Zomba City losing K60m annually to illegal vending

Zomba City Council director of finance James Mafunga says the council loses at least K60 million annually due to illegal vending.

He said this on Friday during sensitisation meetings the council held with traders in the city on illegal vending and motorcycle taxi parking.

Mafunga said the council faces challenges in revenue collection since some vendors refuse to pay fees on grounds that they ply their trade from the city’s designated shops.

“As a result, vendors in Zomba Main Market and Zomba Flea Market refuse to pay revenue fees, saying they are not making sales due to the rising numbers of illegal vending in the city that block customers from getting into the market,” he said.

Mafunga stressed that the council has given a two-week ultimatum to the illegal vendors to vacate the streets or be removed by force.

“The funds that could have been invested in projects such as bridges are being lost through illegal vending,” he said.

Lloyd Gama, a vendor who sells cellphones, phone accessories and belts said the capital for his business is too little to pay fees to the city council.

He, however, acknowledged that illegal vending derails development.

Zomba Main Market vice-chairperson Feston Kachepa acknowledged that due to the council’s failure to end illegal vending, the designated vendors sometimes spend three months without paying fees.

“Sanity is essential in business because we cannot be paying fees when we are not making any sales,” he said.

Zomba Police Station operations officer Selemani Mtambo said they will ensure that illegal vendors are removed from the streets.

The city has other leading markets at Chinamwali, Mpondabwino and 3 Miles among other satellite selling points.