High Court Stops Lilongwe City Council from Closing or Relocating Wakawaka Market
Published on June 30, 2026 at 11:08 AM by Evance Kapito
The High Court has ordered the Lilongwe City Council (LCC) and the Ministry of Local Government to stop closing, evicting vendors or relocating Wakawaka Market until the court determines the matter.
The ruling comes just weeks after the Lilongwe City Council, in a joint operation with police, demolished Solomon Market, popularly known as Wakawaka Market, in Area 36.
The council said the demolition followed the expiry of a notice requiring traders to vacate the area to pave the way for the expansion of the M1 Road and to reclaim land illegally occupied within the road reserve. Vendors had been instructed to relocate to designated markets along the Bypass Road and in Area 24.
However, in a ruling delivered by Justice Kenyatta Nyirenda, the court granted an interlocutory injunction to 3,081 traders led by Ronnie Kamkuzi Maseko and Muloreni Mangolomera.
The order restrains the Lilongwe City Council, the Secretary for Local Government, and their agents from closing the market, evicting vendors or implementing the relocation until a judicial review of the matter is concluded.
The traders are challenging the council’s decision to refuse the renewal of the market’s trading licence and its directive to shut down the market and relocate vendors to Bypass Market.
They are asking the court to declare the decisions illegal, unconstitutional, procedurally improper and unreasonable. They also want the court to quash the decisions and issue a permanent injunction preventing the closure of the market and the eviction of traders.
Justice Nyirenda said the injunction was necessary to preserve the case, adding that allowing the council to proceed with the closure before the judicial review is heard would render the court proceedings meaningless.
