Marketers in Zambezi district have continued protesting over the ban on street vending imposed by the local authority.
Marketers, who started their protest on Friday last week at the district commissioner office, said the ban is unfair because they claim that Zambezi town council has never engaged them pertaining the issue.
Speaking on behalf of the traders, Emili Maukuki laments that the new market where the council wants them to relocate has no business because majority of the people in the district fail to reach the place due to distance.
ZANIS that Ms Maukuki in an interview added that the new market is far from the old market were most people traditionally purchase their merchandise.
Marketers have vowed never to leave the street until the council engages them.
And addressing the irate traders, District Commissioner, Simeon Machayi assured them that the issue will be addressed adding that he will soon engage council management on the matter.
Mr Machayi explained to the marketers that it is the council’s responsibility to engage them before an action is taken as they are part of stakeholders.
“Before you are told to move you are supposed to be given a notice. Council should not just work up and throw you away. I am promising that this issue will be dealt with soon as I will engage the council management,” he said.
Meanwhile, Zambezi council chief administrator, Janet Samahanda refuted the allegation saying that the council is not aware of such information of stopping vending in the district.
Ms Samahanda explained that the only traders that have been told to move in the new market are those trading outside the new market not the vendors in general.
“We are going to engage the vendors when time comes for them to move out of the street. For now council has no such plans,” she said.
Recently, the local authority imposed a ban on street vending in the area urging the affected vendors to trade from designated markets.
You voted for order why are you protesting against it.
Street vending is illegal. There is an SI that declares its illegal so they are just following the law which they should have been doing all these years if it wasn’t for interference from politicians.