MMD Lusaka District Chairman, Paul Chihande, has accused Lusaka Mayor, Robert Chikwelete, of politicking when government is determined to implement policies that benefit the Zambian people.
Mr Chihande says the move by government to chase vendors from the streets in Lusaka should be taken seriously and without politicking.
Mr Chihande observed that it was not right for the Mayor, who is also the Father of City, to distance himself the issue of vendors by saying he was not aware that government has removed vendors from the streets.
Speaking in an interview today, Mr Chihande said he is shocked by the Mayor’s utterances.
He reminded Mr Chikwelete against frustrating government’s efforts in ‘Keeping the City clean’.
He said the office of the Mayor should be in the fore front spearheading development, adding that Mr Chikwelete should be alert of developmental projects at all times being implemented by government.
“As MMD Lusaka district, we are surprised that Lusaka Mayor, Mr Chikwelete, is not aware of government ridding of vendors from the streets. It is his office to be alert, co-ordinate and implement government programmes,” Mr Chihande said.[quote]
Mr Chihande has said Lusaka is now clean and people are walking freely following government’s intervention to chase the vendors off the streets.
The MMD District Chairman thanked government and the Lusaka City Council (LCC) for the move, saying it is a step in the right direction to attaining the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) on quality sanitation.
Mr Chihande appealed to the vendors to abide by the law governing this country.
He said the LCC and state police should not relent but close in so that the vendors do not return to the streets.
He said people should not blame government for chasing them but they should blame themselves for opting to sell their merchandise leaving the market stands empty instead of utilising them.
Over the weekend, a combined team of government officers, LCC police and state police, swang into action and chased the vendors from the streets.
By yesterday, those vendors who defied government orders were fined while more than 65 traders who were arrested will be taken to a ‘fast track courts’ established at the LCC.
ZANIS
This foolish mayor should not be a mayor. How can a mayor behave like the way he has done. This is what happens when you let fools reign in the city. We can’t let such fools continue to rule in our once beautiful city.
What do you expect from PF leadership? This is considered the best man of the PF, imagine that? This is failure to differentiate between party politics and civic duties. Remember the other Mayor was expelled for doing civic duties of receiving Hu Jintao, President of TuChoncholi. And MCs wants to be President of Zambia, SURE? Where are headed to?
over the weekend the police swang into action.the way the MMD operates the major might not have been informed officially.mayor nalanda fye bwino.mufwile mwamwishibisha.you do just draw 2 billion give it to home affairs and say pay the police to chase the vendor.it is always a kangaroo court,using mpombos words who knows them better.the major obviously ashiledabwa fye ifilechitika.
The two questions that first ran thru my mind when I read the Mayor’s ignorance were: ‘Is this the mayor of Lusaka or some city in Utopia and secondly, if he’s Lusaka Mayor, which township does he come from’? Reason 4 asking is simple, firstly I do NOT believe (beyond doubt) that the mayor had no absolute knowledge on the planned removal of street vendors from the streets. Secondly, I question where he resides because may be I can come into terms with his displeasure or indeed expression dissatisfaction on the removal of vendors simply because the man is accustomed to dirty surroundings, b’coz of where he lives. He’s part & parcel of dirty environment, and to him it’s good life.
Lastly Mr. Chihande, point of correction, yes you removed vendors but the streets are not CLEAN as u…
#1 and 2 If Lusaka was an MMD area that action could not have been done. Imagine your MMD had move 2bKwacha from one mistry to another for the exercise. Chigolor MMD chairman is talking because its PF. Dont get me wrong I dont supprt street vending, but my bone of contetion is that you MMD react according to the suitability of the situation regardless. If today your RB says let people vend in the streets you call that order as a wise step.
Ba Mayor, You think its a joke to be a Mayor of a big city, You have to make serious decisions even if your political president doesnt like the decision. Lumumba & Freedom way were looking like big markets meanwhile the people with with shops who pay taxes and levies are being blocked, meanwhile our so called Mayor disagrees with removal of vendors. What a shame. If he is trying to do politics then my support for PF is misplaced with such kind of leadership. I have to look else where to receive good leadership. Mr Sata if you want support in Lusaka talk to your Mayor, Remember when you were Governor and Local Government Minister you took serious decisions and we liked you for that. Now it looks like your Mayor is spoiling it for you. Act now before you lose us.
