cruelty. She became terribly shocked and painful when
she gazed a single woman with her breastfeeding young baby strapped on her back
being harassed at the scene without mercy after the soldiers had invaded her
and began picking up her business items which she had spread on the ground. Tears from her was an indication that she felt
sympathetic with the woman whom she regarded as being among the low income
people struggling for a daily bread of her entire family which for that day
might have probably ended up sleeping with empty stomach. Suzana who is a
resident of Kibaha Mwendapole in Coast region is in the city to fulfill a
business appointment, and apart from being an entrepreneur, she is also engaged
in human rights activism. She is among the less feared women although was
terrified at that time when she saw such a large group of militiamen who after
having approached the area began to stamp on the tomatoes and other goods including
some fruits of the fleeing petty The
soldiers took along with them some merchandise left behind by fleeing petty
traders to unknown destination, only few who were lucky enough from the same
scene swiftly managed to escape out of the sight of furious militiamen. Speaking
to the writer of this new who happened to be present witnessing the swoop, Suzana
wondered in disbelief as she watched the drama and had nothing to do over what
was happening at such unlikely time of the day. Elaborating more she clarified that the
approach used by the militiamen to attack traders is in a harsh manner bearing in
mind the fact that, traders have their valuable merchandise which some gets
damaged and never compensated for any losses incurred. She is on the view of
the fact that, militiamen could use peaceful ways of relocating petty traders from doing their businesses in unauthorized
areas, rather than applying force an aspect likely to cause bloodshed in the
area. This is a terrified situation that has caused an endless debate
among the people around who used to witness such kind of a drama whenever the
two parties come into confrontation while in their operation in three Dar es
Salaam municipal councils of Ilala, Temeke and Kinondoni. The ongoing operation to decongest the overwhelmed
streets around Kariakoo market complex in downtown Dar e Salaam city has
been termed to be a relief to shoppers in the area as the Ilala Municipal
Council, has been striving hard to evict the petty traders from invading open
spaces on which to conduct their business activities. Some people have expressed
their appreciations by hailing the exercise currently being undertaken by Ilala
municipal militiamen in their forceful eviction of petty traders popularly
known as ‘Machingas’ who clogged main streets around Kariakoo business complex
in Dar es Salaam city, saying that the exercize has rendered free movements in
areas which were formerly impassable. In an interview with this paper, quite a
number of people have appreciated the move dubbed, “Cleaning the city” which is aimed at decongesting Kariakoo market complex to give a relief to shoppers with
some who felt the pinch of the exercises, showed sympathy to the defiant petty
traders. The municipal militiamen are always armed with sticks and clubs and
tend to emerge from nowhere unexpectedly in ambush attack to accomplish their
planned mission of arresting petty traders who seemed to be stubborn and
defiant to obey the order that requires them not to trade in unrestricted areas
within the city centre. Normally, while
in their operation, the militiamen tend to look less sympathetic and rather
unconcerned with the pleading petty traders whom they manage to apprehend and
who later on ended up paying fines in city court once arraigned and charged according
to municipal’s bylaws. Interviewed one passerby who identified himself by one
name Chogola seemed to be sympathetic and said that, ‘the government should ask
itself and think about the destiny of her people before applying forceful
actions”. He is of the view of the fact
that, the city authorities should look for a more convenient place to let petty
traders conduct their businesses to avoid encountering such endless clashes now
and then. However, he noted
that, the main focus on these clashes should be how to relieve these people from abject poverty under the
confused attitude which drives them into such extremes and are ready to sustain
sufferings at the expense of ensuring that their families survives. Another
man who preferred anonymity queried the rationale of their removal saying that
their presence also helps poor earners as they could afford goods sold at a
cheapest price rates. However, he suggested that if the government was touched
by their people, then it could have paid special attention to them as they
deserve the rights of living just like other citizens. For a new comer in Dar
es Salaam city it would be a great surprise when walking down the main streets
and happen to encounter with such a fracas, and probably would dare to
criticize the offending group who doesn’t want to comply with the laid down
rules and regulations altogether. All designated streets in the area are
overwhelmed by the ever-increasing population in the city causing all entrances
to the complex and other shopping outlets are then clogged by thousands of
shoppers who are mingled with petty traders, not forgetting service vehicles
and those owned by the shoppers. Despite
regular eviction of petty traders in the area, still the situation is more
alarming and this is mostly aggravated by defiant traders who do not want to
vacate from the restricted areas to which are not authorized to conduct their
businesses.
