By Adonis Byemelwa
Dar es Salaam — Tanzania’s bus and truck drivers returned to work after a two-day slowdown, but the suspension of the government’s 15-point driving-licence system has settled only the immediate confrontation. The harder question is whether a road-safety policy can work when the people expected to obey it fear that its costs will fall on them alone.
The strike began on September 29, 2026, and disrupted long-distance travel from Dar es Salaam to several regions. Passengers waited at the Magufuli Bus Terminal in Mbezi; some had paid for journeys they could not complete, while transport operators faced demands for refunds and drivers worried that accumulated penalties could take away the licences on which their livelihoods depend. The government suspended implementation pending a review, and talks with driver representatives produced an agreement to resume services.
The distinction matters. The system was suspended for assessment; it was not necessarily abolished. Nor did the return of buses resolve the underlying argument about responsibility for unsafe vehicles, enforcement practices, road conditions and drivers’ employment protections. A strike can stop traffic in a day. Rebuilding confidence in regulation takes longer.
The government’s proposed system, set out in Government Notice No. 420 of 2025, assigns 15 points to a licence, with deductions linked to traffic offences. Its stated purpose is to strengthen accountability and improve road safety. Drivers, however, questioned whether they could lose their ability to work because of defects or obligations that may be controlled by vehicle owners, including tyre condition, maintenance and insurance.
That concern is not an argument against safer roads. It is an argument about how responsibility is assigned. A driver who speeds or drives recklessly should be accountable for that conduct. But when a bus has worn tyres, faulty brakes or expired insurance, the driver may not control the money, maintenance schedule or paperwork needed to correct the problem. A fair system must distinguish personal misconduct from an employer’s failure to provide a roadworthy vehicle.
The dispute also exposed a damaging gap between official assurances and drivers’ perceptions. Police said the points system had not yet formally taken effect and that no licence had been revoked through point deductions.
Drivers, meanwhile, reported fines, vehicle seizures and suspensions, and feared the consequences of the new framework. These accounts should not be treated as identical: sanctions under existing traffic laws are not necessarily penalties under the new points system. Authorities need to explain clearly what was in force, what was only being tested and how motorists could challenge an incorrect record.
Home Affairs Minister Patrobas Katambi ordered implementation suspended on September 29 and called for a comprehensive assessment involving drivers, vehicle owners and their representatives. The reported review period was 14 days, with discussions due to begin on October 1.
For the process to mean more than a pause, the government should publish its terms, identify who will participate, explain how evidence will be assessed and state when a decision is expected.
The stakes reach well beyond the capital. In Bukoba, Kagera Region, the temporary long-distance bus terminal is in the Magoti-Kibeta neighbourhood while the municipality’s main bus stand is being redeveloped. That makes Kibeta an important part of the town’s transport life, even though available reporting does not establish the precise scale of strike-related disruption there.
The local context nevertheless shows why transport stoppages matter: a terminal is not simply a place where buses park; it connects workers, traders, students, patients and families to services beyond their immediate neighbourhood.
Bukoba’s transport infrastructure is also changing. A recent report in The Guardian described the temporary Kibeta terminal as an improvement over the former muddy, difficult-to-navigate arrangement, while identifying pressure on sanitation facilities and limited space for vehicles as continuing concerns.
These are practical constraints, not cosmetic details. When passengers are delayed, crowded waiting areas, inadequate toilets and limited seating can turn a missed departure into a more serious hardship, particularly for children, older people and travellers with health needs.
The strike’s wider effects were visible elsewhere. The Guardian reported disruptions at the Sirari bus station, including services linking Musoma, Bunda, Mwanza, Geita, Shinyanga and Simiyu. The Chanzo also reported that drivers in Mwanza had warned on September 17 that they could halt services from September 29 if concerns over licence suspensions were not addressed. Those reports suggest that the dispute was not an isolated terminal problem but a challenge spreading across routes that connect regional economies.
The experience also echoes Tanzania’s 2015 transport-worker mobilisation, when a dispute over retraining requirements developed into wider demands for written contracts, predictable pay, leave, healthcare and social protection.
Research by Michaela Collord documents how transport workers organised despite insecure employment and weak bargaining power. The lesson is not that every strike has the same cause. It is that regulatory disputes can become flashpoints when workers already feel exposed to decisions made by employers and public authorities.
Tanzania is not alone in using licence points to encourage safer driving. In Great Britain, a driver who accumulates 12 or more penalty points within three years can normally be disqualified, with the decision handled through a defined legal process.
The comparison does not mean that Tanzania should copy the British model wholesale; legal institutions, enforcement capacity and transport labour markets differ. It does show why a points system needs transparent records, clear thresholds, accessible appeals and predictable procedures. Penalties are more credible when drivers can understand how they were imposed and how errors can be corrected.
For Tanzania, the immediate priority is to make the review substantive. Drivers’ representatives should be able to submit documented cases, not just general complaints. Police should publish practical guidance explaining the status of the regulations, the offences covered, the point deductions, the process for checking a licence record and the procedure for correcting mistakes.
Vehicle owners’ associations should explain how they will meet obligations for insurance, tyres, brakes and routine maintenance. Transport regulators should clarify how responsibility will be shared when a violation reflects both driver behaviour and vehicle condition.
The government should also consider the employment relationship. A driver who is formally employed, receives a written job description and can report a defective vehicle without fear of dismissal may be better placed to refuse unsafe work.
Where drivers are paid by trip or depend on vehicle owners for maintenance decisions, responsibility can become blurred. Enforcing road safety without examining those working arrangements risks placing the entire burden on the person with the least control over the vehicle.
Passengers, meanwhile, should not become collateral damage in a dispute between workers, employers and regulators. Operators need clear arrangements for refunds, rescheduling and passenger information when services stop.
Bus terminals, including Kibeta, need adequate sanitation, safe waiting areas and reliable public communication during disruptions. These protections will not prevent every strike, but they can reduce the human cost when negotiations fail.
The return to work was a necessary first step, not proof that the dispute has been resolved. The government now has a chance to turn a disruptive confrontation into a credible review of road safety, enforcement and employment responsibility.
If the process ends with clearer rules, reliable appeals and obligations that reach vehicle owners as well as drivers, the suspension may have created space for reform. If it produces only another promise, the buses may move today while the distrust remains parked at the terminal.