Ba Fumbi #3. It’s not the Major whom we are talking about here! It’s the Mayor of Lusaka. I understand why you don’t seem to analyze politicking being referred to here coz u also seem lost on the subject, so we group you together with the mayor (Major in your case).
I doubt if you can draw any difference between the two. Eish!!! Zedians!
This is what we have said all along in MMD that vendors is a PF created problem. Councils led by UPND and MMD don’t have these problems. And the government intervenes to clean up the City and the PF get on the politics bicycles as usual including their President. Anyway we understand because PF is a party of Kaponyas and street vendors who are not even registered voters and now that they have lost their income source, they now want to turn this into a political football. Any sensible person would welcome the cleaning of the city and it has taken the MMD government to do it and I hope the LCC with its PF councilors sustain this.
Have you seen how Mpombo has discribed Rev. Lungu……………..a skullduggery.
# 5 Deja Vu. Are you sure Im MMd in #2? Or are you one of those illiterate cadres in PF? You write good English without substance though. Read along the lines and never between them, as doing so will leave gaps in your already empty head. I D I O T
MMD Chief Bootlicker @ #8.Who institutionalised street vending? Make reference to ‘The Vendor’s Desk’ in your response. Street vending is a political issue, no doubts about it.
Truly looks like Chikwelete’s illegal source of income has been closed here coz his hooligans can’t collect any levies from street vendors anymore!
#10 PRESIDENTIAL. For your information I dont belong to any political party and never have been and never will be. I have never seen any Zambian President in person as I have never attended any of their rallies. Yes I have seen RB when he was my boss at FAZ and FTJ when he used to stay near my relative in Ndola but that was before they went to plot 1. I have always been anti eshtablishiment because of the lies we get from human leaders. I read all comments from all angle and if had annalysed mine you would have seen that I meant that MMD Lusaka chairman. Am sure if you are fair you will agree with me that if the mayor was MMD that Chairman would have sided with mayor. Sorry if I associated you with the party that you dont belong to. Also sorry to the other gent. Substance was there in my
comments only that I offended you without meaning to. Cheerio
I thought they announced an ultimatum. We all read in the press that come Monday, the vendors will have to be out. If we knew about it from the press e.g LT, surely the mayor knew.
Please keep those vendors from streets forever. The streets are so dirty because of the, and the people who buy from them.
# 1,2 &7 think with your heads, not with your d.i.c.k.s
#13 & 14. Deja Vu. I like the way you have reacted to my sentiments about your earlier posting. I wish to state that I didnot mean to anger you in anyway, as my reaction was purely based on you accusation. I belong to the civil world where most of the things are done using the HEAD and not the feet and knuckles the way it is done in MMD, PF, UPND etc. The only party with maturity in my on way is the Heritage party becoz it is always very quiet. I APLOGISE to YOU TOO. Cheers.
bwezani #7tekanye.it is so simple to you.remove the street vendors and the town will be clean.have ever heard of copenhagen.countries like china and america have been failing to sign climate change related agreement due to the economical implication on there countries.for u it is better for lusaka to look clean and let the people suffer.how stupid is that.the issue of vendors is beyond basic sanitation.it is a serious economic issue such that the mayor or major if like can not just come out and say yes ,lets remove vendors,especially when when he is opposition.to you your logic ends in calling it zedian.how shallow.
chilikwelete must not be a mayor had it been that he was apointed by the president i would advise the president to have him sacked there and then
the setup is of vending in lusaka really makes our capital dirty but the key question.what is the cause of that.is it because people like to hang around corners taking pictures .or sell amataba.people it is tough out there .and so the answer is in govt formulating policies that create a better life for the people not adhocs -remove vendors etc.look critically at policies that are meant to improve education in zambia .an educated peole like bwezani are empowered people.voters are not empowered ,but the empower other because they have been given hope.and that hope bwezani to you is cleaning the city.like u i say eish
Guys, what the mayor is saying is that the whole excise of ridding the city of vendors was done without involving the council. When he says he doesnt know, what he means is that the council was by passed by MMD politicians. What do you want him to say? Do you want him to claim credit for something he has not done?
