Local Government Minister Charles Banda has reiterated that street vending in the country is illegal unless when conducted in designated places as prescribed by the local authorities.
Dr. Banda explained that the Statutory Instrument (SI) number 10 of 2010 still remains in force unless Cabinet or a Council of Ministers decides otherwise.
Dr. Banda, who was in the company of Lusaka City Mayor Miles Sampa told journalists in Lusaka yesterday that there are only two designated places namely Simon Mwewa Lane and Lumumba Road for venders in Lusaka.
He explained that the Central Business District of Lusaka should be left free of vending because these places lack basic social amenities and other auxiliary facilities which are ideal for trading.
“Let me reiterate that street vending in Lusaka and elsewhere is illegal and the status quo remains unless Cabinet or the Council of Ministers decides otherwise,” he said.
The Local Government Minister added that it was difficult to manage people who are trading in undesignated areas and it becomes a huge challenge to provide adequate sanitary services to them.
Dr. Banda noted that in view of the current outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, it was almost impossible to ensure social distancing is observed and the provision of hand sanitisers to both venders and their clients.
“Let our people go and trade in designated areas dotted across the city and this also applies to other districts that are grappling with this issue as well,” he said.
Dr. Banda’s statement comes in the wake of a protracted wrangle between the LCC and vendors who recently took to the streets to protest their imminent removal from their illegal trading areas.
Meanwhile, Local Government Minister Charles Banda has observed that markets and bus stations were critical sectors to the growth of the Zambian economy.
Dr. Banda said the two also help to meet the demand for goods and services and further provide a livelihood for many Zambians in the informal sector.
Dr. Banda has however noted that as common meeting places, markets and bus stations remain highly vulnerable to disease outbreaks such as the deadly COVID-19 pandemic.
He was speaking during a consultative meeting with marketeers associations and other key stakeholders at the Lusaka City Council in Lusaka.
“I am glad that we have been able to meet in this manner to discuss the concerns that have been raised by many stakeholders on the risks that our markets pose to the spread of the coronavirus disease,” he said.
Dr. Banda said the meeting was convened as part of government’s ongoing efforts to reduce the spread of the deadly COVID-19.
“Given the importance of the markets and bus stations, government’s desire is to keep these services running as long as possible, while safeguarding the health of the traders and the rest of the people in these areas,” he said.
He further said government recognizes the efforts that market and bus station associations have continued to make to supplement government’s efforts in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic.
Dr. Banda said the two associations have been doing and must be supported, not only by government through the Lusaka City Council (LCC), but by other stakeholders as well.
“We have a mammoth task ahead of us. If we are to protect the lives of the people while safeguarding their livelihoods, we need to step up our efforts and we must be ready as citizens to adjust the way we do things, we need to give up some of our normal activities. This calls for sacrifice from all of us,” he emphasized.
Dr. Banda observed that failure to keep these places clean may entail temporarily closing off the business activities in order to allow for intensive cleaning and disinfection.
The Local Government Minister further observed that this may also entail reducing on the business hours in order to reduce the level of exposure for the traders and buyers.
Street vending in Lusaka has become a public health nightmare.Let’s be like Kigali ,Rwanda where it is not only illegal but its enforced to the letter.. you can’t find any street vendors.
wake up my people make sure laws are implemented all the time without politics
Pictures are worth a thousand words. If you wanted to write a book on “how to spread a highly contagious virus like the novel corona virus” this would be the perfect cover photo. 1. Folk, avoid crowds, distance yourselves from others and isolate as much as possible. 2. Avoid wasting Personal Protective Equipment. Ceremonial spraying is a good way to waste a valuable resource like PPE. 3. Educate/lead by example. Stay away from crowds ba minister, that others may emulate. 4. Don’t be selfish. You masked in a crowd with many unmasked does the population at large zero good. Negative good actually. 5. Avoid sending mixed messages. Using hand sanitizer to limit the spread of the virus from one human vector to another does not translate to sanitizing a market being a means of diminishing spread…
The law is the law. If you don’t believe this try testing the authorities and uzamu ziba yesu. Don’t say you were not forewarned
Science has laws too. Problems arise when those in leadership are clueless about the laws of basic science. So hopefully ba KZ and former friends baziba tu science.
Street vending is what has made PF what it now because they supported it through and through to try win votes instead of creating jobs .Anyway we understand all jobs in the foreign embassies are now for relatives and friends of PF politicians .Another such example is Zesco .Despite the heavy rains , Zesco is failing because it employs incompetent relatives to PF politicians ..What have we done as Zambians to deserve such d!ck he@ds ?
Street vending is illegal since 2010!
LOL!!
In this country laws are only enforced when it is the opposition who have committed the offence
Just tie a PF chitenge, you can do whatever you want. We just drove across the country & since our car didn’t have papers, the chitenge did the trick. This is how rotten it has become.
Street vending is illegal but not to PF cadres
You have failed to control street vending. It is only illegal on paper.
Well, street vending is the major issue in zambia the question i’m asking or making is who is really responsible for allocating lands? i just feel the ppl responsible for land allocation have something to do with the influx of vending. And i believe the land belongs to the government if not approved by the minister of land and other institution responsible. Ppl should just learn and understand the rules and regulation. i know we are christian nation who’s believes are to forgive and forget but going forward some of this things should be thrown out of the window to achieve great.