By RABECCA CHIPANTA

.Lusambo

A COMBINED team of defence forces and council police yesterday swung into action to remove makeshift stalls from the sidewalks and corridors of Ndola’s central business district.
The exercise which started around 04:00 hours led by Copperbelt Minister Bowman Lusambo saw scores of make-shift stalls razed by dozens of uniformed members of the different security wings and overalled council workers.
Scores of the street vendors, usually among the city’s early risers, were caught unawares by the operation.
Like many of the residents of the city going to work, the vendors found themselves conscripted into the operation to lend a helping hand.
During the same exercise, improvised structures housing a number of people seeking prayers for various ailments from the Restoration Apostolic Pentecostal Church International were knocked down.
Mr Lusambo said Government would not allow people to be kept in unsanitary conditions at a time when the country was grappling with the problem of cholera.
The church, built a few metres from the Kafubu river has been embroiled in legal battles with the Ndola City Council (NCC), a concern Mr Lusambo raised with the owner.
Pastor James Mwale, commonly known as ‘Yakobo Yakobo’, agreed that the makeshift structures were illegal and insanitary but pleaded with the authorities to give him time to allow his patients find money to return to their respective homes.
But Copperbelt Police Commissioner Charity Katanga ordered the patients to vacate the premises immediately failure to which they would face the law.
Copperbelt province permanent secretary Bright Nundwe said he would rather demolish a church and save a life.
“We have suspended and closed the church. This is in the interest of safe guarding life,” he said.
Meanwhile, Ndola Town Clerk Wisdom Bwalya said the clean-up exercise would continue for the next five days to ensure cleanliness was upheld to fight cholera.
He said the exercise was an effort to address the cholera situation and called for everyones’ support.
Earlier, the Zambia- Somalia representative Abdi Mire said that the Somali community had decided to take part in the clean-up exercise following the cholera outbreak.
Speaking during the donation of 10 trucks and two tipper trucks to the local authority, Mr Mire said this was a hard time for the country due to the cholera outbreak and pledged that the Somali community would render support to efforts to stop the spread of the disease.
Ndola Mayor Amon Chisenga said the response towards the cholera epidemic was overwhelming and expressed gratitude to the Somali community for coming on board to supplement efforts being put in place by the council.