Mon, 11 Dec 2017 11:21:54 +0000
… as owner bolts
By Annie Zulu
A COMBINED team of Zambia Police and Lusaka City Council Police, accompanied by Matero Ward 23 Councillor Annie Chinyata on Saturday night swooped on Florida street, commonly known as ‘devil street’ in Lusaka’s Emmasdale area and arrested over 50 minors who were found at East Life bar.
Majority of the minors, some of them as young as eleven years old and indecently dressed, were picked from the bar around 21:00hrs.
The owner of the bar, who is a Rwandese national and currently on the run, has allegedly been using minors for immorality and other promiscuous activities.
The youngsters were found dancing and enjoying alcoholic beverages, an act that is against the Zambian law that stops minors below 18 years of age from entering bars or consuming alcohol, while some of them were found having sex in the back rooms.
Many of them had no identity cards at the time of arrest while others were clearly no older than 17.
And the area ward councilor Ms Chinyanta described the situation as sad and cautioned bar owners against selling alcohol to under age children and exposing them to immorality.
She also asked the relevant authorities to withdraw the licences of bar owners who do not abide by the law.
“There is a law which forbids the sale of alcohol to minors and if that law is broken, there is a penalty, so the relevant authorities should do their job.
“It’s really sad to see how our children are being wasted, we found some of them as young as 11 in the bar. At this rate, we are risking having a wasted generation and it should be the responsibility of everyone, including bar managers, to guide these children to do the right thing.
“We understand that bar owners are in business, but we want then to render responsible services and protect minors by refusing them entry,” she said.
Ms Chinyanta further assured that the police would continue patrolling the area and ensure that no underage are found in bars, especially during the festive season.
Meanwhile, a resident of Florida street Suzyo Phiri commended the police and the councillor for carrying out the operation.
Ms Phiri said such immoral activities had dented the image of the street, making it unconducive for people living around the area.
She noted that most of the minors who patronized the area were not from Emmasdale, but came from as far as Mandevu, Matero, Lilanda and other surrounding areas.
She further urged the relevant authorities to seriously take up the matter, stressing the minors, especially girls were exposed to harmful vices such as rape.