I CANT BELIEVE THIS IS OUR CAPITAL CITY LUSAKA. MY GOD IT LOOKS LIKE A WAR TON TOWN. IT ACTUALLY REMINDS ME OF SANDAGA IN DAKAR SENEGAL WHEN I HAD GONE FOR A FIELD ASSESSMENT. ZAMBIA HAS BECOME WROTTEN. THESE MINIONS THE COUNCIL SHUD LEAVE THE STREET VENDORS TO GO ON THER SMALL SCALE BUSINESS; BESIDES WHAT THERE SPECIAL TO CLEAR AND CLEAN. THAT ALL LUSAKA TOWN CENTRE HAS BECOME A BIG KANTEMBA.
Fumbi what point did u make in your 18 posting? I can see a trail of examples given based on developed countries, but let’s hold the bull by it’s horn. To what level do we want to see Zambia by 2015 (MDGs) Isn’t such a step worth taking? Soweto market has been put in place (though allocation of shops has been hijacked by………………….) those are steps we should be taking. The best thing you & I can do is continue urging the govt to continue putting up market structures that’ll eventually create ample space for our fellow Zambians suffering out there, YOU & I inclusive! I like your point in 20 posting Fumbi, voters are never empowered, but do u think we should seat and let them take up the streets like that? Did u ever see how dangerous it was 4 those who traded along Lumumba…
Imwe ba No#21 Ba Contrada : The LCC spokesperson is the one briefing the world on how LCC is even establishing “fast courts” to deal with those nabbed… Money has changed hands between LCC and the Zambia Police to facilitate the project. i suppose for fuel and allowances as priority. The Council Police are working together with the Paras to eradicate what the mayor thinks is ok. Plot owners pay rates and are entitled to conduct their business under normal conditions and this fool the mayor is elected by his stupid fellow concillors to tell us he is not aware of what is going on in his city. Do we really need such Kaponysa. plesaesometimes leave Politics out of issues and maybe we can restore this City to its glory days as a garden city now the cowboy status it has gained……..viva RB
If street vending is illegal, then what’s really wrong with getting rid of what’s illegal anyway? Can somebody explain especially those criticizing the move!
RB #24 (My namesake I guess?) I like the way you instill sense in others. It’s really painstaking to have a mayor claiming that he knows nothing about the exercise yet his office is even establishing ‘Fast Track Courts’ to deal with culprits. Nonsense!
The move to rid streets of vendors is a good one for obvious reasons. But knowing how things are done in Zambia do not be surprised to see vendors on the streets again two months down the line. By the way is the Vendors Desk that was introduced by Chiluba still active? Some things our presidents introduce do not make sense.
The removing of vendors is welcome, no doubt. I dissagree with you entirly Fumbi, . Firstly we should all agree that street vending with the propotions it had reached in Lusaka was counter productive. There were sanitation, traffic security issues etc, So as such I am sure we all aspire to a better enviroment. You ask why why are they on the streets , well i say because they are allowed, the bulk of markets are empty because it is more profitable on the street. Take them to the markets and their customer will be forced to follow them or we will se delivery services coming to fill the gap. As for education, while eductaion is a evry important tool I argue that it may not solve the problem and its effects take time to impact. the question is what do you do now TODAY,
#27 Blue Blood
One way to curtail street vending is to pass by-laws that forbid people from buying from street vendours.
