They dont want us here

When I returned to Choma in June 2018, after two years, I was surprised seeing merely big building work and no market stalls and traders along the road. Since I had already spent a good ten days in Lusaka, I had seen similar development there, had spoken with traders, and learnt that since outbreak of the Cholera earlier that year, street vending had been forbidden, and market traders mostly not allowed to return to their business (apart only from a very small group of those certified as handicapped). However, a majority of people in the Zambian society rely on this part of the economy for their and their family’s daily survival. A couple of street markets in Zambia had recently gone up in flames; and I came across various rumours of arson. The later may come with little surprise reading below a quote from a local government announcement in Southern Province In Jan. 2019. An echo of the apparent understanding among leaders and officials of local citizen as “dirt” and “dirty” can also be heard in these interviews with market traders around and along the railway lines in Choma’s back streets. quote government announcement: “there should be no illegal trader on all streets in southern province WITHOUT FAIL. The Keep Zambia clean campaign is a permanent policy and good for our citizens and for the pride of our country. Zambia police and Council police are hereby directed to enforce this important national activity.” quote from a street sign in Choma which I photographed: “Decentralisation. Be informed and participate. Advocating for the popularization and implementation of the decentralisation policy” archived at: https://archive.org/details/voices_from_choma