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Tichaona Zindoga Political Editor
The leader of the only vendor organisation that has been resisting stakeholder efforts to bring sanity by relocating from the Central Business District to designated places, Mr Stan Zvorwadza, is an opposition MDC-T member who wanted to stand for the opposition party in the July 2013 elections, The Herald has established.
National Vendors Union of Zimbabwe is the only one of 17 informal sector representative organisations resisting the removal of illegal vendors from the streets, and yesterday petitioned Parliament to halt the relocation whose ultimatum is today.
Mr Zvorwadza, has had run-ins with the law, in 2012 and in 2013, on charges of threatening to commit murder and undermining state authority; and causing political violence, respectively.
Mr Zvorwadza has connections to anti-Zimbabwe organisations such as the Zim Vigil, a United Kingdom-based group that was formed in 2002 by former MDC treasurer general Roy Bennett and Tony Reeler of the Amani Trust as a way to pressure foreign governments into putting pressure on Zimbabwe.
The Zim Vigil founded the Zimbabwe Restoration of Human Rights in 2007 as the local chapter of the London-based organisation, and Mr Zvorwadza was the vice president of ZROHR and later became the chairman of the vendor union.
Sources yesterday told The Herald that Mr Zvorwadza was out of the country canvassing for funds and support for his organisation, with strong suspicions that he may be bent on causing destabilisation in the city.
The union was generally unknown until a few weeks ago when authorities proposed to bring order to Harare streets when it sprang to life urging vendors to resist relocation to about 60 areas that authorities designated for the decongestion of the CBD.
Interestingly, the same defiance has been urged by the opposition MDC parties, who analysts have observed that they are spoiling for a violent confrontation between law enforcement agents and the vendors.
When Government gave vendors an ultimatum to vacate the streets and prepare to relocate to designated places, navuz said the call was “a declaration of war”.
In a statement, the belligerent organisation said: “As navuz, our position remains clear and we will communicate the same to our members that they will never be removed from their current vending sites unless alternative and equally profitable vending sites are provided for them. For several times we have indicated to the Minister that we are not opposed to endeavours that bring sanity to the City of Harare but livelihoods must never be sacrificed at the alter (sic) of free walking space.”
Since then, the organisation has been mobilising vendors to resist relocation and has provided them with yellow T-Shirts emblazoned with the organisation’s name.
On its Facebook page, the organisation has been posting defiant messages such as, “We are not going anywhere.”
The organisation has been represented in court by Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights, which is a well-known foreign-sponsored opposition appendage.
Government yesterday said that it was going to enforce the ultimatum, having consulted all stakeholders.
Online Reporter