Harare CBD Vendors Face 24-Hour Police Patrols As Operation Chenesa Intensifies
Harare’s central business district is facing a tougher enforcement drive as Government and the City of Harare move to permanently remove illegal vending, pushcarts and other activities operating outside designated areas.
Under Operation Chenesa Harare, authorities intend to reclaim public spaces, improve traffic flow and restore cleanliness in the capital, with municipal police set to patrol the city around the clock to stop illegal activities from returning.
Also Read: Operation Chenesa Harare Begins As 300 Municipal Police Officers Target Illegal Vending
24-Hour Patrols To Keep Vendors Out
According to The Herald, the City of Harare is preparing to change the way its municipal police operate, with officers expected to conduct patrols throughout the day and night.
Mayor Jacob Mafume said the existing system, where municipal police generally finish work at 5pm, created an opportunity for illegal activities to resume once enforcement officers had left.
“We have noticed that there is a lacuna where our police officers are finishing their work at 5 pm,” he said.
Mafume said the council would introduce continuous patrols to ensure that enforcement does not stop when normal working hours end.
“We are going to institute 24-hour patrols and regular patrols around the city so that there will be continuous policing of the city 24-7,” he said.
Vendors To Be Moved To Designated Sites
The Government’s plan will see informal traders operating from undesignated locations removed from the CBD and directed towards approved trading areas.
Local Government and Public Works Minister Daniel Garwe said the measures were part of a wider programme to improve cleanliness and order across Zimbabwe.
He rejected suggestions that the clean-up was being carried out because of a forthcoming international event.
“People must go to designated areas, and this programme is not targeted for any major event that is likely to come, no,” Garwe said.
According to the minister, Harare’s transformation would require residents to adapt to stricter standards of cleanliness and orderliness.
“This is the life that we must now be accustomed to, of cleanliness, of orderliness, of reorganising. That is the new Zimbabwe now, and Harare will never be the same again from today going forward,” he said.
Pushcarts Also In Government’s Sights
Pushcart operators will also be affected by the operation, with Government arguing that the carts contribute to congestion and disorder in the CBD.
Garwe said the authorities would not allow the central business district to become a trading area for a range of informal goods.
“No to selling mangoes, oranges, clothes or shoes. No to plying in the central business district. And no to pushcarts in the central business district,” he said.
He said the carts were contributing to traffic jams and other problems that authorities wanted to eliminate.
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