By Staff Reporter

Vending has been hijacked by politicians who now see it as a political ground for gaining votes. This was said by various vending associations that convened for a discussion at the Media Centre.

Speaking at a roundtable discussion at the Media Centre, NAVUZ chairman Samuel Wadzai said his organisation has been fighting to break ZANU PF hold on vending in the city of Harare.

‘Vending has long been politicised through the involvement of political groups such as Chipangano and individuals such Jim Kunaka and the now incarcerated Godwin Gomwe.’ Said Wadzai

He added ‘As we speak the Queen of Grace is allocating space on partisan basis under the guise of a cleanup exercise currently going on. How can an inclusive process happen when people are forced to wear ruling party regalia?”
However the police have acted against Mudzengere who was accused of setting up tents around the CBD and extorting money from vendors.

But the vendors believe he was only arrested because he belongs to the wrong faction in the ruling party.
A vendor in the streets who declined to be named said ‘The man was collecting more than $3000 from vendors dotted around the city and it was believed that money was being used to sponsor the so called ‘gamatox’ faction in the ruling party.
He added ‘This is not a cleanup at all, it’s just that new party activists are taking over the collection of rent from vendors.’

Speaking at the same event MDC-T legislator Tapiwa Mashakada warned that the vending issue was a structural problem that required long term robust policy interventions.

“You can use force or find places for these people to sell their wares but this will not fix the problem. Vending is a peaceful demonstration for jobs’ said Mashakada

Political commentator, Dr Pedzisai Ruhanya said the question of vending was not that of legality but rather one of legitimacy given the Zimbabwean economic context. It may be against council by laws for vendors to sprout everywhere but they have been forced into this situation by the economic situation.

The issue of vending has divided Zimbabweans with some arguing that the vendors have become a threat to other users of the central business district. Pedestrians are forced to walk in the road while shop owners who pay taxes and licenses to local authorities are losing business to these vendors.
Some vendors have been accused of engaging in illegal activities such as selling pirated music and movies. However the vendor associations say it is only a minority of the vendors that engage in illegal activities with the majority of the vendors eking out an honest living.