Street vending has returned to your city with unmitigated force 14 years after the demolition mission code-named Operation Dongosolo. Our News Analyst CHRISTOPHER NHLANE asks Principal Secretary for the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development Charles Kalemba why city councils are apparently sleeping on duty.
Q
:Why is the government struggling to remove street vendors in cities?
A
: I hope you have seen that Lilongwe and Mzuzu already started getting rid of the vendors from the streets. That is the direction we are taking. All cities have been told to come up with plans to relocate vendors to designated places
Q
:When vendors were removed from the streets in 2006, they slowly returned, complaining that desi-gnated markets are not in good condition. What measures have you taken so that they stick to the allocated places?
A
: The time you are referring to was politically tense. Now there is no tension in politics. That is why we are saying that every city should come up with a plan. We are not saying every city should get rid of vendors. Getting rid of vendors and coming up with a plan to move vendors to designated places is a sustainable way of handling the issue and that is what the ministry has guided the councils to do.
Q
:After the futile attempt to clear the streets of vendors 14 years ago, what sustainable strategy does your ministry have to restore sanity in cities once and for all?
A
:Actually, it is every Malawian’s responsi-bility. For a vendor to trade, it means there is a buyer. So [we will not make progress] if the same people who are not happy with vendors trading in the streets are the same ones that buy from the vendors. Another way to restore sanity is to ensure that every citizen does not buy from undesignated places. So it’s a two-way issue. It’s not for city councils only, but also for the citizens.
Q
: What would you tell people who buy from a street vendor?
A
: The citizens must take the responsibility and make a stand to stop buying anything from the streets. If they do that, there will be no street vending. They must say: ‘if I want to buy vegetables, I will go to the vegetable market. If I want to buy imported second-hand clothes, I will go to a kaunjika market. If I want to buy fish, I will go to a fish market.’ If we all do that, there will be no street vending.
Q
: What are your parting remarks?
A
: I push the ball back to Malawians. They must take responsibility to have the cities cleaned up. This should be a joint venture; the central government, local governments and citizens must work together to make the cities clean. That is the sustainable guidance we are giving to the city councils. It is not just a matter of removing the vendors. The vendors must also do business, but that business should be done in designated places. Maybe in future we should also arrest people who buy from the streets as a way of changing people’s mindsets. n
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