SHOPS AT CHISOKONE MARKET DEMOLISHED
…as Nkana MP Binwell Mpundu describes the acts as evil because it will affect the livelihood of people
ABOUT 90 shops in Chisokone market in Kitwe have been demolished by the combined team of Kitwe City Council and Zambia Police
Service.
The demolition was done in the early hours of yesterday.
A check by the Daily Nation found some affected marketeers weeping, while others cursed the UPND government for having no heart for the poor people.
One of the marketeers, Ms Isabella Nakamba, said the demolition of the shops was evil and warned that their tears would not be vain.
"This action is evil, and I swear this evil conduct one must pay and pay heavily. There is no way people can be using their positions to intimidate people, to throw people in abject poverty. There is already poverty and hunger, but this demolition will condemn us TO serious hunger,'' Ms Nakamba said.
A number of incidents had happened before the demolition of the structures, which included the arrest and detention of Kings Church Pastor and Chisokone Market coordinator Duncan Simuchimba for allegedly defaming the Kitwe District Commissioner, Mr Lawrence Mwanza.
Pastor Simuchimba, who was against the demolition, was silenced after he was arrested and detained at Kalulushi Police Station last month.
Meanwhile, Nkana Independent Member of Parliament Binwell Mpundu said time had come for Zambians to realise that they were being ruled by an evil regime which does not care about poor people.
Mr Mpundu said in an interview that Zambians must now realise that the UPND government had no good plans for the Zambians but to inflict suffering.
Mr Mpundu said, as MP, he was devastated by the demolition because the shop owners had been left in the cold with no place to trade from.
He said he was shocked that the shops were demolished barely a day after Local Government and Rural Development Minister Garry Nkombo engaged him on how best to resolve the impasse between the owners of the structures and the local authority.
"As MP, I must say am devastated by those demolitions at Chisokone Market. I think time has come for Zambians to realise that they are being ruled by an evil regime which does not care or listen to the majority poverty-stricken people who are struggling to survive under this very harsh economy.
"The owners of the demolished shops have been left in the cold, they have no place to trade from. So how are they going to survive? On Tuesday, Local Government Minister Garry Nkombo followed me to Parliament to talk about how best to resolve this issue, but am shocked to learn that the structures have been demolished,'' Mr Mpundu said.