Taita Taveta traders lament over rising trade barriers

Traders arrested for operating without health licences in Taita Taveta countyPHOTO: COURTESY

Traders in Taita-Taveta have complained over growing cross-border trade barriers with Tanzania. Women traders mainly cereal dealers, say they are not allowed to conduct business in Tanzania freely despite the East Africa Common Market Protocol.

At a workshop on East African Community (EAC) Customs and Immigration procedures, it emerged that apart from arbitrary arrests by security personnel, women are also sexually abused.

The two-day workshop sponsored by TradeMark East Africa (TMEA) aimed at training women traders in EAC member States on how to grow their businesses at the border.

Christine Nankubuge Ndawula, Programmes Director, Eastern African Sub –Regional Support Initiative for the advancement of women (EASSI) said women who use undesignated routes were prone to abuse.

“Women traders should ensure they get valid travel documents while conducting their business in a foreign country because if they do not do so they are likely to be harassed,” she said.

Ms Ndawula said the EAC Gender Bill that is currently at the East Africa Legislative Assembly in Arusha if passed and assented into law will help address the problem. “The law will hold the EAC member States accountable on gender issues and also enable women to participate in governance. The proposed law will also enable women fully participate in regional integration process,” she said.

Taita Taveta County First Lady Hope Mruttu noted the cross-border trade is still favouring Tanzania traders who conduct their business freely in Taveta border town. She said some of the foreign traders have established business premises in the town while Kenyans cannot do the same in the neighbouring country.

SALE OF MIRAA

During the meeting traders were trained on customs, immigration travel documents and how to acquire them and taxation on goods commonly traded across Taveta/Holili border.

A tax official Emmanuel Kabeya warned traders against using undesignated routes to evade paying taxes. “There are custom procedures that must be taken into account when transporting goods along the border. Those breaking the rules and procedures will not be spared,” he warned.

“The sale of miraa, hard drugs and inner wears have been prohibited in Tanzania and anyone found perpetrating the vice will face the full force of the law.”