Chronicle EditorLovemore Meya Herald Correspondent
CHITUNGWIZA Municipality’s efforts to regularise the operations of vendors operating within its jurisdiction are facing stiff resistance, particularly from vendors in Makoni. Two weeks ago, the local authority issued an ultimatum to illegal vendors to register by last Friday. The municipality’s acting public relations officer Mr Aaron Mhonyera told The Herald that 1 559 vendors had been captured in their database.
“We have captured 1 559 vendors into our system (as of) today (Monday). In Zengeza, we registered about 226 vendors, but some are resistant, challenging council to take action, if possible. They claim to have been there since 1970. Seke South had 496 registered, Seke North 481, St Mary’s 353. We have not faced much resistance from these three sites than at Makoni, where there are some political figures who are saying council should recognise committees not individuals because they own those (vending) tables,” said Mr Mhonyera. It is believed that there are some individuals who own more than 10 tables.
“We are saying that the Zimbabwe Agenda for Sustainable Socio-Economic Transformation (Zim-Asset) should cascade down for everyone to have a livelihood. There is unfair treatment of other souls in the business sector. This is happening in Makoni where some of the vendors even tried to victimise our acting town manager. As a way forward, we are advising all members of the public that nobody is above the law, and no one owns that piece of land, serve for council,” he said. Chitungwiza has since extended the deadline for registrations to Wednesday, after which time the municipality will take action against illegal vendors.
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