Sustainable Panaceas for Street Vending in Ndola Zambia

Abstract

Street vending was declared illegal by an Act of parliament in Zambia in 1992 because of the increase in negative outcomes including pickpocketing, worsening public hygiene and order, exacerbating the spread of diseases, tax evasion, and environmental pollution. Despite the numerous negative outcomes of street vending, it is undoubtedly the largest creator of informal jobs, both for skilled and unskilled immigrants and citizens. Despite many suggestions, strategies and efforts of many stakeholders and researchers to find a lasting solution to street vending in Zambia, the vendors are still trading on the undesignated streets. The aim of this research was therefore to explore the views and experiences of the participants on the sustainable panaceas for street vending in Ndola. The failure of the Local Authorities (LAs) in Zambia to permanently evict street vendors from trading in the undesignated places, despite their various interventions and resources committed, necessitated this research. Researchers conducted legal analysis to examine the current laws against street vending and found lacunas that need to be addressed. Qualitative research methodology and phenomenology design employed to explore the lived experiences of the participants. A conceptual framework for negotiated and tailored vendors’ access to rights claims and trading spaces in urban areas was adopted for this research. Key findings of the research reveals the need for the engineers under the planning department to redesign the town and markets to promote not only market access but also to accommodate population growth. There is also inconsistent enforcement of the law by each new political party in power, while vendors see street vending as a source of household (HH) livelihood due to high unemployment levels. Furthermore, it was found that there are allegations of unreasonable use of force by some LA security officers during crackdowns. In addition, a wide range of sustainable panaceas for street vending noted by the respondents, together with some paradoxical tensions be examined by authorities and stakeholders. The exercise to remove street vendors from the streets resulted in increased alleged corrupt practices by some law enforcement officers. The study concludes by clearly stating the pertinent issues that need to be considered including revisiting the current law on street vending with a view to regulating street vending and finding a win-win strategy to amend the law, coming up with measures to allocate a timeframe for street vending and the issuance of trading permits. Furthermore, consideration should be made to formulate tax system (e.g. presumptive tax) for street vending, and reintroduce Hawkers licenses that was abolished. This could be done by the Ndola City Council Councilors in liaison with the Central Government, by coming up with a bye law specially dealing with the above, or, in the alternative and better still, the Local Government Act (2019) itself could be amended, or indeed, a Statutory Instrument (SI) could be issued by the Minister with a view to incorporating into the law the foregoing matters. In addition, markets need to be redesigned to increase both capacity and resolve the unfair trader-buyer market access challenge, address all the paradoxical tensions noted, and improve hygiene and sanitary facilities in market places.