Their movements have been too chaotic that it is just impossible
for drivers to make any headway through in the presence of the heavy traffic. The
situation is worse during the shopping sprees especially at this time around
when an important Christmas occasion is around the corner. This is a religious
festival which happens once in a year. In
this occasion, most shops are filled up with stock piles of perishable goods
such as clothes, shoes and a wide variety of domestic appliances. Official statistics made available by them
Ilala municipal council shows that, Kariakoo business complex currently accommodates
1,558 businesses and serves a population of 55,000 people daily. Dar es Salaam
is an ever expanding city, which necessitates the need to have satellite market
complexes in the districts and several other locations in the peripheries.
These would help ease the congestion now experienced in the city centre and
places around Kariakoo market complex. A typical example could be seen along Msimbazi and Congo streets the famous
majestic bazaar which are busy all the time throughout a day for different
goods both consumable and luxury not forget some headaches caused around by
motorists. What dominates
Msimbazi Street by far and always is shops for mobile phones accessories which
are being touted every now and then. Statistics by Ilala municipal council
shows that, about 15 percent of the Dar es Salaam residents visit the area
every day for their daily needs. Jacob Onesmo who is a business man in
Morogoro town narrated his experience to the writer of this news in favour of
the city militiamen. According to him, petty traders are always at fault for
disobeying city orders which requires them to vacate from trading in
unrestricted areas. He noted that, whenever he arrives in Dar es Salaam city,
he has been experiencing some difficulties while trying to force his movements
through if in a hurry at Kariakoo once he has purchased his goods. Onesmo who sells
ICT tools and other electronic gadgets used to order a bulk purchase of various
kinds of assortments at Kariakoo main shopping centre in the city. He noted
that, the area is so overcrowded with people all the time causing
inconveniences throughout the day. Ostracizing the plight of the area, he says
that, he sometimes encounters with lots of difficulties mostly when in need of
transport to carry his purchased goods due to the fact that, all streets in the
area are clogged and made impassable owing to petty business activities that it
sometimes become difficult to pass through. Efforts to remove petty traders in
the city has become an uphill task indeed, an exercise which sometimes ends up
in violence when the city militiamen confronts petty traders, says one
shopkeeper who identified himself by one name Shomari. However, he suggested
that, ‘the operation like this one should be planned with properly organized strategic
means to make it successful, otherwise hatred among them would continue
unabated. He suggested that, the authorities from the local government to
national level should deliberate on the possible ways on how they could empower
small scale traders by giving them special areas to conduct their activities. Shomari queried on such operations why it
involves confiscation of vendors’ merchandise and other properties and wanted
to know where are such goods taken to, and if at all their owners are given
ample time to repossess them. This paper contacted the Ilala Municipal council
legal officer Mashauri Musimu for comment over the matter and said that, the
confiscated goods are reserved in a room at the ward office and sometimes in
court awaiting owners to come and claim for them. However, he denied the fact
that such goods are distributed among workers of the council as widely
speculated by people in the street. He clarified that, once their owners
appears in court are normally fined for disobedience after which are handed
back their properties with strict order not to repeat conducting business in
restricted areas. He further said that, the most funny thing is that, most
traders do not appear in court for they know would meet such penalties which
are normally imposed as fines that range between Sh. 50,000/- and Sh. 100,000/-respectively
and instead resort to boycott their goods for ever. He further clarified that,
the perishable goods such as tomatoes, fruits and those likely to go bad are
taken to government children’s centres (approved school) for consumption. For
none perishable goods, he said are publicly auctioned. The Ilala Municipal
Public Relations Officer, Tabu Shaibu said that, the move by the municipality
is intact as it aim to remove vendors who have been inconveniencing movements
of motor vehicles and people as most of them are trading within road reserves. According
to her, the operation will continue as usual to make sure that such traders do
not conduct their businesses in such restricted areas as stipulated in
municipal’s by-laws, otherwise the authorities would continue arresting them
and their properties. However, she insists that, the continued presence of
these traders in these areas is against the city’s by-laws and that it was
legal to confiscate their properties once impounded and tendered them as
physical evidences before the city court. She also noted that, Ilala municipal
council has embarked effectively in an operation dubbed “cleaning the city” that is aimed at removing petty traders from
trading in unrestricted areas from the city centre. The operation has extended outside the city
centre to neighboring suburbs in the city and is a continuous exercise which
aims to clean the city’s environment as part of the cities sustainable
development programme. Commenting over the harassments caused during the
operation, the Dar es Salaam Special Police Zone Commander, ACP Sulleiman Kova
said that, the police deals with criminal offences and ensures the safety of
the citizens in the country. But, he continued and said that if such operation
would endanger petty traders in one way or another, then the police would
intervene for the interest of maintaining people’s safety and noted that, since
the operations started the police have not been involved so much.
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