•Katondo road showcases the spirit of survival in a dog-eat-dog society that capital cities like Lusaka create.

By CHUSA SICHONE –

IT was on the notorious road where someone was caught selling a human heart!
The story that appeared in the press in the late 1990’s cemented the name of the road as a place of survival.
Erroneously called Katondo Street, Katondo road showcases the spirit of survival in a dog-eat-dog society that capital cities like Lusaka create.
Along the road, either you are asked to sell whatever you are carrying or enticed to buy the items displayed on the tables in the most daring and aggressive salesmanship.
Situated on the southern side of the Lusaka Central Business District (CBD), connecting to Freedom Way, Cairo, Cha Cha Cha and Lumumba roads, is Katondo road, is part of Lusaka city lore.
Katondo road is a hive of activity (some of them illegal) as dealers engage in business like local and foreign currencies exchange, second hand and brand new mobile phones, accessories, computers, still and video cameras, video games, music players.
According to a senior citizen who chose anonymity, Katondo road was in the 1970s famous for selling singly cigarettes (imishanga) and foreign currencies only.
Aliens who were accommodated at the nearby Lusaka Hotel came with foreign currencies to Zambia, which they exchanged with Kwacha at the then Stanley Bar which was a very popular social joint.
Technological advancement led to the expansion of business at Katondo road from cigarettes and foreign currencies to other assorted merchandise.
Katondo road later became infamous for dealing in stolen items commonly known as ‘sampo’ (from the word a sample) usually sold at give-away prices to unsuspecting traders.
Katondo road is also notorious for selling faulty products with many customers not knowing that the items are dysfunctional since they are not tested.
The increased negative image of Katondo road has led to
complaints by cheated customers leading to law enforcement agencies combined team of officers from the Zambia Police Service, Immigration Department and Drug Enforcement Commission making occasional raids on the place.
In such raids, innocent passersby together with Katondo road dealers have ended up being apprehended.
Today, raids on Katondo road have lessened, if not stopped. This is strange considering the fact that the road is still a hive of criminal activities.
Edward Musonda, who has been a Katondo road dealer for 12 years said in an interview that sanity has been restored on the renowned road.
“So many people wrongly think there are thieves here at Katondo road. Three quarters of traders here are genuine. Even the issue of saying that Katondo road dealers make fake dollars is also untrue. Those who make fake dollars do it elsewhere, not here,” he said.
Mr Musonda, 45, was elected as Katondo road chairperson in 2010 and with effect from last year, Katondo road has been registered with the Patents and Companies Registration Agency as Katondo Twafwane with 300 registered members.
The registered members are required to pay K20 monthly, an amount used towards their welfare such as funeral expenses.
Mr Musonda said those who want to start trading on Katondo road are now first counselled to desist from engaging in vices such as buying and selling stolen products before being given a free trading space.
The other introduced rule is for Katondo road dealers not to sell items like mobile phones to under-age customers since the source of their money is questionable.
Thorough screening is done on people selling products to Katondo road dealers.
In the case of mobile phones, keying in *101# followed by pressing the send button is one of the measures used to ascertain if the supplier is selling a genuine product or not.
Those suspected to be selling stolen items are reported to the Police.
Mr Musonda is, however, mindful that there are still some ‘bad eggs’ on Katondo road and quickly added that these are not part of the Katondo Twafwane as they are so unruly and thus difficult to tame.
It is such unruly traders that usually buy ‘junk’ products suspected to be stolen by suppliers from townships like the infamous Chibolya.
Mr Musonda said it is not the desire of traders to be found on
Katondo road but it is because of circumstances beyond their control such as high unemployment levels in the country and lack of sponsorship for others to further their education.
Therefore, instead of idling at home and engaging in vices, Katondo provides them with an avenue to do something meaningful.
Considering how the place has been transformed by getting rid of bad eggs, Mr Musonda appealed to Government to come to the aid of Katondo road dealers by finding them something else do such as offering tenders to supply goods and services.
He said alternatively, Government should find jobs for Katondo road traders, as has been the case with some former dealers who have been employed at State House and other Government institutions.
“Government should look into our plight because as things stand, we are street vendors. I feel Government should identify some traders among us who have a vision and ability to control their colleagues and offer them alternative business to what they are doing.
“Being a vendor does not mean there is nothing else we can do,” he said.
Before Mr Musonda started selling phones which he was importing from Zimbabwe, he was a food supplier from 1990 to 1994 but stopped after he was involved in a road accident in 1994, which resulted in one of his legs being amputated.
It is through Katondo road that the Grade Nine drop-out and father of six has managed to support his children’s education.
So far, two of his children have completed Grade 12, one is in Grade 12, and another is doing Grade 11. His other child is in the seventh grade.
Musonda also supports two dependents who are doing their tertiary education.
Mr Musonda currently imports rubber from South Africa which he eventually supplies to mines locally in Kamwala trading area, while exporting some to Tanzania and Malawi.
He is also happy to note that some Katondo road dealers have
graduated from selling mobile phones to dealing in motor vehicles after their capital increased.
It is heartening to note that Katondo road is in the process of cleaning its dirty image and Mr Musonda challenged relevant authorities and concerned members of the public on how best this can be done.