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Blessings Chidakwa Municipal Correspondent
VENDORS, who were selling potatoes in the car park of Rufaro Stadium, have been removed to pave way for the refurbishment of the stadium.
This comes at a time when the Government has taken over maintenance of some of the country’s stadiums following the Confederation of African Football (CAF) ban on all stadiums in Zimbabwe from hosting international football matches.
The vendors had taken over Rufaro Stadium’s parking space, with council officials clashing over whether or not to allow them to continue with their operations.
Some of the officials wanted council to formalise the vendors’ operations and start levying them, but others felt the move would set a wrong precedent and at the same time paint a bad picture of the stadium.
The Herald news crew yesterday afternoon visited the stadium and observed that normalcy had returned at the Dynamos Football Club’s fortress.
There were boulders barricading gaps on the security wall, which were being used as makeshift entry points for the trucks.
To further block the trucks’ entrance into the stadium, council has also dug trenches in all open spaces along the precast wall.
There were still a handful of potato vendors operating near the stadium premises.
Chief executive of Knowledge Transfer Africa (commonly known as E-Mukhambo), Mr Charles Dehwa hailed the decision to remove vendors from the stadium.
“It is good for order since a stadium has a sole purpose,” he said. “However, Mbare is a busy area and when there are no sporting activities people can utilise the car park for selling and increase revenue for council in the process.
“Local authorities are driving the economy so we should support them to boost financial in-flows in all ways possible.”
Harare spokesperson Mr Michael Chideme yesterday said council would soon put in place permanent measures to ensure the area is not invaded.
“The vendors have gone back to designated sites. We will be soon erecting a perimeter wall around the stadium,” he said.
Online Reporter