Police campaign against street vendors in Sudan’s capital

On Wednesday, the police of the Sudanese capital launched a relentless campaign against street vendors and tea women in the area of the Khartoum stadium. “The police confiscated all our goods and the property of the tea and coffee selling women,” a peddler told Radio Dabanga. He accused the authorities of blocking any opportunity to earn their livelihood, and of racism, as many street vendors and tea ladies come from western and southern Sudan. “We were surprised by the campaign, not only because we daily pay the required fees to the Khartoum locality, but also by the harshness with which it was carried out. We were beaten with batons and hoses, while they confiscating our goods and belongings.” FinedIn the southern Khartoum district of El Kalakla El Guba, shoe polisher was fined with SDG50 ($8.70) or two weeks in prison if he does not pay. The shoe polisher was sentenced because he had refused to leave his working place during a police campaign aimed at removing shoe polishers from the area. File photo: A tea lady in downtown Khartoum (experiencehenry.blogspot)