Garwe orders crackdown on illegal Harare vendors

LOCAL Government Minister Daniel Garwe has ordered Harare City Council to urgently strengthen its municipal police force ahead of a nationwide blitz targeting illegal vendors operating from pavements, open spaces and other undesignated sites.

Garwe met Harare municipal police officers on Wednesday as Government stepped up preparations for the clean-up campaign, warning that the capital could not continue operating amid what he described as widespread vending chaos.

Last week, the minister gave illegal vendors in Harare and other urban centres an ultimatum to move to authorised trading sites or face forced removal.

However, as the crackdown draws closer, Garwe said the city's depleted municipal police force presented an opportunity to create employment, while insisting that the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) would not lead the operation.

"I have noted Harare City Council has few municipal police to deal with vendors, so this clean-up campaign is a blessing in disguise as it is going to see more people being employed," Garwe said.

"Harare City is growing every day, and people are going to get jobs because we are not going to use the Zimbabwe Republic Police this time around."

Garwe said the authorities would adopt a more systematic approach, stressing that the operation was intended to restore order rather than victimise informal traders.

"This time, we are going to be systematic in our approach. Vendors are not our enemies, but we just need order in our cities. That is our demand. We are one people, and we are all Zimbabweans," he said.

The directive comes as congestion continues to worsen in Harare, with vendors occupying pavements, road verges and other undesignated spaces, creating challenges for motorists and pedestrians.

Harare Mayor Jacob Mafume acknowledged that the council was understaffed and needed to recruit additional municipal police officers to enforce its by-laws.

"We need to employ more people in municipal police as Minister Garwe has said, and we are already in the process," Mafume said.

The planned operation is likely to face scrutiny over how vendors will be removed and whether sufficient alternative trading spaces will be provided.

Previous urban clean-up campaigns have resulted in thousands of informal traders being displaced, often without alternative sources of income, raising concerns over the economic impact of the latest crackdown.