Solwezi Municipal Council Mayor Ezekiel Mulonga has appealed to shop owners in the district to stop renting out their shops to foreigners.
Mr. Mulonga says most shop owners in the area are trading illegally and do not have valid documents to be in the Country.
The illegal traders, mostly from neighbouring countries are reported to have taken over trading space and shops in markets thereby denying the Municipality the much needed revenue for developmental projects.
ZANIS reports the Solwezi Mayor saying in an interview today that his council will not allow the current trend to continue saying sooner than later council police will pounce on offenders.
On street vending he stressed that it has never been allowed at any given time, adding that, the Council will not dwell on politics but move in.
The Mayor has since appealed for cooperation from members of the public in ensuring that Solwezi town rids itself of undesirable trading practices and cheating the Council out of its revenue collections.
He also observed that the township had become very dirty.
The District lately expressed been swarmed by aliens who enter the country, nearly on a daily basis without valid papers and engage themselves in various trading practices in the markets.
He said the streets the majority of whom are also being looked after by Zambians in the compounds.
Oh, please, what happened to market forces and entrepreneourship the ground gives copper to Zambia, and Zambia gives copper to foreigners at a higher fee and the foreigner processes copper into finishied products and sells them back to a wholesaler, who sells it to a grocerary owner, who in turn sells it to a Kaponya who finally sells it to a consumer..what is wrong with that.
You rent a stand to somebody and they should be free to do whatever they want with it as long as their honour their contract with you. Let market forces reign.
They should be licenced to be able to trade. Why are you in the forefront of promoting illegal activities? Do they even enter the country legally to begin with? No wonder the whole country looks like a dumpsite. There’s too much lawlessness in Zambia.
Read and understand the statement bootliker. The Council is losing revenue because foreigners don’t pay levy’s. You’re just like Rupiah Banda very corrupt.
Congolese neighbors are unwanted in Zambia as if There no illegal Zambians dwelling in Congo,do we figure out how many Zambian are illegaly doing business in neighboring countries border’s towns? Let’s stop thinking Zambia is the best country on the face of Africa,
Zambia should implement her own laws without reference to any foreign country. Period.
The story is very misleading or the mayor is not up to it. If the foreigners aren’t paying levies it is the council’s duty to collect the necessary levies.
If it is about illegal immigrants then the immigration department should be called in.
The owners of the buildings should not be punished for renting our their buildings to illegal immigrants unless there is law that requires Zambians not to do so.
This story is poorly written.Kindly edit if it has to make sense!
Council workers are corrupt and are pocketing all the revenue collected from the foreigners.
Would the foreigners really be trading for free in Zambia ? i do not sink so
He said the streets the majority of whom are also being looked after by Zambians in the compounds. What is the meaning of this LT?
He said the streets the majority of whom are also being looked after by Zambians in the compounds.