The vendors will come back to the streets for as long as people buy from them. These battles have gone on for a long time. Innovative ways are needed here, one of which is make buying from street vendors an offence against the law. Like it is with receiving stolen goods. In the UK prostitution is controlled in part by arresting those who pick up prostitutes. How about your wife bailing you out for that. Kafwafwa at home.
iwe # 29 ,be real….this is zambia. make solutions that will work.Like FIRST providing an area where they can trade and then chase them from streets.I guess they wont even be chasing of them coz they will AUTOMATICALLY move the designated trading areas.And finally,iwe chi-Lusaka mayor wilafipanga kwati tawaishibe nangufiimo! What a chi-dull mayor!
in #30,….I meant “AUTOMATICALLY move to the designated trading areas”
All you ****ers supporting this mayor guy ought to stop being partisan and analyse if this scum of of a man qualifies to hold that post.he is a sorry sight with a wild mentality.you look at the mayors we have had before like fisho mwale and patrick kangwa and see weather you are in the red or green
I do agree with #8 , our Mayor has exposed Zambia’s leading main opposition party PF to be a party with serious leadership inadequacies . I wonder what UPND will get from this kind leadership!!!!!
“…. LCC police and state police, swang into action and….”
LCC police were involved and the mayor is pleading ignorance?!!! You have to wonder what he does when he shows up at work in the morning, “DOZE HIS B@LLS OFF?!”
#5..Deja something…..indeed dejavu.Here we go again. Like i have been wondering LOUDLY of late,do you guys reason or maybe all you do is let it out like one with loose #2. Street Vendors whatever color are a menance. This is cheap politics Deja Vu and your Mayor are playing. Actually you give politics a terrible name.Dont want to go further coz i may give credit to your ignorant comment.
A normal person would think of his or her friends children.
You have not given the promised JOBS to people at the same time chasing them from the itiatives wht next………become prostitutes and Robbers.What kind of thinking is this is in our country.please think properly.
35.
Zambia ONE says: Please if you read my comments in full you will see that I dont condone street vending. Ask yourself honestly. Street vending was encoraged by MMD when it was incharge of Lusaka but to day because its under the opposition they condemn street vending. MMD FAILED TO PLAN when they run LCC. Its ok to remove these people from our streets, but this must be done with “clean hearts.” And please be civil in your comments. We can understand what you are saying without being sarcastic.
The mayor is a product of PF internal corruption and now the whole city is having to suffer because of it. These are some of the things that make people doubt PF’s ability to run government. PF needs to change and show that it is sophisticated to govern in the 21st century. How can an entire Mayor start to think that Lusaka being dirty is of lower priority compared to politicking. Stop it and gtrow up or leave the mayor’s office to other more able people and just go back home to your wife and kids! You are sickening us and we are tired of this politicking rubbish. Not everybody is a politician and the greate majority of us just want the Council to do its work and do it right. If Chikwelete thinks he is too big for that post then let him go back home where he came from!
The question of street vending is a political issue, the Zambian govt has failed to create employment to the millions of its youths, men and Women, and street vending is a survival tool to the more than 80% of the unemployed people in the capital. Let govt create opportunities for everyone and believe me you no one will be vending, after all its a very tiring trade, burning in the sun the whole day just to provide that one meal a day to your children. God bless the vendors lest the die from hunger during this period
Frankly speaking, MMD Lusaka District Chairman, Paul Chihande, wants to gain political capital for his party in this scenario by emphasising that government has removed vendors from the streets when in fact, its a well known fact that its the Mayor and his council who are doing everything in their powers to rod the city of street vending.
Its only people who can not see beyond their noses who can find fault in the mayor’s stance. He wants the truth to prevail. Facts to be stated as they are. Not politics.
LCC in run by PF, whose Mayor is also PF, and what is obtaining is all the product of PF initiatives and they should take credit for that and not some obscure MMD Lusaka District Chairman and his incompetent government.
LETS LEARN TO GIVE CREDIT WHERE IT IS DUE
The Lusaka Mayor is a man who does not deserve to hold that poistion how does one condon such behaviour. Allowing vendors all over the city. He should know that as a city father he serves the interests of many pipo with different interests and should be serious with what he says. This is the problem we are faced with when you elect former street men to important positions. They want to protect their owns first. What a shameful act.
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