Illegal cross border trade between Zambia and Zimbabwe has become the order of the day due to the lockdown restrictions in Zimbabwe resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic, with local traders calling for new government to help resolve the trade blockages.
Zimbabwe has since 2020 imposed a lockdown in an effort to avert the further spread of the Covid-19 pandemic. The Cross Border Traders Association (CBTA) at Chirundu border has disclosed to the Zambian Business Times – ZBT that most local and small scale cross border traders have lost their main way of earning their livelihood and resorted to paying off some border crossing agents for them to be allowed to cross.
CBTA Chirundu branch chairperson Mulenga Kapika said traders are only allowed to cross the border on Mondays and Fridays after the International Organization for Migration (IOM) intervened and talked to the Zimbabwean side of the border, which is currently closed to the general public and traders.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with ZBT, Kapika revealed that since the border was closed on the Zimbabwean side last year, business has been slow resulting in loss of capital and livelihoods for most cross border traders.
“Our members are not trading normally because there is no free movement of people between Zambia and Zimbabwe, so some traders in an effort to survive have resorted to using illegal means to trade to sustain their livelihoods”. They are refusing our members (cross border traders from Zambia) to go to the Zimbabwean side, but when they find means go there, they are forced pay some monies.
“Our members are made to pay something like K20, K50, K100 or more depending on the officers on duty, and then they allow them to pass,” she said.
Kapika said when the IOM came in, they helped traders to negotiate with the Zimbabwean side to allow them to trade on Mondays and Fridays using the normal channels provided they follow the laid down Covd-19 health guidelines.
She said however, some small scale cross border traders do go the days that are not allowed using illegal means as the number of trading days allocated are not enough to make end meat.
“Since the Zimbabwean side was completely closed, IOM came and talked with them to allow our members trade on Mondays and Fridays pointing to the fact that the pandemic was not showing any signs of going away soon.
They gave our members masks and sanitizers so that they can be going to do their trade to earn a living. For those that manage to go on days apart from Monday and Friday usually use the security officers, guards to cross at a fee,” Kapika said.
She said from Tuesday to Thursday, the traders use illegal means to cross the border because the immigration officers do not “officially” allow it.
Kapika said this has adversely affected the cross border trading business as they have lost daily revenue including capital as trading is now a big challenge.
“We have made a lot of losses starting from last year when the pandemic broke out, the Zimbabwean border has been closed since that time, so our members have made a lot of losses. We need the Government to come to our aid to help us in terms of empowerment.
She said the Government should also engage their Zimbabwean counterparts to discuss the possibility of opening up the border for trade to flow between the two countries.
There are currently about 200 local and small scale cross border traders registered with the association while the International Organization for Migration recently registered about 2,000 whose life is adversely affected by these border controls and restrictions and need support since their means of livelihood has been adversely affected.
