NOEL IYOMBWA writes
@SunZambia
LUSAKA City Council (LCC) last week prosecuted 24 street vendors in the Fast Track Court for contravening Statutory Instrument (SI) Number 12 of 2018.
LCC public relations manager George Sichimba said all the 24 vendors were convicted and fined accordingly.
He explained that seven vendors were slapped with seven days community service while 19 were fined amounts ranging from K100 to K150 and failure to pay would result in custodial sentence of two to three weeks.
“The vendors were apprehended from the central business district and other areas in the city,
“LCC is strictly following the guidelines contained in the Ministry of Local Government Circular of 4th March, 2019 to all Councils on how to implement the SI 12 of 2018 without harassing vendors.
He said the circular guided that,when a vendor is apprehended by council police officer(s), the apprehended vendor, with his/her merchandise, is handed over to State police who will formally open the docket, charge and arrest the vendor.
He explained that once a vendor was arrested, the docket was forwarded to Legal Department’s prosecution section for perusal and preparation of court documents before trial took place.
He mentioned that the process also applied to those found buying from the streets.
And Mr Sichimba said that during the same period two people appeared in court; one for selling expired foodstuffs contrary to the Food and Drugs Act and the other for failure to produce a registration certificate for a dog.
