KCCI advises on street vending

KABWE has a fragile economy which has further been hit by the suspending of street vending because of the cholera outbreak, the Kabwe Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) has observed.

Speaking in interview, KCCI vice president, Thomas Muwowo noted that the people of Kabwe whose main activity was selling of goods and services on the streets were paying a price for failure by relevant authorities to regulate vending.

Mr Muwowo stated that the issue of vending was not a bad idea in itself because it plays a role in the economic activities of the country because it puts money in peoples packets, provided, it is regulated.

“Kabwe has a depressed economy, most depend on selling of goods and services on the streets. The issue of vending is not a bad idea in itself because it plays a role in the economic activities because it puts money in people's pockets,” said Mr Muwowo.

He said if the issue of street vending was not contained within a shortest period of time especially for these dealing in consumables the loses would be immense and might be difficult for the country to recover economically.

Mr Muwowo said it was the reason why as KCCI they were concerned about the suspending of street vending because it had left most vendors with no suitable places to trade from.

"Suspending of street vending has critically hit most households because they depended on it to feed their families. Let us quickly organise vending because the poor have become poorer and this is not good for the country's economy," said Mr Muwowo.

He has appealed to relevant authorities to quickly relocate vendors to normalise their businesses for then to earn a living.

And Mr Muwowo said the problem was that the relevant authorities had allowed uncontrolled street vending for a long time which in turn culminated into the public health crisis the country was now grappling with.