India, Dec. 24 -- 10 am, before the city fully wakes, Kevin Mwinuka is already on his feet. He arranges fruits on a wooden stall inches from the road in Mbagala, one of Dar es Salaam's most congested neighbourhoods. As the first commuter bus lurches forward, a plume of exhaust drifts across the street.

Mwinuka coughs. Then again.

"I breathe in a lot of smoke every day. My chest hurts," he mutters. "Sometimes I feel dizzy. But if I leave the roadside, customers don't come. This place feeds my children, although it's slowly killing me."

Mwinuka does not own a car. He has never imported a vehicle. Yet, his life is shaped daily by Tanzania's accelerating motorisation - and now, indirectly, by a new tax on it.

In July 2025, Tanzania introd...