By Vincent Gunde
The Dowa District Council says it is inviting business operators who may prefer private rather than communal structures to engage the Council and make special arrangements to construct their own shops within Madisi market based on improved designs.
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There have been growing concerns by communities surrounding Madisi market and vendors themselves that the market is taking too long to be completed having started 15 years ago.
There have been little progress made at the market despite millions of Kwachas spent, its construction seems to be rotating at one place as already iron sheets for a shed were blown off by strong winds demanding additional money for the same project time and again.
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Madisi market Vice Chairperson Francis Ching’amba, said the market started its construction alongside Mponela and Ntchisi with funds from MASAF saying Mponela and Ntchisi markets were completed but Madisi market is the same as of yesterday, nothing is moving forward.
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Ching’amba said Madisi market has only the ground space, no toilets , vendors sweep by themselves their business premises, Council officials just come to collect market fee for no impact to be seen at the market.
He said come the market day itself which is Thursday, the whole market is filthy, no dustbins alleging that if they complain to market fee collectors, they are only told that whoever doesn’t want to occupy in the market, should go out of the market.
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” We are suspecting that other people are blocking completion of our market, we need completion of this market in as soon as yesterday,” said Ching’amba.
Solomon Mafunde, a shop owner at the market told journalists on a media tour alleging that the council has a market fee of K200 but some other business operators for potatoes, maize, sugarcanes, and others, are being forced to pay K1000 on the claims that the products they are selling make the market surrounding dirty.
” We have no where to answer the call of nature, there’s only one toilet without a door and instead, we prefer going to our houses to help ourselves,” he said.
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When contacted, Dowa District Council’s Public Relations Officer Sylvester Kumwenda, said there have been low compliance by vendors to relocate to the designated market, saying this has affected revenue collection, service delivery, and contributed to deterioration of some infrastructures.
Kumwenda said the market was constructed some years ago under the District Development Fund (DDF) to accommodate vendors in the area to host Weekly markets popularly known in vernacular language as ” Kabwandire” saying going forward, the council has plans to use locally generated revenue to implement improvements at the market in the 2026- 2027 financial year, including construction of additional toilets, construction of more shops, and renovation of existing market sheds, and other structures.
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He said the council will intensity stakeholder engagement through dialogue, sensitization and awareness campaigns involving market committees, vendors, traditional leaders, and the wider community to better understand the concerns and build consensus around relocation.
” Through shared commitment and collaboration, the council believe the challenges can be addressed and Madisi market can become a vibrant, and mutually beneficial economic hub for the district,” said Kumwenda.
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The Malawi Human Rights Resource Center (MHRRC) supported the media tour for its project “Enhanced Citizen Participation in Local Governance and Development Processes with funds from NCA DCA Joint Country Programme – Malawi.
