“Cleanliness is next to Godliness”
The Lusaka City council in the past week or so has intensified it’s efforts to bring sanity in the city as far as mobile money booths placement.
This move has received mixed reactions from citizens primarily because of the desperation for survival by citizens faced with high levels of unemployment.
As a people in modern civilized society we have to be true to ourselves.
What kind of society do we want to live in?
Do we want a city litters with all sorts of objects all, in the name of survival?
Do we want a city that smells with urine?
Do we want a cities that have each and every corner turned into trading spaces.
Honestly speaking I would rather lose friends than allow the current status quo in most urban cities of Zambia. Freedom way and Chacha, Cairo roads of Lusaka are a serious public eyesores.
It seems our city planners have failed to respond to the needs of a desperate urban populations. Even in developed nations street vending makes part of the city culture but this is done in much more ordinary manner.
Mobile Food trucks makes part of the alternative cheap source of lunch for many lower to middle income citizens working in many cosmopolitan cities of the western world.
In Zambia every corner of the city of Lusaka has makeshift restaurants catering to citizens in hygienically compromised environment thereby posing serious health threats to citizens. We have fresh meats being traded in open space infested with flies. Do we wonder why our life expectancy remains low, while developed country’s life expectancy has been increasing?
Mobile money businesses have definitely made life easier for the majority citizens of all demographics, including banked and well as the un banked.
Placement of mobile money booths must be well coordinated. Booth placement must not compromise the safety of all road users. Booth population in the city must have predetermined numbers in each designated locations. Just as we don’t have brick and mortar banks built everywhere, Mobile money booths must equally not be placed at each and every open space in the city.
The need for citizen’s survival is critical but this must be done in much more organized manner.
We hope that the current removal of mobile money booths in the city of Lusaka is truly aimed at bringing sanity to the city rather than creating entry leeway for the ruling party cadres.
Let’s all support the efforts of bringing sanity and cleanness to all the cities of Zambia.
Cleanness is next to Godliness.
Francis Chipili
Business and Political Analyst
