Dar es Salaam. Good morning! The Chanzo is here with a rundown of major news stories reported in Tanzania on Tuesday, August 16, 2022.
Bolt now switches to corporate clients only
Passengers requesting taxi services from ride-hailing company Bolt in Tanzania will have to find alternative means from today, August 17, 2022, as its cars will only be available to corporate clients, Kenya’s The East African newspaper reported Tuesday.
The paper quoted the firm’s official who attributed the decision to the regulatory environment in Tanzania that is causing “undue pressure on the sustainability of Bolt’s operations in the country.”
Tuesday’s move comes almost five months after the Land Transport Regulatory Authority (LATRA) issued guidelines that doubled the per-kilometre rate to Tsh900 ($0.39) and cut commissions the firms charge to 15 per cent from a maximum of 33 per cent.
LATRA sets and approves fares for ride-hailing operators in Tanzania.
LATRA’S decision made another ride-hailing company, Uber, exit the Tanzanian market in April 2022, after six years of operations, citing a stringent regulatory environment.
According to The East African, Bolt says talks with LATRA on the regulations have taken longer than expected.
“Bolt has no choice but to mitigate against the losses in the market until it sees a considerable improvement in the regulatory ecosystem,” the paper quoted the firm as saying.
You can now stream live your Mt. Kilimanjaro adventure to your friends
Hikers of Mount Kilimanjaro will now be able to enjoy speedy connection at the top of Africa’s highest mountain after the Minister of Information, Communication and Information Technology Nape Nnauye launched a high-speed broadband internet there.
The government is estimated to have spent over Sh170 billion to expand the national broadband connectivity to the mountain.
Tuesday’s milestone is thanks to a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that the government entered with Tanzania Electric Supply Company (TANESCO) to allow TTCL to use its infrastructures.
“Today up on Mount Kilimanjaro, I am hoisting high-speed internet communications broadband of the roof of Africa,” Mr Nape said Tuesday on a Twitter post. “Tourists can now communicate worldwide from the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro.”
The measure is part of the government’s plans to attract more and more tourists to visit Tanzania.
On Monday, President Samia Suluhu Hassan ordered immigration officers to also fast-track visa issuance to facilitate the entrance of tourists into the East African nation.
Another road accident kills nineteen in Mbeya
Nineteen people died and several others injured on Tuesday when a lorry’s brake failed and hit a bus at Shamwengo in Mbeya.
It is yet another deadly road accident to have claimed the lives of Tanzanians in less than a month after that of Mtwara which killed ten people, including eight students on July 26, 2022.
Mbeya Regional Police Commander Urlich Matei confirmed the tragic incident on Tuesday, saying that the Everest Frech Ltd truck carrying sand had a brake failure thus hitting the Super Rojas bus which was travelling from Mbeya to Njombe.
He added that injured people were rushed to different hospitals.
Tanzania has been rocked with subsequent road accidents in recent months, claiming the lives of dozens of Tanzanians, raising questions over the safety of the means of transport depended on by the majority of the people.
Reasons for the non-stop road accidents differ among road safety stakeholders but the Road Fund Board (RFB), a government agency tasked with managing road funds, thinks poor infrastructures are behind the deadly phenomenon.
On August 12, 2022, RFB launched a system that seeks to engage motorists and members of the public to report defective roads to relevant authorities for quicker intervention.
Going by the name ‘Electronic Road Monitoring app,’ it will be used to report shortfalls on road infrastructure to Tanzania National Roads Agency (TANROADS) and to Tanzania Rural and Urban Roads Agency (TARURA) for quicker intervention while the Road Fund Board will be playing an overseeing role.
RFB’s assistant manager Rashidi Kalimbage was optimistic that the system will reduce the frequency of road accidents in Tanzania.
“This will increase accountability of intervening for repairing broken parts of the road by filling ditches on time from TARURA or TANROADS,” he was quoted as saying, “and hence minimising further damage or chances of causing accidents.”
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