LUSAKA Town Clerk Alex Mwansa has appealed to market traders and bus drivers to effect a citizen arrest on any on any political party carder who want to collect money from them other than designated council cashiers.
And Police in Lusaka arrested four people in connection with a receipt which was seen trending on social media indicating United Party for National Development (UPND) Intercity security and marketers’ community and a payment of K20.
Mr. Mwansa said operators and marketers should not allow people to exploit them and extort their hard earned money and that they should inform officers if they see anyone masquerading as council employee and collecting levies without authority.
He said shortly after touring City Market on a fact finding mission to ascertain whether political party carders were still operating at the market, that he was happy to discover that operators and marketers were only paying levies to the local authority.
“I want to appeal to traders and bus drivers that this is the time to fight for your rights, do not anyone to exploit you, if someone comes to extort you do a citizen arrest and take them to the nearest police station, play a role in ensuring that the right thing is done,” Mr. Mwansa said.
He said the Government had created a conducive environment to ensure drivers and market traders conduct their businesses freely. Mr. Mwansa said the onus was on the stakeholders to protect their rights and ensure to report anyone masquerading as a council employee to collect levies from unsuspecting citizens in the facilities.
He said he was however elated that elated that markets and bus station levies were only been collected by officers from the local authority contrary to reports that carders had resurfaced in the public facilities.
Mr. Mwansa said the local authority would also create a forum through which market traders and bus operators would be lodging complaints when aggrieved.
Police spokesperson Esther Katongo said some youths were identified to be behind the issuance of the receipt and police managed to apprehend one of them identified as Stanley Phiri 36 while three other suspects escaped but were later arrested.
Ms. Katongo said those arrested include John Bombek 34, Charles Mulenga 40 and Mathews Mwape 35.
“This occurred today (yesterday) at Intercity bus terminus. The suspects are detained for obtaining money by false pretenses and will appear in court soon,” she said in a statement yesterday.
And Lusaka City Council Director of Housing Danny Chibinda said alloperators and marketers should demand for a receipt every time they are making any payment to council cashiers.
Mr. Chibinda said once bus operators and marketers paid their levies, they should keep their receipt as proof of payment in case someone wants to dubiously charge them again.
Chinika Ward 11 Councilor Mr. Masautso Ngoma has urged the bus operators and Marketers to work hand in hand with the local authority in its mandate to provide better services. He further counseled them to manage their own affairs and not spearhead propaganda.
