Harare deploys 300 municipal police in vending crackdown

AT LEAST 300 municipal police officers will be deployed across Harare today as the city intensifies its crackdown on illegal vending and urban disorder under the Chenesa Harare campaign.

The operation will begin at the intersection of E.D. Mnangagwa Road, formerly Enterprise Road, and Samora Machel Avenue before spreading to other densely populated areas.

Harare Mayor Councillor Jacob Mafume yesterday said the number of officers could be increased depending on developments on the ground.

"We are going to increase the complement of municipal police officers who will be on the streets tomorrow to about 200 or 300, or more should the situation require," he said.

Cllr Mafume said the initial phase would focus on persuasion, with vendors operating from undesignated areas being encouraged to move to council-approved trading sites.

"We are simply moving from phase to phase and emphasising the need for vendors to operate in an orderly manner and at designated places," he said.

The operation targets illegal vending, congestion and other forms of urban disorder as council seeks to improve the movement of pedestrians and vehicles and restore cleanliness in the capital.

Cllr Mafume said street vending was occupying space required by motorists and pedestrians while undermining efforts to improve the ease of doing business.

He defended council-designated vending facilities amid concerns from some informal traders that certain sites were poorly maintained or located too far from their customers.

Citing the Mbare market, he said the facility offered modern amenities despite some traders continuing to operate outside the designated area.

"We have built one of the best markets in Africa, if not the world. The place has some of the best toilets, excellent storage facilities, proper lighting and good ventilation. Yet vendors prefer to sell outside," he said.

Local Government and Public Works Minister Daniel Garwe said the prevailing situation was inconsistent with Zimbabwe's aspiration of attaining upper-middle-income status by 2030 and the objectives of the National Development Strategy 2.

"The situation is no longer acceptable and it is no longer business as usual," he said.

Minister Garwe said the intervention was not intended to victimise vendors, formal traders or homeowners, but to restore order in the capital.

"Let me state from the outset that this is not a declaration of war against vendors or formal traders.

"This is not an act of victimisation against anyone," he said.

He acknowledged the important role played by informal trading in sustaining thousands of livelihoods, as well as the economic circumstances that have pushed many people into vending.

"We recognise that vending provides livelihoods to thousands of Zimbabweans. We also recognise the economic circumstances that have driven many people into informal trading," he said.

"We also recognise the entrepreneurial spirit of our residents and the important role that small and informal businesses play in sustaining families and communities."

Zimbabwe National Vendors Association (ZNVA) chief executive officer and executive chairperson Mr Abel Zvobgo said the association supported the directive and was encouraging vendors to comply with designated trading arrangements.

"We resolved, as the leadership of the Zimbabwe National Vendors Association, which represents vendors in towns and cities across Zimbabwe, that our membership should comply with the Minister's directive," he said.

Mr Zvobgo urged vendors to stop returning to illegal trading sites and allow authorities to implement the directive.