The Lusaka City Council (LCC) has been accused of shielding and deliberately preventing accountability by withholding the names of the council police who confiscated the wheelchair of Mr. Daniel Mwamba, a physically challenged street vendor, an action that has caused great concern to members of the public.
According to media reports, LCC confiscated a wheelchair that Mr. Mwamba was using for his mobility and to trade in plastic bags, an ction
But LCC dispelled social media reports and defended the act by saying that council police only confiscated a wheelchair that Mr. Mwamba was using for displaying his merchandise and not the one he was using for mobility.
The authority also revealed that the wheelchair and his merchandise were returned to him the same day when the incident happened and that the confiscation was only meant to caution him that street vending is prohibited.
In an exclusive interview with the Zambian business times – ZBT, LCC public relations manager Chola Mwamba said she was not in the best position to reveal the names of the council police who confiscated Mr. Mwambas wheel chair.
Mwamba said LCC is going to secure Mr. Mwamba a trading place within the central business district.
She noted that allowing all the people who are physically challenged to vend in the CBD will mean that the authority’s aim of ensuring that street vendors do not return will be all in vain.
She reiterated that the local authority has great respect for human rights and the social inclusion of differently-abled people in society.
Meanwhile, the Human Rights Commission has condemned the Lusaka city council for confiscating a wheelchair from a person with a disability as punishment for engaging in street vending.
According to a statement made available to the Zambian business times – ZBT, Human Rights Commission spokesperson Mwelwa Muleya described the act by the council police as cruel, inhuman, and degrading punishment.
Mr. Muleya said the commission received the report of the confiscation with utmost shock.
He therefore called for the immediate restoration of Mr. Mwamba’s rights and dignity and empowering him with a trading place within the central business district as an act of humanity and minimizing the trauma caused on him.
