Kitwe Mayor, DC Brainstorm Foreign Influence in Local Trade

The Kitwe civic leadership has sought some measure in bridging the trade relations between foreigners and locals by calling for legislation.

District Commissioner Binwell Mpundu and Mayor Christopher Kang’ombe convened a stakeholders’ meeting where the call to enforce Statutory Instrument Number 1 of 2017 meant to reserve certain businesses to Zambians was re-ignited.

The invasion of foreign nationals into business space that can be easily occupied by Zambians dominated discourse at the caucus.

The Business community appealed for pieces of legislation that give Zambians the right to operate without unfair competition from foreigners.

Among the attendees was the Alliance for Zambian Informal Economy Associations who lamented the Chinese dominance in the local economy.

Kitwe District Commissioner Binwell Mpundu said implementation of the Statutory Instrument No.1 of 2017 requires consultations in the district.

He said the meetings are a bid to find a solution for the growing agitation for foreign nationals by Zambians.

Meanwhile, Kitwe Mayor Christopher Kang’ombe said the sticky issue is slowly becoming a national problem that require consultations.

He said while the problem was at its infancy stage, now is the best to address it before it escalates.

“Well for us we feel that this is a national program and it needs to be addressed now. We may not know how it is in other towns but for us in the district we feel it’s time to act because this problem is at its first stage, that is level one in terms of gravity, so before it goes to level two we need to address it,” Kang’ombe said.

Statutory Instrument Number 1 of 2017 is meant to reserve certain businesses to Zambians such as selling of chickens in Markets as well as transportation of public procured goods.