Gunshots at protest

ANTI-RIOT police in Gweru yesterday fired shots into the air to disperse commuter omnibus operators and their crews who were protesting against "police extortion at roadblocks." Scores of protestors were arrested in the usually quiet city.

Drivers, touts and some kombi owners blocked a section of Hamutyinei Road which links Mkoba and the city centre near Mambo Township. The operators blocked private vehicle owners who were giving lifts to some of the stranded commuters.

The township turned into a war zone with police fighting running battles with the kombi crews. A group of police officers dismally failed to disperse the kombi crews and move them from the road until anti-riot police arrived later in the afternoon.

The Chronicle witnessed this as hell broke loose. The kombi crews looked as if they would put up resistance before the police fired shots into the air. The group broke up and fled into Mambo Township.

Thousands of workers, school children and ordinary residents in the City of Progress were left stranded. A number of students at Midlands State University said they missed lectures as they could not get transport.

The commuter omnibus operators said they were suspending operations protesting against extortion and harassment by traffic police. Some alleged that they were being forced to purchase ZRP raffle tickets by the officer–in- charge at Mtapa police station.

"If we don't buy the tickets we're heavily ticketed for non-existent offences," said a driver. The Chronicle was shown two raffle tickets worth $3 (number 0013131) and $5 (0078378), which two operators alleged police forced them to buy.

The tickets written "The Commissioner General's horse race 2015 raffle ticket" had the draw date set for October 18. The operators accused the police of crippling their businesses by demanding bribes ranging from $3 up to $20 per trip and were also being issued with tickets which totalled about $40 a day.

They said on a stretch of less than 10KM from the CBD to Mkoba Township, there were four roadblocks. "At each roadblock we're given tickets and at the end of the day one would have accumulated tickets worth $60 and that's not viable for business," said a commuter omnibus operator.

An operator plying the Mkoba 16 to City Centre route said they were tired of being fleeced by the police. "We've had enough of the police and we can't take it any more. How can I be expected to pay $40 in fines everyday and be expected to remain viable," said the operator, Mark Shumba.

Others accused the police of trying to push them out of business through unwarranted ticketing so that their Honda Fits could operate without competition.

The spokesperson for the Gweru Commuter Omnibus Operators' Association, Albert Chirau, said the average income from a commuter omnibus per day is $45 against $30 to $40 traffic tickets.

He said traffic police in BMWs and motor bikes disregarded tickets issued by officers at roadblocks near Mkoba 1 and Mtapa police stations.

"The other sad scenario is that the motor bike officers and those in the BMW call other police officers' tickets 'Fawcetts Security tickets' which they don't recognise yet they're all serving the same purpose. They're in a way competing to gobble money from the transport sector. They should rather work together and we wouldn't have a problem with them," said Chirau.

He said they were not against police operations but were putting their feet down over extortion and harassment. Efforts to get a comment from Midlands Provincial police spokesperson, Inspector Joel Goko, were fruitless as he was said to be out of office. His mobile number was not reachable.