Article/ Feature
11/August/2011
Fuel vendors’ boycott: economic sabotage to be handled seriously
By: Clarence KIPOBOTA (Advocate)*
It was a week of terror and hysteria with lots of levity In Tanzania. Very few petro-stations continued to sell fuel. Then, people failed to work. Shuttling of commuter buses in the city of Dar es Salaam became a challenge. Logically, fare and price of some of the commodities immediately hiked. Ambulances stunted and stumped on the way to hospitals. Pregnant women also cried hysterically.
The fuel vendors could not hear or care. They just needed increased profit. They could not even look back to see how much have they benefited from tax evasions and avoidance because of our weak tax collection systems. They could not even think of ‘giving back to the community’ whom they drain all the monies they earn in billions as profit from their business. Being in Holly Ramadhan Month could not influence them to ‘sacrifice’ their wishes for the interests of majority poor. They are very selfish.
These people, fuel vendors, tried to show the government and everyone that they are hydra (big snake with many heads living in the ocean). That is, they can have not only a have a say, but also actions in the sovereignty of the country. Their powers could disturb everyone at once. It is like the hydra which can bite several things at the same time.
When the people cried for soaring fuel prices, our good government responded by negotiating lowering of just few coins from a letter. The energy and water regulatory authority (EWURA) directed official ceiling price. We are told that they were actually given more than one month notice of the intended adjustments.
Then, when a day came, EWURA decided to enforce its statutory powers. Strangely, these few fuel vendors who monopolize the whole market responded with a scorn tone. The government spoke, but they just hooted and jeered at it. They can probably shake the sovereignty of the country.
One of them went further to instruct the government by giving it ultimatum of 24 hours. Our tolerant government kept quite. This is how love to investment money can do. Apparently, the government fears of expelling other investors by punishing this one. It is shameful indeed. The parliament distorted its business by staging a special hearing. Thanks that we have quite bold parliamentarians who really demonstrated their love to us and not investment money.
There are few things to learn and act on from this situation. Firstly, what these vendors did to us and to the government was purely economic sabotage. That is, the deliberately decided to obstruct everything just because they wanted to be heard. Boycott is a right to everyone, but it has limitation all over the world. Essential services such as security, water, energy and the like are not allowed by law and morality to boycott.
Secondly, the government needs to think of having emergence or survival strategies in situations like this one. It is a lesson that privatization to surrender everything to the hands of few riches is dangerous. The government should retain its economic control. It is time to generally think of alternatives in different essential services such as water, energy, and electricity. Otherwise, it is quite strange to have a government which could not strongly intervene current unstable market.
Thirdly, the situation has shown how the government can be teased and still keeps quite despite of having sufficient laws and powers to back-up its actions. That fuel vendor who gave sovereign government 24 hours obviously knows that our government and its security agencies are swift to act on political protests because that where the law and policy makers are guaranteed their existence in powers. The ‘intelligence barometer’ of security forces can sense ‘chaos’ as a result of constitutional right to demonstrate but not economic sabotage. This is why he is still enjoying his life in Tanzania.
Economic sabotage is not expressly provided for in the laws of Tanzania. But some of the provisions of few laws incriminate some elements of it. For instance, Section 9 of the Fair Competition Act, No. 8 of 2003 states inter alia that, a person shall not make or give effect to an agreement if the object, effect or likely effect of the agreement to price fixing between competitors; a collective boycott by competitors; and output restriction between competitors.
The act or omission of fuel vendors of collectively boycotting to sell fuel is actually a criminal offence under this law. The law defines collective boycott to mean preventing a party to an agreement from supplying goods or services to particular persons; or restricting or controlling the terms and conditions in which a party to an agreement supplies goods or services.
Again, despite having laws which direct incrimination of ‘economic sabotage,’ the culprits are still enjoying life. When they were threatened that army could take over their business, they discretionarily decided to release fuel reserves. No one has apologized.
As some of the parliamentarians said, it is a situation which disheartened and lost confidence of the people to their government. Why is it easy to arrest and prosecute a Machinga who fight for their mingle earning but refrain from doing the same against these people who threatened the security of the country?
Fourthly, there are allegations that these people are untouchable because there are political sponsors. Therefore, they have a stake in the political economy of the country. Those who are sponsored by them automatically loose powers to deal with them because the sponsored them for purposes of safeguarding their business including how and when to do business.
Probably, politicians who are decision makers could take a lesson that, statutory powers vested on their authorities can be compromised by a fear of punishing a sponsor. Ethically then, one has to find ways of getting emancipating him or herself from this slavish politics. Otherwise, they will continue defending interests of the few to the very detriment of their individual reputation, peoples’ life and country sovereignty. It is time to fight this kind of economic sabotage.
* Clarence KIPOBOTA holds Bachelor of Laws Degree (LL.B (Hons)), Masters of Community Economic Development (Msc. CED) and Certificates in Human Rights and UN Treaty Monitoring Bodies. He is an Advocate of the High Court of Tanzania, currently working as Legal Consultant with LEGAL AND DEVELOPMENT CONSULTANTS LIMITED (LEDECO). He is also Human Rights Activist. Email: kipobota@yahoo.com Tel: +255 762776281/ +255 222761730.
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