Twaweza, an independent research initiative based in Tanzania, released findings of its recent survey that touched on different important things, among others being the situation of living costs, employment, health issues and others.

Twaweza also made their survey aimed to understand people’s insights on the country’s newly introduced levies and tax system. Twaweza revealed that 9 out of 10 respondents agree with the idea that paying taxes is important for the country to attain social and economic development.

The new Twaweza findings dubbed, ‘State of the Nation’ – Economics: Tanzanian citizens’ experiences and opinions on the national economy and mobile money transaction taxes,’ reveal that 67% of the respondents agree that mobile money transactions levy is an important way for the government to generate revenue. To some, this is quite a shocking and unprecedented revelation as the results outright defied the assumptions about new mobile transaction fees.

That being the least, the findings also show that 63% of 3000 respondents believe that through the mobile money levy, every citizen will have a direct responsibility in building the nation. Based on Twaweza’s research findings, the situation on the ground disputes the recent prevalent negative online comments about the mobile transactions levy. Twaweza concluded that 46% levy would reduce the country’s dependence, a tool to restore national integrity and sovereignty.

They are more likely to support the new levy when it is better communicated to the citizens about how and where it is going to be spent. The findings sparked controversy amongst academicians and political analysts across social media, with others expressing their scepticism on the study’s methodology, putting in question the validity of the findings.

while others support the findings by comparing them with current economic status, based on monthly economic data released by the Bank of Tanzania and the national’s statics body, NBS, which largely aligns with Twaweza findings. For instance, BoT data show that in the first quarter of 2022, mobile money subscriptions have seen an increase of 9.5% despite introducing service levies introduced to mobile money transactions last year.