POLICE in Lusaka have picked owner of Chris Mall Chris Chiinda for breaching the Presidential order of keeping bars closed as the country battles the Coronavirus.
Dozens of other patrons who according to Lusaka Province minister Bowman Lusambo were found jam-packed in a bar were picked along with Chiinda.
Lusambo who led officers inspecting places around the city said he was especially disappointed that Chiinda who is a Munali Constituency aspiring candidate was among people disregarding a Presidential order.
“It is highly disappointing that the proprietor of Chris Mall comrade Chris Chiinda who was found on the scene is failing to respect presidential orders to stay home and close his bar. If we have to offer ourselves for leadership, we have to be ready to lead by example,” Lusambo wrote on his Facebook page.
“All those found have been picked up by police and the operation will continue and will even be intensified going into the Easter long weekend,” added Lusambo.
He said those picked up we’re discovered after he led a team into a night operation to inspect levels of adherence among bars and nightclubs to Covid-19 measures as pronounced President Edgar Lungu.
“We discovered that a Bar at a place called Chris Mall in Chamba Valley area was fully operational with many patrons enjoying themselves with no regard to social distancing.”
Lusambo’s action won him praise even from his critics including musician and activist Maiko Zulu.
“I may not agree with you on many issues but I must say you are doing a great job on this. Your approach is what most people understand as opposed to polite notification and backing of the law. No one should put the lives of others at risk unnecessarily. Infact you should order brewers and wholesale distributors to stop supplying the alcohol during this time,” Zulu wrote in reaction to the operation.
