Dr Samia orders RCs to tackle the return of petty traders to streets through proper planning, not force

ZANZIBAR: PRESIDENT Samia Suluhu Hassan has directed regional commissioners and local authorities to tackle the growing return of small traders to streets through proper planning rather than force, including improving access to markets and transport services.

President Samia said the problem was becoming increasingly visible in major cities, particularly Dar es Salaam, Arusha, Mwanza, Mbeya and Dodoma, where small traders were returning to areas in front of licensed shops and onto streets despite the construction of modern markets.

Speaking in Zanzibar, she said regional leaders appeared to have relaxed supervision, allowing a situation that had previously been addressed to resurface.

“The issue of small traders, regional commissioners, you have now relaxed, especially those in Dar es Salaam, Arusha, Mwanza, Mbeya and Dodoma. The practice of putting traders in front of shops whose owners pay licences, and traders returning to the streets, is coming back at a high rate,” she said.

President Samia, however, ruled out using force to remove the traders, directing leaders to develop practical arrangements that would encourage them to relocate to designated markets.

“It is not by beating them with sticks or sending auxiliary police to confiscate their goods. No. It is through proper plans,” she said.

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She said local authorities should identify the reasons pushing traders back onto the streets and address them instead of simply removing them.

President Samia cited poor accessibility to markets as one of the challenges, noting that some traders complained that public transport vehicles did not pass near the markets and passengers therefore could not get off there to buy their goods.

“If the complaint is that daladalas do not pass there and passengers do not get off, create routes for daladalas to stop there so that the traders can get customers to buy their goods,” she said.

She urged regional commissioners to supervise local authorities closely and ensure such practical challenges were addressed.

President Samia also called on councils to build additional markets in areas where existing facilities had insufficient space, stressing that not every market could be constructed using funds from the central government.

“Councils make an effort to build other markets. Not every market in your area will be built by the government. No, you are also the government,” she said.

She directed councils to mobilise their own financial resources to construct markets where street traders could operate legally and safely, while helping to restore order in urban areas.