Vendors plying their trade on the walk -throughs of Malawi's commercial city of Blantyre have defied Blantyre City Council

Vendors plying their trade on the walk -throughs of Malawi's commercial city of Blantyre have defied Blantyre City Council (BCC) order to vacate from the undesignated markets.

Friday saw the vendors leave for a couple of hours before they returned.

Kulinji.com's rounds and spot interviews showed the vendors are unwilling to leave with some citing accessibility to their customers as paramount.

ALSO READ: A 40-year-old woman has died and 15 other others sustained injuries after a minibus they were traveling in overturned in Chikwawa on Sunday.

Speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of being identified by authorities some of the vendors said the market they were allocated to is far from the business district and would result in losses.

Some claimed those already in the designated market have conspired to have their business fail by refusing to share space.

BCC in response said its officers in all markets will help in allocating space to all vendors.

It said the order it put will took effect at midnight of Friday 18th September 2020 and failure to voluntarily vacate the streets by the given deadline shall compel the Council to use lawful means of forcing them out.

ALSO READ: President Lazarus Chakwera is on Tuesday scheduled to go on his first international trip as Malawi's head of state to Zambia for a day

The Council has since called on residents and members of the public to stop buying from street vendors.

BCC said erected structures along roads and other areas without Council approval shall be take down as it embarks on an exercise to demolish all illegal structures.

The Tonse Alliance government has been cleaning the streets as vending in undesignated spaces is illegal.