Bus drivers end their strike after getting 24hr pledge

Dar es Salaam. Kinondoni District Commissioner Paul Makonda yesterday managed to persuade bus drivers to resume working after assuring them that the government would have acted on their demands by today.

With the DC’s pledge, the drivers agreed to call off their indefinite strike which started on Monday. He told them the government would be ready with answers to their grievances by 10am today.

The drivers were satisfied after Mr Makonda committed himself with a bold promise that if the government failed to act, he would personally endorse their strike.

The stalemate was broken after long discussions involving Mr Makonda, traffic police commander Mohammed Mpinga and the Tanzania Drivers Association (TDA) leadership.

The decision was received with jubilation by travellers who, as of yesterday, had been stranded for two days at Ubungo Bus Terminal and numerous upcountry bus stands.

The two-day strike paralysed transport and associated businesses in various parts of the country as bodaboda and bajaj operators took advantage of the crisis, charging hapless commuters a minimum of Sh2,000 where one would have paid Sh500.

Commuters in many urban areas across the country were forced to walk long distances to their workplaces.

Addressing the drivers yesterday, Mr Makonda said he was also concerned about the drivers’ demands, adding that he would personally announce the resumption of the strike if the government won’t respond to their demands before noon today.

“I’m one of the people who believe in strikes as a method of demanding rights, therefore in this one we are sort of together, but for now, I’m urging you to go back to work until tomorrow morning,” he said.

He noted that in an industrial action such as the drivers’, the main victims were innocent people. He said their action was also detrimental to the national economy.

Upcountry buses started leaving the city at around 1pm, just as commuter bus drivers resumed work as well.

During the crisis, many private car owners converted their vehicles to pirate taxis to make that much-needed extra shilling. However, their intervention was of little help as they were overwhelmed by big number of stranded commuters.

Many Dar es Salaam residents who spoke to The Citizen said they were forced to trek to their work places.

Chadema chairman Freeman Mbowe arrived at Ubungo at around 10.50am accompanied by a group of his party’s supporters but police denied him the  opportunity to address the striking drivers and a cheering crowd.

There was drama at Tanzania’s main upcountry bus terminal which is also the drivers association’s head office, when Mr Mbowe entered amid cheers from the drivers, with some demanding that he addresses them.

Mr Mbowe spoke to them without a microphone, so only a few could hear him. He said he supported the drivers’ strike because their demands were genuine.

 “I understand your pain but for the sake of Tanzanians I’m requesting you to call off the strike and wait for the response from the government,” said Mr Mbowe. Stranded travellers were scattered at the bus terminal, with some sitting idly in their motionless buses. Most of them blamed the government for failure to forestall the strike by finding a solution for what they claimed were genuine, long-standing grievances.

Others blamed bus owners for failure to sort out long-standing disputes with their employees.

The few transporters who dared to deploy their buses were met with stone-throwing mobs. Some operators had to ask for police protection to enable their buses leave.

Seven buses from Shabiby Line and Dar Express left under police escort but reports said some of them were blocked by angry mobs in some regions.

“I have been here since Monday and I do not know when the strike will come to an end as the government is quiet as we suffer,” complained Ms Teddy Chuwa, who was destined for Moshi.

This was the second time the drivers went on strike to force the government to listen to their demands including revoking the regulation that requires them to go back to class whenever one wants to renew his driving licence.

They also wanted the government to prevail over bus owners to provide them with acceptable working contracts.