Nkhata-Bay District Council has closed the Nkhata-Bay market due to a misunderstanding with the vendors on the increase of daily market fees from K200 to K350.
The decision has come after vendors refused to start paying the newly imposed fee to the council from 1 May as ordered by the council as they have requested the authorities to slash the fee to K300.
When the vendors gathered at the council for more talks on the issue, the Chairperson for Nkhat Bay District Council, Joseph Thula refused to bow down to the vendors’ demands, saying they considered a lot of factors before coming up with the new fees.
“We are not going to reduce the fee because K350 is not even enough to cater for everything we have planned to give them good services. As such, we will take another action if they do not oblige to our demands,” he said.
The council was collecting MK60 000 per day when the vendors were paying the old fee of K200 from its boma market.
This is the second district to see vendors and District Council officials tussle over market fees after vendors in Zomba refused to accept new market fees from the Zomba Council.
By Felix Kamanga
