Analysis Of Street Vending Policy Implementation In Outapi,Namibia

Street vending is part of the low income economy in both developing and developed economies.In some developed nations,urban policies allows vendors to conduct businesses along the streets through licensing fees and site allocation as well as consent streets referred to morning and evening markets especially in Asian countries.Street vending is a sector of the urban economy which is very bone of contention because vendors operates their businesses in areas which are considered as public spaces and are originally not meant for vending purposes.Due to the fast development of modern business operations,(departmental stores and malls)some countries deemed that street vending would go away,which however been proven wrong because even with harsh legislations in place or by laws seeking to ban it,street vending still persist.This activity is not special only to developing nations,it is visible around the globe even in major cities however how different laws respond to it,is what makes it different.In many occasions the tension or what is often referred to as a cat and mouse game between the street vendors and local government is visible.In developing nations,African countries in particular street vending is legally prohibited and the idea of building public market is more common and preferred.The street vending management in Namibia is currently one of the many burning issues despite street vending being a means of survival for the people at the grassroots level in terms of job creation,poverty reduction and promoting entrepreneurship.Policy makers give less attention to this section of the urban economy and the responsibility of managing vendors is solely left with local authorities.Street vending in Namibia is still managed under old laws applicable before independence.In these particular laws,the content has not been repealed since independence despite the sector growth.Based on the background above,the current bone of contention between local authorities and street vendors needs a new turnaround strategy to address street vending problem amicably.Local government is at the forefront of street vending policy implementation research has outlined.Have said all these,the researcher anticipated to study the status of the group under study(Street Vendors,Outapi)from the policy analysis perspective.The intention is to find out if there is street vending policy in place,and if there is any,to find out how the street vendors are defined in that policy(i.e.their inclusion in policy process),their legal title to land,and finally how they are integrated into urban authorities plans and policies.The Study is descriptive in nature and a qualitative case study design is the main concept to gather more contextual policy issues governing or regulating the street vending activities,to analyze the reasons and perhaps the causes why the problem between the Local authority and street vendors does not seems to be ceasing.In a nutshell the study has found out that street vendors are being regulated from a single perspective within the local authority.It is further discovered that street vendor's issues are managed by a mere regulation with clauses,meaning there is no comprehensive policy to manage this business.Central government entrusted the responsibility of street vending to local authorities.From the findings,it is visible that the root cause of the problem is not locality but rather the regulation in place.And it is clear that the study cannot focus on implementation stage of the policy alone but rather include the policy formulation as well.Street vending is an important part of urban economy,hence it cannot be managed from a single point of view.Collaborative effort is needed to craft evidence base policy which encourages inclusivity of the grassroots level from the legal point of view whereby street vendors are not only defined in the policy and but they are afforded the platform for citizen participation,mobilized through vendors organizations and they contribute to issues affecting their lives through direct and indirect consultation.With rapid urbanization in developing urban areas,street vendors need to be supported by local by-laws and their contributions to national economy need be valued and encouraged.The findings of study are fully expanded in the paper.What is required is a relook into the existing practice and frame an approach which is comprehensive and context-specific theory base evidence policy.With the right tools in place local authorities will witness the formalization of street vending activities through street vending associations which can also answer the issue of uncertainties associated with their informal work.Municipal authorities' discussions should shift from the locality base management of street vending in order to meet the government half way in combating high unemployment rate.Street vendors need to be valued for their contributions and integrated into economic planning and legal framework of local authorities.This cannot be achieved through a single perspective of public markets,however a range of interventions need to be considered and implemented.Economic and social policies impact on street vendors needs to be reviewed against the policy challenges,risks to better inform the policy making processes.What this study calls for is a model that embraces the modern cities without killing the traditional market whereby the smallest and the least powerful unit of the economic society is allowed to co-exist alongside the largest and powerful economic players.