Tanzania: New Manifesto Campaign gets underway

"'TUICO will assist its members in Tabata market to find a solution to many of the problems they are facing. The traders pay a daily tax to the ward but they get no services in return. Indeed, only recently the charcoal sellers have been issued notice that they must vacate their site on July 23rd but they have not been offered an alternative site.  Is that just?", stated Majura Jones, Assistant General Secretary of TUICO.

TUICO leaders and charcoal sellers, Tabata Market-

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Evicted by the local ward from their site with no alternative location offered.Is this just?

The StreetNet affiliate, the Tanzanian Union of Industrial and Commercial Workers (TUICO) has started to implement the New Manifesto campaign.  The organisation has drafted a new policy on informal economy workers and set up a 10-person task force on the informal economy. TUICO has identified 12 markets which will be surveyed for the New Manifesto and will then compile the results and validate them in a workshop.  The New Manifesto of Tanzania will then be published and distributed to TUICO Branches, local authorities and MPs.  The campaign will culminate in a march in the centre of Dar-es-Salaam, when the New Manifesto will be handed over to senior members of government.  The task force will monitor and follow up on the implementaiton of the demands in the New Manifesto. 

Ilala traders -once the whistle blows we have to leave

Agnes at  Tabata Market- no water or services at the market

"It is clear that TUICO can assist the market and street vendors to negotiate for better working conditions and defend themselves against eventual situations of police harassment or other forms of abuse," added Majura Jones.  "There are too many situations when traders are subjected to arbitrary treatment and their contribution to the national economy is not recognised nor valued. For instance, at Ilala market, the coconut and vegetable sellers can only trade between 6am -10 am. Once the police blow the whistle, they are meant to pack up and leave. We think the New Manifesto campaign can highlight these situations and set a new agenda for improving the working environment of street and market vendors,"' he concluded.