Summary
The Police Force has launched a crackdown on unqualified drivers as part of efforts to end road accidents
Dar es Salaam. The Traffic Division of the Tanzania Police Force has revoked 3,000 driving licences after realising that their holders did not follow the right procedures in acquiring them.
The police also downgraded licences for some drivers for similar reasons.
The exercise, which has come as a surprise to transport stakeholders in the country, follows a decision by the Traffic Division to conduct a crackdown on drivers who acquired their licences through ‘short cuts’.
The crackdown started in March, and according to the Traffic Police Commander, Mr Ramadhani Ng’anzi, so far a total of 20,000 licences have been verified.
“Out of that number, we verified that 17,000 were acquired through the right procedures and that the holders had really been trained and deserved the grades provided,” he told Mwananchi.
He urged the drivers to go back to training schools.
“We realised that the licences were issued by a police desk that has since been disbanded. We have instead created another desk and given it to competent individuals who will fulfil their responsibilities according to the law,” he said.
Available statistics, he said, show that there are a total of 1.5 million people who hold Class C and Class E licences, but only about 20,000, which represents 1.3 percent, have been verified.
As such, they were providing a grace period of three more months for drivers to go and verify their driving licences.
Meanwhile, the Traffic Division has also de-registered 161 driving schools after they were identified as the ones producing substandard drivers.
“If you can remember, there were accidents at Korogwe in Tanga and Kongwa in Dodoma that were purely caused by drivers’ negligence, so we started by investigating how they obtained their driving licences,” said Mr Ng’anzi.
He said a school that offers Class C and Class E driving licences must have enough space to accommodate a 40-square-metre classroom.
“The room must have a board with road signs and signals for teaching purposes and enough fresh air that is conducive to studying,” he said.
The banned schools did not have enough space. They also lacked qualified tutors.
“Besides, teaching materials like vehicles must be there in line with the licence class being applied for,” he said.
Mr Ng’anzi said they have spoken to the National Institute of Transport (NIT) and the National Council for Technical and Vocational Education and Training (NACTVET) to see how they can use their network to train more drivers for Class C and E.
To acquire a Class C and E driving licence, one will have to attend training at any of NIT’s branches in Dar es Salaam, Njombe, Mtwara, Arusha, Mbeya, Mwanza, and other regions, as well as at a number of NACTEVET centres across the country.
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