Africa-Press – Zambia. In 2019, the Lusaka City Council resolved to lease out the Munyaule market during a full council meeting held on 28th June 2019, as recorded under Minute Number C/23/06/19.
Following that resolution, a 15-year lease agreement was entered into between the Lusaka City Council and Kaddoura Construction Limited a privately-owned company to construct the Munyaule Market.
The construction works could not immediately take off as there was resistance to vacate the premises by the vendors/traders. Several efforts were made to engage the vendors but to no avail.
The traders were notified of the demolitions through notices to traders instructing them to relocate to other premises that the council had organized for them to operate from as the contractor was ready to commence construction work on the site, but they decided to be defiant.
The latest notice was issued on 17th January 2024 notifying the traders of the need to relocate to designated trading places by 29th February 2024. Unfortunately, despite the Council’s clear instructions, the traders did not vacate the area, which violated the Urban and Regional Planning Act No. 3 of 2015.
In the wake of Cholera and the need to address the sanitary facilities for the traders, the move to relocate the traders from Munyaule market to pave the way for the construction of a modern market aims to enhance the market’s infrastructure and create a more conducive and trading environment for traders and shoppers alike. This measure is meant to prevent outbreaks of various diseases in the future.
This is one of the Projects the colleagues from the PF initiated, which the new dawn Government wants to carry forward given the need to provide safe and clean environment for our traders.
The correct number of affected traders is 920 and not 4000 reported in the press. To accommodate the affected traders, the council has taken the following steps:
The council has secured space behind BH and New Soweto markets for traders to temporarily conduct business as they await the completion of the modern market at Munyaule. Some traders have already been accommodated along Lumumba road just before the main Lumumba market and 120 were taken to City Market.
Once the modern market is done at Munyaule, priority will be given to the evicted traders. To normalise this, Kaddoura has already given offer letters to the same traders to avoid confusion when that time comes
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