The Lilongwe City Council has urged the general public to stop purchasing goods from street vendors as the council plans to remove all vendors doing their businesses in undesignated places including streets next week.
This is according to Lilongwe City Council’s public notice released on Friday 28th April, 2023 and signed by its Chief Executive Officer Dr. Macloud Kadam’manja.
The council says doing businesses in undesignated places such as streets, contravenes By-law (5) of the Local Government (Lilongwe City Council) (Market and Vending) By-laws, 2018 which prohibits any person from engaging in illegal street vending.
The public notice further stipulates that from Tuesday 2nd May, 2023, all goods displayed outside shops and outside designated places will be confiscated by city council officers who will be going around the city.
“Lilongwe City Council (LCC) wishes to inform the general public, all business owners, the Vendors’ Association and all vendors in Lilongwe City that it will be carrying out an operation to remove all vendors who are doing their businesses in undesignated places such as streets from 2nd May. 2023.
“LCC is also informing the business community that display of goods outside their shops or business premises is also prohibited by By-law (16). Hence, all goods displayed outside the shops and business premises will be confiscated,” reads part of the notice.
The council is further urging all vendors doing their businesses in the streets to return to established markets in the city to ply their business before Tuesday.
LCC has also informed all vendors involved in street vending but have spaces in the designated markets that they risk losing their spaces as the Council will re-allocate the spaces to law abiding vendors once they fail to return to those spaces.
Lilongwe City Council has also appealed to pedestrians, motorists and the general public to desist from purchasing goods from undesignated trading places such as streets claiming the practice perpetuates illegal vending.
“Let us all unite to end street vending, a practice which is hazardous, unsafe, unhygienic and a nuisance to the road users,” reads another part.
LCC further appealed to the general public to cooperate with its officers and the enforcement team when they are carrying out this exercise to those who will not have returned to their designated places in the markets.
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