Minister of Local Government Vincent Mwale has reiterated government’s resolve to ensuring that Councils take care of running markets and bus stations.
He said to this effect government has strengthened the law that deals with anybody who illegally collects levies from market traders or licensed public transporters other than the Council.
He explained that this has been done through Statutory Instrument number 12 of 2018.
Mr. Mwale stated that in order to augment the enforcement of SI 12 of 2018, government has started appointing markets and bus stations boards to run markets and bus stations as opposed to Councils directly running them, a strategy which has failed in the past.
He added that the past strategy gave unscrupulous people room to start illegally collecting levies from marketeers for their personal enrichment.
Mr. Mwale revealed that as a pilot programme, he has appointed market and bus station boards in Lusaka, Ndola, Kitwe, Livingstone, Chipata, Samfya, Mazabuka and Choma.
He added that his Ministry will appoint boards in other towns across the country in the long run.
Mr. Mwale said government expects the law to be followed to the letter.
He said his Ministry has authorised the recruitment of 140 additional Council Police for Lusaka City.
Mr. Mwale stated that the recruits will beef up security in the markets and bus stations around the capital city to ensure effective management of the facilities by the board.
Meanwhile, Parliament yesterday heard that government has created 22,000 alternative trading places to accommodate the 8000 displaced Lusaka street vendors.
This came to light when Local Government Minister Vincent Mwale made his Ministerial statement to Parliament.
Mr. Mwale indicated that the alternative market places are adequate to absolve all the displaced street vendors.
He said government is committed to ensuring that the displaced street vendors are accommodated in a decent trading place.
Meanwhile, the Minister disclosed that an additional 140 Council Police Offices have been employed.
He explained that the newly employed Council Police Offices will help in beefing up security and maintaining order in the running of markets and bus stations.
And Mr. Mwale revealed that he has appointed Boards to superintendent the operations of the markets and bus stations.
He said the market and bus stations Boards are aimed at bringing sanity in the running of the institutions.
Mr. Mwale complained that previously there was no accountability with funds collected from the markets and bus stations.
In a related development, Parliament heard that government has intentions of constructing 50 modern markets in different parts of the country.
Mr. Mwale said government wants to see to it that traders across the country trade in decent sanitary conditions.
This is what we wanted bcos the caders were putting money on their pockets and they had no respect with marketers and bus drivers. Wen it will back to the council, the collecting money will use for MAKE OUR ZAMBIA CLEAN, etc.
That’s a good start but if you have moved controll to board members and have changed your cader thugs into the same board members controlling markets , you will fail
Sherdpan, keep dreaming my friendwe all know where the money will end up
Lets hope it will not be the same cadres constituted into the boards.
What is the criteria used to pick the same board members?
Who will over see the same board members?
What is the source of their pay? If it’s from the same levies then forget, council will get peanuts?
For the record councils havent failed to collect levies from markets or stations.
It is the unruly PF cadres that undermine councils with impunity with blessings from plot 1. I.e Davies Mwila instructions to kabwe pf cadres to allocate themselves land.
PF is creating problems in this country and expecting them to resolve them is being naive.
These are just pf cadre jobs.simple
Why does Hon Vincent Mwale often look like a deer caught in headlights :). It somehow just makes him look less confident. However the decision makes sense and as the other bloggers have noted the crunch will be who is on the board and who appoints. It also means if its taken the govt this long to figure out they need a board to run markets and transport, it says a lot about their capability to run a country.
He sees images!
When was the announcement made to employ Council Police or you just went to your list of cadres?