Second ‘Makonda containers’ auction flops

JAMES KAMALA

THE second phase of auctioning of the 20 containers imported by Dar es Salaam Regional Commissioner (RC), Mr Paul Makonda, was held yesterday, although bidders failed to reach the price target.

The auction of the 20 containers containing an assortment of furniture was held at around 8 am at the Dar es Salaam Inland Container Deport (ICD) and conducted by Yono Auction Mart.

Most of the interested bidders offered to pay between 6m/- and 15m/-, which the auctioneer said was less than the set price.

Speaking after the auctioning, Yono Auction Mart Executive Director, Ms Scolastika Kevela, said that she set the auction for all the containers as per issued directives, but bidders failed to meet the targeted price. Ms Kevela said that the containers will continue to be re- auctioned every Saturday until all of them were sold out.

“This process is continuous, therefore we will continue to auction them until all of them are sold out,” Ms Kevela said without disclosing the targeted price.

The TRA Director of Taxpayer Services and Education, Mr Richard Kayombo, told the ‘Sunday News’ that according to auctioning rules and regulations, the auctioneer cannot disclose the set prices to avoid upsetting prospective bidders.

“In auctioning, we let bidders compete, if the target is reached or exceeded, then we sell the goods, otherwise we don’t sell until the bidders reach the bidding price,” he said.

Mr Kayombo said that the auctioned containers are generally packed with furniture which includes chairs, tables and cupboards. He added that all the containers are averagely packed with the same load therefore no single container is bigger than the other.

This is the second time the auction is conducted, since during the initial auction, bidders failed to reach the bidding price of the items that were valued at 1.4bn/-.

Finance and Planning Minister, Dr Phillip Mpango, had earlier directed Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA) to auction the containers to recover government tax amounting to 1.2bn/-.

He said the tax will be recovered as per the country’s laws after the owner failed to pay for import taxes and other required duties.

Putting more emphasis on the matter, President John Magufuli, addressed the issue and cited Act Number 30 of 1974 on the Governments Loans, Guarantees and Grants which was amended through Act Number 9 of 2003 on section 3, 6, 13 and 15, which showed that the law gives power to the Finance Minister only to act on behalf of the government on grant related issues