Opinion / Columnist
No to politisation of operating spaces
28 Sep 2022 at 06:00hrs | Views
THE Vendors Initiative for Social and Economic Transformation (Viset) is disturbed by the reports of politicisation of operating spaces on a piece of land adjacent to the traffic lights at Malvern and Chitungwiza roads in the Hopley area.
The Transport ministry recently ordered the closure of the Mbudzi roundabout to allow for construction of an interchange and this has led to alleged Zanu-PF youths taking advantage of the situation to charge amounts as high as US$50 per square metre to traders.
A Viset team visited the area on September 22 and witnessed youth clad in party regalia chanting slogans to gathered informal traders.
We consider these acts to be in total violation of the national Constitution, where politically exposed persons take the law into their own hands to parcel out State land.
This also flies in the face of pronouncements by Harare Metropolitan Affairs and Devolution secretary Tafadzwa Muguti, who recently vowed zero tolerance to space barons who exploit their political influence to unjustly extract economic benefit.
We urge Muguti, the local authority and indeed the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission to move in and restore order as well as persecution of the offenders to show that corruption will not be tolerated.
The authorities are also urged to relocate the affected traders, in a non-partisan and transparent process and we avail ourselves as an association to assist in this regard so as to weed out those who would seek to use their economic and political power to be space barons at the expense of long-suffering genuine informal traders.
The Transport ministry recently ordered the closure of the Mbudzi roundabout to allow for construction of an interchange and this has led to alleged Zanu-PF youths taking advantage of the situation to charge amounts as high as US$50 per square metre to traders.
A Viset team visited the area on September 22 and witnessed youth clad in party regalia chanting slogans to gathered informal traders.
We consider these acts to be in total violation of the national Constitution, where politically exposed persons take the law into their own hands to parcel out State land.
This also flies in the face of pronouncements by Harare Metropolitan Affairs and Devolution secretary Tafadzwa Muguti, who recently vowed zero tolerance to space barons who exploit their political influence to unjustly extract economic benefit.
We urge Muguti, the local authority and indeed the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission to move in and restore order as well as persecution of the offenders to show that corruption will not be tolerated.
The authorities are also urged to relocate the affected traders, in a non-partisan and transparent process and we avail ourselves as an association to assist in this regard so as to weed out those who would seek to use their economic and political power to be space barons at the expense of long-suffering genuine informal traders.
Source - Newsday Zimbabwe
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