Kinshasa, March 11th, 2023 (CPA) – Several terraces, shops, kiosks and hairdressing salons installed on the right of way of Doctor Shaumba Avenue were demolished on Friday by the bulldozers of the city hall of Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo in the framework of the continuation of the operation “coup de poing” (operation named “punch”).
« We are not harming anyone. We just want to enforce and respect the laws of the Republic which prohibit anarchic construction on public rights of way. Everyone must comply with these prohibitions by respecting the limits, » said the Deputy Governor of the city of Kinshasa, Gerard Mulumba.
The owners of the kiosks, bars, improvised restaurants and hairdressing salons set up on the Kokolo camp side were powerless to resist the determination of the elements of the Special Unit for the Protection of the Environment (USPE) brigade. Two bulldozers were mobilised to carry out the « punch » operation along the former Prince of Liege Avenue.
Among the victims of the demolition along Shaumba Avenue was Gaylord Kangala, owner of a hairdressing salon where telephone credits and drinks were also sold. « The bulldozers of Kinshasa’s city hall have just destroyed my entire investment. I have been unemployed since I finished my studies. What will I become?
The machines of the Kinshasa City Hall did not spare any activity considered out of the ordinary on this road. Even the brick makers witnessed the demolition of their products and work tools. « We live from the sale of these bricks that we sometimes make on command. What is destroyed here is a huge loss for us, » said Fils Ndongala, one of the brick makers who was a victim of the operation.
The latest round of the raid took place in Kapela, in the municipality of Kalamu, where many terraces and shops were destroyed. The operation that took place on the right of way of Doctor Shaumba Avenue was preceded by an official communiqué through which the population was invited to take the necessary measures to clear the site concerned. CPA/
