Transport blues in Tanzania as bus and truck drivers down tools
Public transport in Tanzania has been paralyzed by a nationwide strike of bus and truck drivers protesting police mistreatment and unfair licensing regulations. The strike has left thousands of passengers stranded and disrupted the movement of goods across the country and into neighboring nations.
Why it matters
The strike highlights systemic tensions between transport workers and law enforcement, significantly impacting regional logistics and public mobility.
Passengers who planned their upcountry and inter-city trips found themselves stranded at bus stations and pick-up points along highways following mass demonstration of public transport workers in Tanzania.
Drivers of passenger buses, transit cargo trucks and other public transport vehicles launched a major strike on Tuesday, the 29 th of September 2026, freezing movements of people and goods countrywide.
Reasons cited by the drivers, through their various associations, are that they were protesting against highway mistreatment by the police, including the recent trend of deducting points from their road licences for one reason or another.
Other motives behind the strike were the recent directives to force bus drivers to drop all passengers at designated stations, some of which are located very far from the travellers’ destinations, forcing them to incur expenses in seeking connecting means of transport.
Get smarter about the news
Sign up free for a feed built around what you actually care about, Dive Deeper research on any story, and the full text of every article.
Create free accountAlready have an account? Sign in