Surging Tanzanians repelled

By SANFROSSA MANYINDAA HORDE of desperate Tanzanians on Saturday attempted to break the Nakonde lockdown but quick action by alert police kept them at bay as disinfection of the border town continued.Perched on scooters and from Tunduma, the Tanzanians attempted to ride past law enforcement officers at the border with their merchandise but were immediately repelled.Had they managed to enter, they still would not have fulfilled their mission because all Zambians were indoors.Tanzanians peddle their merchandise in Zambia at Nakonde where they usually cash in on travellers from Lusaka and the Copperbelt.The popular trading items include rice, potatoes, clothes, cosmetics and building materials such as tiles and many others. Muchinga Province Minister, Malozo Sichone, said police officers and Government officials were stunned that foreigners could attempt to get into Nakonde at the height of a total lockdown when no one could have transacted with them.Meanwhile, the disinfection and screening which started with Tazara railway station, the bus station, the border, shops and markets was yesterday extended to Mwenzo, Ulongo and Chilolwa villages in chieftness Waitwika where screening was also conducted.Mr Sichone said the multi-sectoral team had selected strategic and critical areas for screening as well as disinfecting.With a population of over 150,000 people, authorities would ensure that critical areas were covered to capture possible infections.“With such a huge population, we cannot manage to screen everyone but rather use the method devised. But we will not leave any place without being disinfected so today (yesterday) we are touching Chiefdoms,” Mr Sichone explained.He said that the lockdown had given an opportunity to continue with effective disinfecting of public places without any challenges. He said that the disinfection of public places would continue for seven days on any infrastructure as the past o days only the outer parts of the shops has been done. The Minister said that the people in the border town were cooperative and placed the compliance levels at 100 percent.