HARARE, Zimbabwe — Informal traders have voiced growing frustration over what they describe as excessive taxation and routine harassment by police, saying they are being punished for trying to earn a living in an economy that offers few alternatives.
Speaking in Harare on Wednesday, National Vendors Union Zimbabwe (NAVUZ) Chairperson Sten Zvorwadza accused the government of failing to protect the country’s informal sector workers, who make up the bulk of Zimbabwe’s economically active population. Zvorwadza said vendors are being squeezed by the 2 percent Intermediated Money Transfer Tax, known as the IMTT, while also facing daily extortion from rogue police officers and municipal authorities.
“We are taxed by the state during the day and extorted by rogue Zimbabwe Republic Police officers by night,” he said. “This is not just a crisis of policy—it is a crisis of conscience.”
Zvorwadza said NAVUZ sent a letter to Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube three weeks ago calling for the removal of the IMTT on informal traders, but the ministry has yet to respond. He said the continued silence from the government reflects a lack of regard for the economic realities faced by Zimbabwe’s poorest citizens.
“That letter was not symbolic. It was a desperate call for relief,” he said. “Silence in this case is not neutral—it is deliberate abandonment of the poor.”
Enacted in 2018, the 2 percent tax applies to mobile money and electronic transactions, a mechanism the government has argued is essential to broaden the tax base. But informal traders say the tax disproportionately affects small-scale entrepreneurs who rely heavily on mobile money platforms and digital transactions for business.
“You sell tomatoes and earn a dollar, and the government takes two cents. You send money to restock—another two cents is gone. It’s relentless,” Zvorwadza said.
Vendors who spoke on the sidelines of the press conference said their day-to-day operations are made even more difficult by police officers who demand bribes in exchange for not confiscating their goods.
Mai Chakwera, a vendor who sells airtime and snacks in central Harare, said she is constantly on edge. “Every time I am arrested, I must pay a bribe to get my goods back,” she said. “If I don’t pay, they keep everything. I don’t report them because I fear they will come after me.”
“Sometimes they want five dollars, sometimes ten. If you don’t pay, they threaten to take you in,” he said.
Zvorwadza said he has previously raised these concerns with the police hierarchy, including former Commissioner General Godwin Matanga, and has since communicated with the new Commissioner General, Stephen Mutamba. He accused officers of illegally collecting money from vendors and pocketing part of the proceeds.
“They are writing a fine of ten dollars and keeping five for themselves. That’s theft,” he said.
The union leader also criticized the 2 percent tax as a form of “economic violence” against informal traders, arguing that it forces small-scale entrepreneurs to revert to cash-only operations and avoid formal banking channels.
“We were told the 2 percent tax would help formalize the economy. But what kind of financial inclusion forces vendors back into the shadows?” he said. “This tax doesn’t build—it destroys. It’s a corrupt tax, a cruel tax, and it must be scrapped.”
With more than 60 percent of Zimbabwe’s economic activity occurring in the informal sector, Zvorwadza warned that continued government inaction could lead to broader social unrest.
“We will not disappear, and we will not retreat,” he said. “If the government will not hear us in Parliament or the corridors of power, it will hear us in the markets and the streets.”
