RC’s crackdown needs teeth beyond promises
DAR ES SALAAM: WE must admit it that Dar es Salaam deserves decisive leadership when disorder threatens mobility and livelihoods. We therefore hail Regional Commissioner Albert Chalamila for confronting rogue truck parking, misuse of pedestrian lanes and other abuses of public passages.
His planned crackdown sends a welcome message: public roads are not private yards, loading bays or personal property. This must be routinely preached. But enforcement must not stop at announcements. We urge Chalamila and the government he represents, to follow through relentlessly.
Dar is dealing with stubborn, well-connected and sometimes reckless people who believe money can sway authority and buy silence. If trucks are removed today but return tomorrow, the exercise becomes theatre.
Sustained inspections, penalties, transparent reporting and prosecution are needed to make the reform credible. The same seriousness must now be applied to a quieter but potentially more dangerous menace emerging on roads: daring youth balkanising certain zones and claiming them as their territory to extort money from Bajaj and bodaboda operators attempting to park or collect passengers.
This is not a harmless street arrangement; it is an unlawful privatisation of public space. It deserves immediate official scrutiny. If authorities ignore this practice, it can clandestinely groom gangsterism.
Today these youth impose unexplained fines; tomorrow, armed groups could emerge to enforce territorial claims with threats or violence. The most basic questions are already troubling: who authorises these collections?
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Where does the money go? What percentage reaches government coffers as legitimate dues or taxes? Why is no receipt issued? Such opacity invites abuse and corruption. The government, through the relevant authorities, must investigate these practices before they become entrenched.
Every legitimate parking point should be clearly designated, publicly identified and governed by known rules, fees and accountable collection systems. If a parking station is government designated and legally established, no self-appointed group should decide who may use it.
Tanzania belongs equally to all Tanzanians. A Bajaj or bodaboda operator should not be denied a lawful opportunity to park and do business because a street faction has declared the area “theirs.” Balkanising public space is not entrepreneurship; it is exclusion. It breeds conflict, undermines lawful commerce and can normalise coercion. The government must map, license and monitor parking zones, publish fees, issue receipts and punish extortion. Prevention is cheaper than policing gangs later on roads.
To our Dar es Salaam Regional Commissioner, we commend your approach, concern and determination. We now urge you to turn your attention to rogue youth who are balkanising bus stations, harassing Bajaj and bodaboda operators and imposing unauthorised fines on those picking up passengers in areas they have unlawfully claimed as their own.
