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Paidamoyo Chipunza Senior Reporter
The Zimbabwe Integrated Trade Association (ZITA) has called on its members and all other traders to embrace Statutory Instrument 64 of 2016 as an initial step towards building and expanding the local manufacturing industry as opposed to end user entrepreneurship. Speaking on the sidelines of ZITA annual congress held in Harare yesterday, the association’s vice president Mr Robert Bhamu said traders were in full support of SI64.

“Explained to us, the SI is very good. We are in full support of it because it gives us as young Zimbabwean entrepreneurs the mandate to manufacture rather than becoming a consuming nation,” said Mr Bhamu. He, however, bemoaned lack of adequate consultations by Government officials in crafting rules and regulations resulting in resistance.

“We are not being consulted before gazetting of these Statutory Instruments. What we then find out is that relevant authorities descend on traders or vendors sometimes with force without proper and adequate consultations or even explanations to the people.

“So our message basically is: let us work together,” said Mr Bhamu. Mr Bhamu said there should also be co-operation between Ministries of Home Affairs, Industry and Commerce, Local Government, Public Works and National Housing and Youth, Indigenisation and Empowerment, to adequately address challenges that affect traders.

He said there was also need to decentralise licensing of cross border traders to all provinces.

“Half the time you see that anything being done by Government is done in the capital city yet we have 10 provinces across the country. All those are not being included in what the Government does so we would want decentralisation of anything that happens and that affects the people on the ground,” said Mr Bhamu.