Zimbabwe police worry of robberies spike

POLICE have appealed to bus operators to have passenger manifests among other security measures to avoid on-board robberies during the festive season.

On Thursday, armed robbers pounced on an MB Buses coach along the Masvingo-Beitbridge highway.

The robbery came days after a CAG Coaches bus was attacked by armed robbers along the Harare-Chirundu highway.

Police spokesperson Paul Nyathi called on bus operators to tighten security measures including having manifests and avoiding unscheduled stops along highways.

"As regards passenger manifests we have advised all bus companies to have these (passenger manifests) so it becomes easy to trace passengers. Precautions should be observed even if it means hiring security guards to search passengers as they boarded buses," Nyathi said.

A passenger manifest is a list of passengers compiled before departure based on check-in information.

"Women passengers can be searched by female security and the opposite for men so that no-one takes a weapon into the bus. Passenger manifests should have details of the passenger, next of kin, home address and destination address."

Meanwhile, Zimbabwe Passengers Association (ZPA) secretary general Paul Makiwa said the violent robberies had shaken the sector, and left operators terrified.

"We are never safe; life is a matter of risk. We survive by the grace of God," Makiwa said before appealing to the Home Affairs ministry to deploy plainclothes officers on long-distance buses.

President Emmerson Mnangagwa on Wednesday said the government would introduce a shoot-to-kill policy to deal with the rising wave of violent armed robberies.