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Vendors resist council's arrest threats
Loyce Murengami,Community Radio Harare (CORAH)
January 24, 2013

Vendors, who operate in the Central Business District (CBD) and high density suburbs, have vowed to resist Harare City Council's decision to stop them from their activities.

Council recently announced that it was going to set up teams at district level and give them powers to arrest illegal vendors.

'Hapana apa. Ini ndichangoramba ndichitengesera pano nekuti ndipo panototengwa manje. Munoti ndikaenda kumusika ndiani anouya achida airtime kumusika, pane kungoitora pakona pano (I will continue selling my wares here because my customers easily access this place rather than using council vending sites that are isolated from the public)' said a vendor who sells green mealies at the corner of Fourth Street and Jason Moyo Avenue.

Rueben Madziva who sells roasted maize along Samora Machel Avenue says, 'We are not opposed to council by-laws, but where are the market places which they want us to operate from? They have been saying this since time immemorial but we have not yet seen the places which they want us to work from,' he questioned.

Memory Muchineripi who trades in fresh fish at an open space in Glen View 3 says she is not going to be deterred by council's decentralisation of anti-illegal vending crusades. 'We are used to being chased away by the council and this is not new. Let them come here and we will find ways of evading them, but what I want to assure you is that I am not going to stop doing business, because this is what is making me survive,' she said.

When asked to speak on the issue, Harare Town Clerk Tendai Mahachi refused to comment claiming he does not speak to 'people he doesn't know' over the phone.

'I do not speak to someone I have not seen. Make an appointment with my office if you are interested in talking to me,' Mahachi responded before hanging his phone.

However, Head of the Environmental Management Committee in the Harare City Council, Stewart Mtizwa said council hopes an intensified process to apprehend illegal vendors will benefit both residents and the local authority.

'We are encouraging them (illegal vendors) to apply for vending places and operate legally. This will see a reduction in disease outbreaks. The revenue which the council will raise will go a long way in improving service delivery,' said councillor Mtizwa who however admitted that some of the designated vending points are not suitable for certain wares and foodstuffs.

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