SIMON MUNTEMBA writes
@SunZambian
DEFIANT bar owners and unsuspecting patrons were whipped by a team of enforncers led by the no-nonsense Lusaka minister Bowman Lusambo, now nick named ‘Rambo”.
And Lusambo has warned drunkards and bar owners that are daring authorities by opening their establishments that, he will deal with them.
The minister has previously warned that those who think they are smart and want to outwit the authorities, would be whipped when caught.
He has vowed to continue with his vigilante patrols and warned those flouting the Presidential directives aimed at preventing the spread of Coronavirus (COVID-19) that they will have themselves to blame one caught.
Mr Lusambo said his patrol team would not relent to pounce and fish out from their hideouts all those disregarding the directive of avoiding large crowds in light of Covid-19.
Friday night was a busy one as bar owners and drunkards who were found ignoring the Presidential directive were rounded up and whipped. This practice is also been carried in some Indian cities where people abrogating regulations on covid-19 prevention are whipped.
This was barely 24 hours after secret guzzlers at Lusaka’s Chris Mall Lodge were on Thursday night embarrassed when Lusaka minister’s patrol team pounced on their hideout and fished them out and bundled them into a police vehicle.
“It is highly unfortunate that despite the good efforts by Government through the Ministry of Health, we still have a lot of people practicing irresponsible and selfish behavior. We shall not relent. Remember these measures have been extended by another two weeks by President Edgar Lungu, so go to drink at your own peril,” Mr Lusambo warned.
Mr Lusambo explained that after getting a tip off from a member of the public, his patrol team found several vehicles parked and many people drinking without observing social distancing at a lodge in Olympia where they turned a car park into a beer garden.
He however said both the lodge owners and the patrons would never forget the night.
“We got a tip off from a member of the public that there is a Lodge in Olympia along Mpulungu Road called Ararat Lodge, where they have turned their car park into a beer garden and indeed we found several vehicles parked there and many people drinking. Well, let us just say, both the lodge owners and the patrons will never forget last night,” Mr Lusambo said.
The Minister said during the same night operation, they also busted another event where over 60 Indians were having a wedding party right in Emmasdale, a residential area that has been declared an epic centre for the pandemic.
He added: “We extended our operation to Devils Street where we dealt with several patrons and closed down the bars that we found open. It was shocking to find one Barbershop in Chilulu has been turned into a bar.”
On Thursday April 9, President Lungu extended closure of bars, nightclubs, casinos, airports and other measures for two more weeks to combat COVID-19, a directive he gave two weeks earlier.
