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the whole of Zambia. Initially, I have fought hard to keep my ‘Simon Mwewa Lane’ and
my father was going to call it father’s memory alive both the new city market be called
‘Simon and Sons’ but couldn’t with the building he birthed ‘Simon Mwewa Market.’ Now
disfranchise his daughters; my and through my relationship that’s something my father
sisters. So he came up with a with the local authorities. I would have been proud of.
simple, generic one word name: advocated that the street where
‘Simoson.’ our building stands be named

Struggle and Redemption

“When we opened up this area, the drug dealing, commercial proximity and the fact that it is
we had good tenancy but then sex work and other criminal a bus station. Anytime you have
things started going downhill activities were done there. It was business next to a bus station,
and tenants started dwindling very difficult to fix that mess. it booms. Now, we’ve had one
because other shopping centers Another challenge is that the hundred percent occupancy for
were coming up and other building needs renovation and the past fifteen years.”
people were building; it became restructuring and those plans
highly competitive. are underway.
The building was literally Ultimately, what saved our
inundated at some point and business was the construction
became a hub of criminal activity. of the new city market because
The alley behind our building all of a sudden; we had lots
was called ‘Baghdad’ because all of business because of the

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