I WANT all toothpick shops put up in townships taken out and brought back to town centre so that the locals conduct business without intimidation, says Kitwe mayor Christopher Kang’ombe.

Kang’ombe said small-scale businesses like selling of toothpicks and sweets should be left to the locals for the sake of maintaining a relationship between the Chinese and Zambians.

During a follow-up on the consultative meeting on implementation of S.I No.1 of 2017 held at Kitwe City Council, Kang’ombe said it was not right for the Chinese to put big shops in townships where the locals were unable to compete with them due to lack of capital.

“You are supposed to conduct wholesale business and not to sell things that can be sold by the Zambians. You cannot sell sweets or toothpicks because that is business meant for the locals,” he said.

Kang’ombe said establishing big retail businesses in places such as Musonda, Jamboree and Kapoto townships will steal business from the poor people who were struggling to earn a living. He said he did not want to see any big Chinese shops in townships and advised them to ask for refunds from their landlords so that they could relocate to the Central Business district. Kang’ombe said the Chinese were allowed to invest in the country but not to conduct businesses that could cause unrest among Zambians.

He advised all foreigners to check their work permits and scrutinise what type of business they were supposed to do in the district.

“…people are complaining that you have placed big shops next to small shops in the townships and that is free, that their business have been taken way because you have everything in your shops which are being sold at a cheaper price and we all know that they cannot compete with you as they have no money. So our suggestion is that we do not want to see any shop in the townships; you should all bring them back in the main town centre,” said Kang’ombe.

And Kitwe district commissioner Binwel Mpundu advised all foreign businesses to improve conditions of service for their Zambian workers. He said if the Chinese recognized Zambians for their hard work and treated them well, they would not complain about being ill treated. Mpundu said this was because there had been a lot of misunderstandings between the Chinese and Zambians.

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