The ManicaPost
Ray Bande
Senior Reporter
Mutare’s Sakubva vegetable market is expected to reopen for business tomorrow (Tuesday), just a few days after vendors’ produce was raided by the police and burnt to ashes.
Last week, the police raided Sakubva Musika, where more than 300 farmers and vegetable vendors had converged around 3am to conduct business.
Following the publication of pictures of the farmers’ produce going up in flames, emotions flared globally as people argued that the issue could have been handled in a better way considering that hunger is a global problem.
In a major climbdown, Mutare City Council (MCC) has since announced that the vegetable market will reopen tomorrow.
“To all our esteemed residents and customers, in view of the lockdown Presidential decree, City of Mutare would like to inform its valued customers and stakeholders that Sakubva produce market will open from 6am to 9am for bulk ordering.
“The wholesale supply chain will be opened to allow retailers to buy their produce for resale at the designated markets,” reads a statement by MCC.
The local authority said approved designated areas in different suburbs will also be allowed to operate from 9am to 3pm.
“The approved designated markets will be open at 9am and close at 3pm. Operators should abide by the standing rules to avoid being arrested. All other undesignatrd markets in other areas remain closed. Any farmer who shall be found trading outside the agreed time frames risk being arrested,” reads the statement.
Cde Pardington Nemaunga, the Ward 18 Mutasa Rural District councillor, from whose area most of the vegetables sold in Mutare urban come from said, “I am happy that we found an amicable solution to the challenge we faced. It is encouraging that the issue was resolved in a very short space of time. However, in future, farmers, as key stakeholders, should be engaged before such actions are taken,” he said.
The country is in a 21-day lockdown period to stop the spread of COVID-19.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa has reiterated that essential service providers remain open for business during the lockdown, although they are expected to operate with extreme caution in light of the pandemic.
