Police demolish trader stalls in Congo capital ahead of Pope visit

FILE PHOTO: Pope Francis arrives at a meeting with members of The Pope John XXIII Community Association at the Vatican, January 14, 2023. REUTERS/Guglielmo Mangiapane

KINSHASA (Reuters) - Before dawn, sanitary police armed with crowbars and a bulldozer set about demolishing makeshift trader stalls crowding downtown streets in the capital of Democratic Republic of Congo ahead of a four-day visit by Pope Francis starting Jan. 31.

Officials say Kinshasa, a vast impoverished city of 17 million people, is getting a facelift not just to honour the pope but to make its streets and pavements more tidy and orderly even after he's gone home. But evicted small traders protest that their livelihoods are being destroyed in the process.