By Burnett Munthali
Street vending has come back in another style all over the streets of the Capital of Lilongwe and is a common sight outside almost every shop.
Every street is now a market place in the city of Lilongwe and you can see Malawians displaying different products and customers buying almost everything beginning from bananas to biscuits.
When the new government came into power, streets had been cleared, the road to the main bus Depot, for example, was a good example. A line up of small temporary shops were brought down to make the capital spacious and organized.
New plans of the Tonse Alliance Government included the removal of car breakers and garages along the roads, ensuring that all motor cyclists were trained and licenced to operate on the roads of Malawi. These were great ideas aimed at bringing sanity.
Orderliness was spotted and appreciated in the movement and parking of cars in many areas of the capital city. A special improvement particularly in the surrounding premises near Lilongwe Bus Depot was observed where unhealthy long queues of traffic disappeared. The Phwetekere, Area 36 and 24 traffic near Lilongwe Bus Depot was something else you wouldn’t like to drive through.
Everyone was hopeful that Tonse Alliance Government had started changing everything in the way of running things. This effort was recognized by all people including critics.
Unfortunately, I am not really sure as to what happened soon after that. It might be appropriate to say that Government relaxed. Perhaps Tonse just lost direction or didn’t have the direction at all.
Ugly scenes of street vendors along the roads are back and are even worse than before. This time vending has gone beyond the limit, steps further upto Lilongwe Bridge and the vendors don’t seem to see any danger lying ahead of them.
What baffles me is that authorities and the vendors alike don’t seem to sense any danger on the bridge until something catastrophic happens. Just like the people who settled on Chilobwe mountain, here is another time bomb waiting to explode.
If a serious accident happened right on the bridge, how would the vendors and customers run for their lives? Probably they would end up jumping and drowning into Lilongwe River.
I mean, where exactly in Africa would you find people doing business on a bridge inside the capital city? Something is wrong with our mindset in Malawi.
