Municipal police face arrest

MUNICIPAL police countrywide face arrest over the confiscation of vendors' wares and converting them to personal use.

Speaking at the recently ended Zimbabwe Sadc Gender Protocol Summit in Harare, the secretary of the Town Clerks Forum, who is also the Bindura Town Clerk, Mr Shangwa Mavesera, said it was illegal for municipal police to take goods confiscated from illegal vendors to their homes.

"It is regrettable but true that some of the security guards take these goods to their homes. This is a crime and vendors should follow up on their goods and claim them after paying a stipulated fine. If the goods cannot be located, they should make a report to the police, that is the law," said Mr Mavesera.

He said the law also dictated that if vendors failed to claim their wares for any reason, the goods could be disposed of at an auction or destroyed, if they were perishable.

"It is important to note that whenever goods are destroyed or sold at an auction, there should be an auditor to monitor the procedure and provide a record of the proceedings. A satisfactory explanation, together with the record should be given to a vendor who later comes to claim goods," said Mr Mavesera.

He said the heavy handedness of municipal police in dealing with vendors had caused local authorities in the country to employ more women as police officers, who he said were considered more humane.

Vendors in Bulawayo and Harare said they were not aware that they could claim their goods.

"We only know that once something has been taken, you have lost it for good. We have never been able to recover anything taken by the guards during raids," said a vendor who declined to be named.

Another vendor at Bulawayo's Basch Street terminus, popularly known as Egodini, also said there was no option for the recovery of impounded wares.

"We consider ourselves lucky to have got away without being arrested. Normally we run away and council guards remain collecting our goods. As far as I know, there is no option for the recovery of the goods," said the vendor. Contacted for comment, Bulawayo Mayor Councillor Thaba Moyo acknowledged that the problem existed in Bulawayo.

"We have received some reports concerning the issue. I would urge those affected to make a report to the police. However, I would like to point out that the city has an effective audit section that can make it easy to deal with the issue once an official report is made," said Clr Moyo.

He said it was wrong to "snatch" goods from poor people who were struggling to make ends meet and send their children to school.

"In some cases, it becomes difficult to account for confiscated wares because our security guards do not have arresting powers. They hand over cases to the police and council's involvement ends there. If we were to be given arresting powers, it would be easier to trace culprits," said Clr Moyo.