The joint statement which was made by the Minister of Local Govt and a representative of the Mobile Money Traders Association has been disowned citing the fact that the meeting prior to the press briefing was not a dialogue but an imposition of views by the government team.
A source who asked to remain anonymous has disclosed that the closed door meeting that was held yesterday at the ministry of local government was in no way a fair or two way meeting because the mobile money traders were not given a chance to air out their views but instead were told to agree to what was being imposed on them.
The source stated that most of the affected mobile money booth owners are still waiting to hear and see if the Minister of Local Government Gary Nkombo and the Mayor of Lusaka will do what is favorable for them before coming out in the open on what is obtaining on the ground.
The source told the Zambian Business Times – ZBT that the Mobile Money booth owners made it known to the Minster that the proposed place the government is suggesting to make affected agents to be trading from, that is from the post office up until Findeco house is not ideal or safe for anyone to trade from. But despite the unresolved concerns, the minister went ahead and made the announcement to the public that that’s what was agreed upon.
And when the source was asked why their representative didn’t have anything to say when given the chance during the press briefing that was held after the closed door meeting that ZBT attended, the source accused the agents representative to have been compromised or bought. “that guy was just bought, he is not with us and we are not with him, he was just bribed, he does not even have a booth, he does not know what it even means to have float, he is on their side”.
The source further told ZBT that the decisions that were made yesterday was not out of consensus, no one is comfortable with it, the source alluded that the excuse that the Minster gave yesterday of finding faecal matter within the booths is not making sense. “How can we do that within our offices and expect customers to come and trade with us, they are just saying such to paint us black” the source said.
It was also revealed that contrary to what is circulating on different social media platforms, the mobile money traders are being told to look for areas which have public toilets so as to set up their booths. This is in the case were mobile money booths were brought down with the aim of relocating them according to the local government minister, but the traders are refuting to the area they ought to be relocated to and the conditions therein being stipulated.
Yesterday 11 November 2022, the minister of Local Government, the Lusaka Mayor and other stakeholder representatives held a closed door meeting with mobile money traders before a press briefing that took place at the ministry. Only one question was taken which left various media houses representatives stunned and left with a lot of un-answered questions.
