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THE Harare Residents Trust made sensational claims this week when they said municipal police officers were benefiting from vendors, who are stationed in the capital’s CBD, as they are allegedly being given bribes as a means to avoid arrest.
This was said by Harare Residents Trust director, Precious Shumba, who claimed engagements with the vendors revealed that most of the municipal officers were demanding bribes from them.
He said in their community engagements with vendors, they have been told that if the Council puts in place a mechanism to register and charge them for their spaces, the vendors will gladly register and pay as long as the fees are reasonable and affordable for the majority of them.
Shumba said it was unfortunate that the City of Harare put in place an SMEs policy but they have not moved an inch to ensure that vendors were treated with dignity.
He said they have noted that on a daily basis, the municipal police arrest the vendors in joint operations with the Zimbabwe Republic Police, but the majority of the arrested vendors never reach any police station.
Shumba said the beneficiaries of the chaos were the municipal officers who were chasing after the vendors.
Shumba’s claims suggest authorities have a huge mountain to climb if they are to resolve the vendor menace in the capital.
Recently, Harare Mayor Jacob Mafume said the Council will clear the vendors menace in First Street.
We have heard that before, on many occasions, coming from different people who have had the opportunity to lead the capital city as Harare Mayor.
While the identity of those who have occupied the office of Mayor at Town House in Harare has changed over the years, what has not changed is that the vendor menace remains a huge challenge for the Council.
Different initiatives have been tried but this has not resolved the challenges related to vending in Harare.
There is no way this challenge will be resolved if the municipal cops, who should be in the frontline in terms of dealing with this menace, are compromised.
We can’t have a situation where individuals benefit, through some questionable and corrupt moves, while the capital continues to resemble a giant market where anyone can pitch his or her stall anywhere and start selling clothes, tomatoes, you name it.
It’s not just about vending.
We have seen the proliferation of bottle stores in Harare CBD, something which was not part of our city landscape in the past.
We have seen that around these bottle stores, the clients urinate on the streets as there are no toilets.
It is against the law for patrons to consume alcohol at bottle stores and the reason for that is that there are no ablution facilities at such premises. However, we haven’t seen any action being taken by municipal police officers to bring law and order around these premises.
Recently, the Council told us that the licences for most of the bottle stores in Harare’s CBD had expired but these bottle stores are still in operation.
Something just doesn’t add up.
Mathew Masinge
Online Reporter
