Coins selling – A necessity or liability?

EUGENIA MADHIDHA

TWO boys were digging a hole at their parents’ house as they were playing and one of them said that if they get (from their digging) a 200/- coin they were going to buy some sweets. The other one disagreed and said that they were going to buy books and write what they want. A heated debate ensured degenerating into a fist fight.

Their mother heard of the noise and came out of the house and demanded to know why they were fighting.

But undeterred by the presence of the mother, the boys continued arguing, “No! We are going to buy books,” said one of the boys. “You stupid, I told you we are going to buy sweets,” argued the other.

Out of curiosity the mother asked where the money was and where they got it from.

Then one of the boys said “We haven’t got it yet.”

Surely, coins are important such that even kids become happy if you give them some. The shrewd ones have decided to earn a living out of coins and indeed they are smiling everyday because coins are on demand especially to bus conductors.

Early this year, the Surface and Marine Transport Regulation Authority (SUMATRA) reduced transport costs of transport costs especially for urban areas. In Dar for example, fares were reduced from 300/- to 250/- for shorter distances.

This gave conductors a lot of headaches since it was difficult to get 50/- coins for change. As a result, a lot of commuters cried foul over losing a lot of 50/- to conductors.

This then necessitated coin sellers to provide the much needed coins and there has been a remarkable increase in the number of people trading in coins.

As the situation threatened to go out of hand, the Bank of Tanzania (BoT) imposed a ban on the practice arguing that it was illegal and fuels corruption.


A snap survey carried out by the Times unearthed that the ban has fallen on deaf ears as the coins business is thriving.

The coins sellers do it in broad day light and openly display their wares without fear of being reprimanded. With these difficult times aggravated by the global economic recession, those undertaking the business are eking a living out of it.

According to them, they are now able to feed their families and fulfill other obligations. Countless commuters and buses are always on the road, which means more business to the coins sellers.

“I don’t know anything about the banning of coins, but even though, this is my only way of surviving. I have been in this kind of business for sometime now and I can’t complain,” said a coins seller at Bakwata in Yombo who just identified himself as Mudi.

This man is selling 950/- of coins at 1000/- and can get thousands of shillings though he did not specify. They are three in his family and all are in the same type of business, his brothers are operating from other business centres.

However, the price of coins varies according to places. At the new Post Office in town, the price is higher as compared to Bakwata. A woman at Posta is selling 800/- coins for 1000/-.

The woman who requested anonymity, said life is going on well. “I’m earning a living out of trading in coins,” she said adding that if the police decide to come after them like they once did, she will not know where to start from.

Though a paradox remains as to whether coins business is a necessity or a liability the BoT should weigh the merits and demerits of the business and come up with a bold move.

Though labeled as illegal and fueling corruption, the sector feeds many mouths in Tanzania and provides relief to many commuters who for a long time had been losing a lot of money through change problems as bus conductors were hiding behind the scarcity of 50/- coins to amass extra cash.