Coltart wants municipal police to tackle Bulawayo vendor crisis

Bulawayo Mayor David Coltart has called for municipal police to be granted powers of arrest, arguing that local authorities cannot restore order to Zimbabwe's cities while council law enforcement officers remain "powerless" to enforce municipal by-laws.

Speaking on the growing challenge of informal trading, Coltart blamed political interference and alleged corruption for undermining council efforts to relocate vendors and restore order in the city centre.

"We have encountered quite shocking politics in this regard," Coltart said.

"If you read your newspaper this past Sunday, you'll see that the leader of a politically aligned group in our city was encouraging vendors not to relocate.

"Those same people are the ones extracting bribes from vendors."

The veteran human rights lawyer said municipal police currently lack the legal authority needed to effectively enforce council by-laws, allowing what he described as a breakdown in lawful governance.

"Our municipal police are powerless to deal with that.

"And for as long as there is a complete absence of the rule of law and mayhem prevails, we're not ultimately going to tackle this problem," he said.

Coltart said municipal police should work alongside the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP), while government moves to strengthen the powers of local authority law enforcement officers.

"We desperately need central government, primarily the police, to work alongside the municipal police," he said.

He welcomed a proposal by Local Government and Public Works Minister Daniel Garwe to grant municipal police arresting powers, describing the measure as necessary to improve enforcement of municipal by-laws.

"One thing I want to commend Minister Daniel Garwe for is that he recently said he had presented to Cabinet a proposal to grant municipal police arresting powers. We commend that.

"It is a necessary measure," Coltart said.

However, the mayor said stronger enforcement alone would not solve the problem, arguing that councils must simultaneously provide traders with viable alternative trading spaces.

"You need to provide attractive alternative trading venues while at the same time restoring respect for the rule of law.

"Only then will we achieve the equitable balance we need in tackling this issue," he said.

His remarks come amid an increasingly polarised national debate over the management of informal trading, with local authorities seeking stronger enforcement powers as city centres grapple with congestion, deteriorating sanitation and mounting pressure on public infrastructure.

At the same time, government has maintained that the informal sector remains a critical source of livelihoods for millions of Zimbabweans amid persistent economic challenges.