Lusaka Mayor Warns Street Vendors as September 29 Deadline Expires
Lusaka City Council Mayor-Elect Mwewa Chitambala has declared September 29 as the final day for street vending, warning against protests and promising strict enforcement. He assures that over 15,000 designated trading spaces are available for the city's 8,000 registered vendors, emphasizing the need for adherence to regulations for Lusaka's proper functioning.
Lusaka Mayor Chitambala Mwewa has warned street vendors that enforcement will begin after the September 29 deadline for traders to vacate undesignated areas and return to designated markets.
The Lusaka City Council had directed vendors to leave the streets, bus stations and other unauthorised trading locations, warning that those who failed to comply could lose their allocated market spaces. Mwewa has said the council is working with law-enforcement agencies to enforce the directive as it seeks to clear the city’s streets and restore order.
Mwewa has also alleged that some recent protests against the relocation exercise were politically organised, including claims involving individuals linked to the UPND Chibolya Branch, although those allegations have not been independently established.
He has further alleged that some people resisting the exercise are foreign nationals trading in undesignated areas, while maintaining that the council’s objective is to move traders into recognised markets rather than eliminate their livelihoods.
The council says the directive is backed by the Markets and Bus Stations Act No. 7 of 2007 and Statutory Instrument No. 12 of 2018, which provide local authorities with powers to regulate markets, bus stations and street trading.
Mwewa says Lusaka has about 15,000 available trading spaces across and around 28 designated markets, compared with approximately 8,000 registered street vendors. He has urged traders to use spaces within their localities and said previous attempts to remove street vendors failed because of insufficient political will and vested interests, while also accusing some council police officers of contributing to the problem.
The 395 council police officers currently deployed are expected to have their roles redefined under the new administration, as the mayor pushes for stricter enforcement of trading regulations.
The September 29 deadline has already produced resistance, with vendors protesting the relocation and some saying they depend on street trading to support their families. Reports on the ground indicate that enforcement has now begun, while questions remain over whether designated markets can absorb all affected traders and whether the relocation will provide viable trading conditions.
The dispute therefore places the council’s drive for cleaner and more regulated public spaces alongside the livelihood concerns of thousands of informal traders, with both sides now facing the consequences of the enforcement exercise.