Kigoma. Beneath the calm waters of Lake Tanganyika, a growing crisis is brewing. Residents and businesses are increasingly alarmed by the surge of smuggled goods flooding markets, undercutting legitimate traders and diminishing tax revenue.
This illegal trade threatens livelihoods and deprives the Tanzanian government of crucial funds needed to improve public services and foster development.
Every year, millions of dollars in untaxed goods cross Lake Tanganyika, resulting in significant revenue losses and posing a risk to national security. This covert crime highlights weaknesses in governance and exposes the corruption that hinders Tanzania’s progress.
Economic crimes through illegal ports are accelerating along the shores of Lake Tanganyika, particularly in the Uvinza District of the southern Kigoma region. The village of Igalula, located 270 kilometres from Kigoma-Ujiji, has become a hotspot for the unauthorised transfer of goods between Tanzania and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
Our investigation across two villages revealed that corruption and lax law enforcement at the port facilitate illicit financial flows (IFFs) through tax evasion. According to Global Financial Integrity (GFI), a Washington, DC-based think tank, IFFs are illegal movements of money or capital from one country to another.
GFI classifies this movement as an illicit flow when funds are illegally earned, transferred, and/or utilised across an international border.
“You pay a small fee to a village leader for a stamp, and then you are allowed to proceed with your journey,” said a Congolese trader in Tanzania interviewed at Igalula Village who requested anonymity.
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The Tanzania Ports Authority Act of 2004 empowers the authority to oversee and manage ports, including those on inland waters such as Lake Victoria and Lake Tanganyika, to ensure smooth transportation of goods and people. Yet, the reality on the ground tells a different story.
Flow of untaxed goods
“At Rukoma, you must pay fees; that’s why I told you to make arrangements with a boat captain because all your plans will end at Kilewani (an illegal port in Igalula Village). If you board at Rukoma, you must pay official fees,” explained another trader.
“Most smuggled goods are textiles and body lotion. I’m telling you to strike a deal with the boat captain,” she added.
Sailors at Rukoma port load a shipment of maize onto one of the boats travelling between Rukoma, Kigoma, and Kalemie, DRC. PHOTO | NYAMGUMA MAHAMUDU.
At a second village, Kanyase, a boat captain who operates between Kigoma and the DRC, detailed how they smuggle goods across Lake Tanganyika.
“If you don’t have the permit to transport goods, we just carry on by giving small bribes to inspectors,” he said. “That way, we move ‘friendlily.’ You know if we go the official way, we wouldn’t reach.”
These testimonies from boat captains and traders working along the lake reveal that untaxed goods continue to flow to and from neighbouring countries due to corruption and a lack of robust oversight by authorities.
“At Katumbi [a village on the shores of Lake Tanganyika], people use unlicensed small fishing boats to go to Congo [DRC],” the captain added. “When they get there, they just pay a ten-thousand-shilling bribe.”
The absence of official ports and the poor regulation of the movement of goods from the DRC to Tanzanian villages are primary factors in the ongoing illicit trade.
An example of small boats, or canoes, used for trips to Kalemie without following proper regulations. PHOTO | NYAMGUMA MAHAMUDU
In a telephone interview, Edward Mabula, the manager of the Tanzania Ports Authority in Kigoma, stated that the authority does not acknowledge the existence of illegal channels for transporting people and goods, adding: “The reports of goods being smuggled through illegal ports may exist, but we don’t have evidence of it.”
The author of this article attempted to reach the Minister of Transport Makame Mbarawa but was unsuccessful.
A 2018 article by TradeMark, a non-profit Aid-for-Trade organisation, reported that former Minister for Works, Transport, and Communication Isack Kamwele revealed the Tanzania Ports Authority (TPA) identified 134 illegal entry ports along the Indian Ocean and inland lakes, as well as 58 unregistered airstrips operating without regulation.
These ports, active 24/7, facilitate the smuggling of various goods, including precious metals, arms, sugar, cooking oil, and cement, which harm local industries.
Loss of revenues
According to the Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA) Tax collection statistics report, Kigoma’s contribution to national revenue has significantly declined. In 2019/2020, the region’s contribution was 0.09 per cent, but it dropped to 0.06 per cent in 2023/2024. This decline concerns a region already contributing minimally to the national treasury.
Some traders in Igalula village acknowledge the revenue loss, which benefits a few individuals involved in transporting goods along Lake Tanganyika. Traders observed that the lack of oversight from authorities, such as immigration, has led to unregulated money circulation and significant tax evasion.
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A woman identifying herself as Mama Yasin, a resident of Igalula village, expressed her disappointment over the village’s lack of essential services, which causes immense suffering for women.
Front view of the shoreline of Igalula Village on the shores of Lake Tanganyika. PHOTO | NYAMGUMA MAHAMUDU.
“When you go to the village dispensary, they only give you pills and tell you they don’t have equipment,” she said. “If you’re a pregnant woman, some are treated here, but if the situation is critical, you must go to Buhingu [about 10 kilometres away] for treatment because they say they lack equipment.”
Juma Mustafa, another resident and local businessman in Igalula village, echoed these concerns. He complained about the poor healthcare services and inadequate transportation infrastructure, including roads.
“We have no roads here,” he lamented. “We pay for health insurance, about Sh30,000, but when you go to the dispensary, you don’t get medicine; they tell you to buy it yourself. We live here by God’s grace. Just recently, we were hit by a cholera outbreak. The dispensary has one doctor to attend to cholera patients and also pregnant women. We survived, but it was challenging, and one person died.”
Mustafa highlighted how smuggled goods sold at lower prices disrupt local business competition, leaving domestic traders disadvantaged.
“This situation is making business here bad and difficult,” he said. “We cannot sustain it because many goods are brought in and sold cheaply.”
Failure of SDGs
A 2019 report by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) titled Mapping the Impact of Illicit Trade on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) shows that smuggling and other forms of illicit trade pose significant threats to achieving the SDGs. Such activities reduce tax revenues, disrupt legitimate economies, lead to job losses, and harm the environment.
Ally Mkimo, a financial analyst and chair of consulting firm Madini Plus Youth Forum, emphasised that illegal trade hampers social development and denies countries accurate trade balance statistics.
“The influx of goods from abroad can result in countries losing revenue that could be used to support various community development projects while depriving them of the ability to have accurate trade balance data between nations,” Mkimo explained.
Nyamguma Mahamudu is a freelance journalist based in Tanzania. He can be reached at nyamgumamahmoud@gmail.com. The Thomson Reuters Foundation supported this story as part of its global work to strengthen free, fair, and informed societies.
