By Priscilla Ntaba (Mana) & Sekani Sekani (Malawi Voice)
Street Vendors operating within the city of Blantyre have vowed not to leave the streets despite Blantyre City Council (BCC) warning them to vacate the streets before Monday, the 11th of April.
In an interview with Malawi Voice on Friday, one of the street Vendors at Chichiri Shoprite, Alinafe Yusuf said: “We are not going anywhere. The streets are our livelihood. Where do they want us to go? They must give us jobs because vending is our only way to survive now,”.
Speaking recently with Malawi News Agency (MANA), Public Relations Officer for Blantyre City Council, Deborah Luka said the council will on Monday embark on a sweeping exercise to remove vendors plying their merchandise in undesignated places.
Luka observed that street vending was rampant despite efforts being initiated by the Council in collaboration with Malawi Police Service to curb the malpractice.
She said the council has stepped up efforts aimed at forcing vendors to ply their merchandise in designated market places.
“The Constitution of Malawi in Section 103 and the Local Government Act empower us to enforce street vendors to go back to the recommended marketing places hence the sweeping exercise,” Luka pointed out.
She said the exercise would be an ongoing activity until the streets are completely free from vendors.
A vendor selling clothes, Finley Peter Chikafa expressed reluctance to go back inside the Blantyre Flea Market, arguing that the place has no adequate space.
“As you already know, the space inside the market is not enough and yet, every day we see people starting businesses and they need space to establish their businesses.
“If BCC wants to relocate us, they should at least allocate a place where we should do our businesses; otherwise, we enjoy vending along the streets, because we do our businesses a little faster compared to our friends who conduct their businesses in the market,” Chikafa said.
Recently, there have been running battles between Police in collaboration with BCC staff and vendors over illegal vending.
