Terms of Service — Mtu Kati

This draft is published in English while it is under legal review. A Kiswahili version will follow the final text.

The service

Mtu Kati is a marketplace with built-in escrow, operated by Numarah Company Limited (“Numarah”, “we”): when a buyer pays, the money is held by the platform and only released to the seller after delivery is confirmed or the dispute window closes. You must be 18 or older and complete identity verification (KYC) before selling or withdrawing funds.

Buying and selling

Sellers must describe items truthfully, own what they list, and ship within the promised window; unshipped orders are automatically refunded. Buyers must pay through the platform and confirm delivery honestly. Taking a transaction off-platform to avoid escrow or fees is a breach of these terms. Prohibited items include anything illegal under Tanzanian law, counterfeit goods, weapons, and restricted substances; the full list is in our acceptable-use policy.

Fees

Buyers pay a service fee shown at checkout. Sellers pay a commission deducted from the sale amount when escrow is released (reduced for premium subscribers). Fees are always displayed before you commit to a transaction.

Disputes

If something goes wrong, open a dispute from the order before the dispute window closes. Both sides submit evidence; a mediation committee (or Mtu Kati support on escalation) decides whether funds are released, refunded, or split. Committee and support decisions on escrowed funds are final within the platform, without limiting your statutory consumer rights.

Your conduct

No fraud, harassment, spam, or attempts to manipulate ratings. You can report any listing, message, or user in the app; we may suspend accounts that break these rules, with money-movement always protected by AML review. Content you post (listings, photos, reviews) must be yours and must not infringe anyone’s rights.

Liability

Mtu Kati provides the marketplace and escrow service; the sale contract is between buyer and seller. To the extent permitted by law, our liability for any claim is limited to the fees you paid us for the transaction concerned. Nothing in these terms excludes liability that cannot be excluded under Tanzanian law.

Deleting your account and data retention

You can delete your account in the app once any open orders and escrow are resolved. Deleting your account does not erase all of your data. To comply with our legal obligations, resolve disputes, prevent and investigate fraud, and establish or defend legal claims, we retain your identity-verification (KYC) documents and transaction records for the minimum period required by Tanzanian anti-money-laundering law (10 years), and we keep other account information — such as your profile, notifications, block list, device and push tokens, and your order, dispute and communication history — for as long as necessary for those purposes, after which it is deleted or anonymised. Our Privacy Policy explains what we keep and why.

Changes and contact

We will notify you in the app before material changes to these terms take effect. Questions: support@mtukati.com.