16/04/2026
LCC MUST STOP THE DECAY OF PLANNED MARKETS IN LILONGWE
LLilongwe City Council(LCC) allocated shop plots in Area 49 (Shire) and Area 25C to create structured, vibrant market centres. Years later, those markets are largely a failure. What was meant to be organised commercial hubs has turned into a landscape of unfinished buildings, neglected plots, and missed opportunity.
Worse still, these areas are steadily degenerating. Some of the incomplete structures have become hideouts for unlicensed liquor outlets, illicit activities, and even informal settlements. Only a handful of shops mostly those on the edges are functioning. The rest is a picture of stagnation.
Let’s be honest: this failure is not accidental. It is the direct result of weak enforcement and complacency by LCC.
While designated markets remain undeveloped, informal trading is thriving in residential areas. People are freely converting house fences into shops, including liquor outlets operating in neighbourhoods where such activities should not be allowed. This is happening in plain sight, and it clearly violates LCC bylaws. Yet enforcement is either absent or selectively applied.
At the same time, plot owners in these market areas are sitting on land for years without developing it because there are no consequences. LCC has failed to impose and enforce clear development timelines. This has encouraged speculation, inactivity, and ultimately the collapse of the original vision for these markets.
The result? Planned markets are dying, while unplanned and illegal trading is booming.
This cannot continue.
LCC must act decisively and urgently. First, issue firm notices with clear deadlines to all plot holders. Those who fail to develop their plots within a defined period should have them repossessed no exceptions and reallocated to individuals who are ready and able to invest.
Second, enforce bylaws without fear or favour. Illegal shops in residential areas, especially liquor outlets, must be regulated or shut down. Urban planning cannot be optional.
Third, LCC must restore credibility. Right now, the message being sent is that rules do not matter and that is a dangerous precedent for any growing city.
Lilongwe is expanding, and with that growth must come order, discipline, and enforcement. The current situation reflects not just inefficiency, but a worrying level of institutional complacency.
It is time for LCC to wake up, take responsibility, and fix this before disorder becomes the new normal. ZZodiak OnlineLLilongwe City Council
