Shops reopen after EFD strike

SHOPS REOPEN: Congo Street in the Dar es Salaam’s central business district as captured by our roving photographer yesterday. This was after shops in the area reopened following reports that the strike had ended. The leader of the traders, Mr Johnson Minja, who is facing charges of inciting traders to reject Electronic Fiscal Devices (EFDs), was released on bail on Wednesday. The traders have been striking for days to push for his release. PHOTO|VENANCE NESTORY 

By Alex Malanga,The Citizen Correspondent

In Summary

• The government has reportedly incurred a huge loss in the three days the shops remained closed
• Traders closed shops for over a week to show solidarity with their leader who was remanded after his bail was abruptly cancelled in Dodoma.

Dar es Salaam. A traders’ association claims the government may have lost up to Sh9 billion in uncollected tax during the past three days when shops remained closed in various parts of the country over a business dispute with the taxman.

Traders closed shops for over a week to show solidarity with their leader who was remanded after his bail was abruptly cancelled by a Dodoma court where he is charged with  inciting traders to reject EFDs.

Mr Johnson Minja, who is the chairman of the Tanzania Traders Association, is facing charges of inciting traders not to pay tax using Electronic Fiscal Devices (EFDs).

Mr Minja was arrested in January in Dar es Salaam and charged in Dodoma over the allegations. His Sh4 million bail was reinstated on Wednesday, paving the way for re-opening of the shops.

The traders have also opened up talks with the government and Parliament to sort out the standoff once and for all.

Speaking in Dar es Salaam yesterday, the embattled Minja said basically, the government loses at least Sh3 billion in revenues each day when shops remain closed.

He said, “The misunderstanding between the government and traders was a result of an opaque system in the taxation process.”

Much more revenue, he said, is lost through unscrupulous TRA officials at the port of Dar es Salaam.  The huge loss, would add to the knock in collections by TRA that has only managed to collect Sh4.9 trillion of the anticipated Sh5.6 trillion during the first half of the current financial year.

The loss would also complicate the budget crisis more as the government is already facing a huge deficit that was exacerbated by the donors’ move to withhold funds over corruption.

The business community association’s general secretary, the Rev Sylvester Kiondo, said he was confident that the government would be working on their issues of concern as directed recently by the Prime Minister, Mr Mizengo Pinda. 

The news may come as a big relief to business operators from Tanzania’s landlocked neighbours who have been calling upon the country to find a lasting solution to the problem during the past three days.

Businesspeople from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Zambia, Burundi, Rwanda, Malawi and Zimbabwe – who use the port of Dar es Salaam as their source of trading items – saw their expenditures rise steadily between Monday and Wednesday when most shops were closed due to the misunderstanding. Those that spoke with The Citizen threatened to stop buying their wholesale goods from Dar es Salaam and opt for importing directly from China or turn to other countries