Event:

Following the 2013/2014 budget, the government of Tanzania among others has imposed excise duty on all mobile services at 14.5 percent.  Out of the money, 2.5 percent will be used to finance education.

The government said it has widened coverage of excise duty on telecommunication to include landlines and wireless telecom services.

The Finance Minister Dr. William Mgimwa also said that in order to enhance its capacity to rehabilitate road networks, the government has increased fuel levy from 200 per litre to 263 per litre.

The duty on gas oil (diesel) per litre has increased to 217 from 215; excise duty on petrol has increased from 339 to 400 per litre while duty on illuminated kerosene has not changed. [The Citizen, June 15, 2013]

Comment:

Budget day in the Capitalist economic system is revered as though it is an honorable day and a liberator for the masses. Some believe that it is a period for bringing out government strategies so as to uplift the livelihood of people purportedly to better their lives in the coming year in terms of social services, infrastructure and economy. The truth is that this matter is contrary to the reality.

The surprising thing in the cunning Capitalist system budget is that it cunningly gives with the right hand and robs with the left hand. Sometimes even the trickery of giving is not done but they rob straight away. They can allege to raise the salaries of civil servants to better their remuneration. Suddenly, they raise taxes on essential commodities like food. Thus, the salary raise becomes meaningless or increases the hardship already faced. They also allege to better social services and infrastructure so as to ease the lives of the public. However, they cunningly raise taxes from the pockets of the poor public whom they claim to help.

We see the Tanzania budget as it is like other budgets and the way injustice is being committed openly by raising taxes on mobile telephony and petrol on the pretext that these taxes go towards betterment of education and infrastructure. This is a big surprise!!

This situation is brought about because government in a democratic system is meant to collect taxes by milking the public instead of helping them and looking after their affairs justly. Rather, our countries are endowed with many public resources like minerals, forests, big rivers that can sustain public lives and money that makes it possible not to milk the ordinary public. But since these resources are now owned by Western companies through dominance and privatization, the result is the burden even in basic services is carried by the public who are mostly poor.

In Islam under the Khilafah "Caliphate" state, the issue of social service provision to the public is a state responsibility through the use of public property like minerals and others. When there is a shortfall, the Khilafah "Caliphate" state borrows or imposes a small tax on the rich. This is the just system from the Creator which the world thirsts for to liberate it from Capitalist injustice.

Masoud Msellem

Deputy Media Representative

Hizb ut Tahrir / East Africa