Mulanje District Council has resolved to use force to relocate traders at Limbuli that are refusing to occupy shops in the newly constructed market and are still operating at the old one.

During a full council meeting on Wednesday, Members of Parliament, councillors and representatives from different organisations supported the motion, saying negotiations on peaceful relocation have proved futile.

It has been five years since the new market was constructed and some traders have showed no interest of occupying the premises.

Speaking during a full council meeting, Mulanje District Council Director of Administration, Grey Nkwanda, bemoaned the lost time through negotiations with the vendors which have not produced any desired outcome.

“It’s been five years that we have been speaking with these people to occupy the new market and nothing has happened. Five years is a long time, we need to use force,” he said.

Member of Parliament for Mulanje West, Yusuf Thenda, said he did not see any other alternative apart from letting the law enforcers do their job.

“Discussions have led us nowhere, let our police officers disperse them from the old market, it’s the only way,” he said.

Meanwhile, no deadline date has been set to give the vendors operating at the old market time to relocate.

The vendors protesting the move have complained that there are not enough shops for all of them to occupy at the new market, and that government has failed to include a bus depot inside the market as was promised.
Chairperson for the new market, Matius Nachuma, however, refuted those claims, saying there is enough space to accommodate all the said vendors.

“We have been wondering as to when they would relocate so that Limbuli has one market. For now, some are plying their businesses at the old market while we are using the new one which sometimes brings divisions.