Harare police Monday advised the National Vendors Union Zimbabwe and other stakeholders against a march planned for Wednesday, citing intelligence that the march has been hijacked by politicians.
The organization’s director, Samuel Wadzayi, said security officials told him that they won’t get any police escort if they want to stage the protest, which was aimed at handing a petition to parliament on their pending removal from the streets Friday.
But the defiant leader said they will go ahead with their march.
" We are going ahead with the march because we feel that aah, the police cannot stop us, said Wadzayi. "They have not written anything. There is nothing written to indicate that they have stopped (us)."
Wadzayi said that they were planning the march with other vendors organisations, including the Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition.
Meanwhile, more than five vendors and informal traders’ organisations Monday met with Bulawayo mayor Martin Moyo to discuss the pending deadline.
Zimbabwe Informal Sector’s Organisation director, Promise Mkwananzi, said the organisations told the mayor that the notice given by the government was too short.
"Vendors said there must be adequate notice for them to be shifted to the various places where the government has designated," said Mkwananzi.
He added that they were writing to local government minister Ignatius Chombo advising him to abandon this plan and to ceate a dialogue platform where they can have a consultative process to devise an amicable solution of the proliferation of vendors in the city centres.
