THE Zimbabwe Chamber of Informal Economy Association (ZCIEA) has urged its members to be well versed with laws that govern their operations to avoid losing their wares.
ZCIEA secretary-general Wisbon Malaya told participants during a two-day training workshop aimed at empowering them on legal issues in
Karoi that the onus is on them to understand council by-laws and their impact on how they discharge their daily duties.
“We aim to equip them to become good and well-informed advocates for the change they want to see in their work spaces. This can only be achieved if those in the informal sector are good negotiators who understand the law,” Malaya said.
Participants, mainly women and girls, were drawn from mostly fruit, vegetables, clothes and cosmetic vendors who were joined by hairdressers and barbers from Karoi.
Jane Barrett, a consultant with Women in the Informal Economy: Globalizing and Organizing, who facilitated the training, said the workshop was designed to empower vendors with knowledge of legal rights.
“The guidance is towards formalisation, with an emphasis on improving the working environment to improve livelihoods. Such working environment improvements will include simple and affordable licensing regimes, infrastructure such as storage and access to water and sanitation, as well as access to finance,” Barrett said.
She said the training included an element of negotiation, equipping the vendors with skills to engage councillors and officials.
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“We are yet to see the full fruits of the training, but we are confident that the vendors, through their elected leaders and their organisation, will be able to effectively engage council officials and councillors to find mutually agreed solutions to the challenges of vending,” she said.
